Most of you know I love to hike, especially in the mountainous pine forests here in the mountains where I live. There’s one trail that is a favorite of mine and eventually takes me to a rocky grotto with a waterfall, but on the way I have to pass the most unusual tree I’ve ever seen. As you can see, it stands tall with only one remaining branch. It’s root system is gnarled and washed out as it tries to cling to the hillside where the roadcut has damaged the base and killed off several other trees. This one refuses to give up. It made me think about writing. So many people I talk to say they have a book idea or that they’d like to write a book. Some even say they are writing a book, and ten years later they tell me they are still writing that book. Unfortunately, they have little to show for it. To complete a book, you have to have the tenacity of the tree that survives with only one branch to do photosynthesis and only a few roots to draw water and other nutrients from often poor rocky soil. Writing can be hard. Good writing can be very hard. They say Margaret Mitchell spent her whole life writing Gone with the Wind…but she was tenacious enough to finish a great story. So if you want to write, be like the tree and Ms. Mitchell. Hang in there. Develop a place, time, and habit pattern for writing. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in the end…and maybe you’ll find a grotto with a waterfall along the way, too!
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Greg
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