I've been gazing at my garden with contented eyes and the sense that what is old is new again. After having been neglected over the winter months, I always enjoy watching my garden sprout new growth out of the ground, be it Bachelor Buttons, Clematis, Stonecrop, Coral Bells, Hosta, Creeping Plox, Honeysuckle, Hydrangea and much, much more. These days, a few of my favorite annuals, like Salvia, are actually rejuevenating after an unusually warm winter, an act of defiance which always excites me. I have two batches by my mailbox that are already 12 inches tall. Yay! Which means, this year I'm going to have a grand show and an early one at that. ;)
Springtime rocks! (Can I get an amen?)
In my garden, third and fourth generation flowers are growing wherever nature (or more like bird droppings) planted them. These hardy seedlings often need replanting in better landscape, where sun and shade are at optimum levels for the species and I've always got nooks and craneys to fill. I've also got tried and true originals, the bones of the garden, visual stablizers, usually in need of a trim, like Azaleas after they bloom, Holly, and Rhododendron. And then there is the free-zone where annuals like my favs, Lantana, Salvia, Geranium and Vinca, are planted to create a colorful show once the threat of frost has passed (usually April 15 in my neck of the woods).
Watching a garden grow is one of my favorite passtimes. Much preferred over watching a kettle boil. What is that old saying? "A watched pot never boils?" (Tell that to writers everywhere waiting on contest results or submissions.)
When it comes to gardening, if you don't provide fertilizer, water and sun, not to mention, tender loving care, a garden won't grow. And let's face it, someone's got to pick the weeds before they declare full-on war. The same can be said for anything that strikes your fancy, be it painting, scrapbooking, quilting or knitting.
I love to write so I'll put this in writerly terms.
Writers have to write, plain and simple. If a writer doesn't pick up a pen or touch the keyboard with his/her fingertips, the words won't write themselves.
Writers can sit and stare at a blank screen but that doesn't achieve The End.
Unless the gardener digs the hole (write the words), plant the seeds (string them together page by page), cover the seedlings with soil (write the book), and provide sun, water and fertilizer (revise, revise, revise), the gardener will not reap the harvest (sell the book).
It's spring! Spring is a great time for a redo. Didn't like last year's color scheme (plot)? Redo. The plants you chose for your home didn't quite measure up (characters)? Redo. The species you chose didn't like the soil, climate, amount of sun (genre)? Redo. Easy as 1... 2... 3.
What do you do when the writing needs a redo? When contest judges declare a redo? When critique partners don't get it?
