Hub writing, planting seeds of prosperity

©Copyright Lillygrillzit January 30, 2011, Updated 5.12.2013

Whenever Lilly reaches a milestone of success on HubPages, she likes to share with those who are coming behind her; the newbies, who see Hubs, Hubbers and Hub Mobs and may feel overwhelmed at learning a new language for a new Hub World.

This is written, tongue in cheek, with a big smile.

Lilly just passed having been read over 20,000 times. This is small potatoes to writers, like Rebecca E, and Lisa HW, but they have longevity, they had to pass through here, and worked hard to get where they are.

On November 04, 2010 , Lilly wrote, getting it 10,000 times. In the chart below, she will show you the slow but steady growth as an online contributor of unique and original content. There are readers who have emailed me with suspicion at my fast growth. That tickles Lillygrillzit because as a human being, it does not seem very fast, for the time and effort she has put in. Understanding this frustration, she writes to help others to stay on course.

Please, continue to read, while Lilly puts this into a word picture, that may help the new or frustrated writer/contributor

Lilly loves to garden. She misses those early morning foray's into the garden patch, to check on the status of her pretty little veggies, and flowers.

When Lilly first started growing things, she made a scientific chart, set up the seed packets in a file, and like anyone growing something with love, she would check on the process, of the growth of plants. She noted color, times of the day they thrived, watered, fed...

The first year, she started with seeds. 10 cents per package, no losers here. Pay 10 cents for 100 seeds in a package. Grow 1000 pounds of food. Easy right? Stick them in the ground, water, feed, sun, pluck, check for parasites, run the cats away Then, do it again, sometimes several times per day.

Lilly did not have the resources to buy seedlings , or seeds , that had already been sprouted in a greenhouse. She was willing to learn all she could about maximizing the small areas where she could plant and harvest. Lilly was more than willing to take this slow and detailed path. Lilly feels the most comfort in soil, dirt, clay, and nature.

She likes to be barefoot while standing on the ground. She has a feeling of connectedness when touching Earth's surface.

This was also homegrown therapy for working through her grief, having recently lost her youngest daughter. Many times the soil received her tears. Lilly was taking it one-day-at-a-time with home grown therapy,

The packet seeds for growing Spinach to maturity, is around 40 days. Spinach, once well established in a healthy environment can stay in the ground with daily cuttings. (I am still discussing Hubs here, just saying. ) This means that Once Lilly has done the work. Watered, sunned, pruned, debugged each spinach plant in a mere month and ten days, she will have a daily helping of a best-food for a month or more.

If after 10 days, when that first large sprout occurred, Lilly would have given up because she could not make a spinach salad, she would have just a dead plant.

A spectacular thing about that dead plant, is this.

It is not for nothing.

If Lilly would have stopped then, she still gained the knowledge, got real experience, expended energy, and fed the soil and the natural cycle. The dead spinach, is still filled with energy and nutrients that will help the soil. It would not have been a total loss.

The writing / publishing experience on HubPages is a full one. An important part of publishing unique material is photos. Lilly started out using www.Photo8.com, they allow used of their photos, with citation and credit. Most photos are Lilly's. Each photo is a milestone or photo used in her Hubs.

Lilly talked about Spinach , but for balance and satisfaction, there are going to have to be many more seeds planted. She loves spinach, but wants something else to go with it. Some seeds take 70 days to grow the plant, some 150.

There are certain plants that take years to bear fruit. In other words, starting from seed, with a first time experience, is going to take some time, a lot of effort, and watchfulness. Growing from seed is a process requiring a lot of energy and dedication.

This is the same with Hubs, and any other type of Internet Publishing.

Lilly has been a writer and artist from an early age.

She started reading at age 4, and found a solace in books. In the late 1980's she started going to writer's conferences, and submitting jokes, and short stories to different publications. She always wrote letters to the Editor of her local paper.

At one such conference, the speaker of note said, "if you have the desire, urge, or unction to Write, then you are a writer". Lilly and the other attendees were admonished not to quiet that voice. Instead, Answer, putting pencil to paper, and Write. During that conference, one assignment was to write a short story with a moral ending, under 400 words. These would go directly to the editor, and if approved would be published.

For the first time in her life, Lilly did something from her own creative force that earned her praise, $12.00, and she was PUBLISHED! Back in the pre-network days, getting published was very difficult. Many excellent writers could not get a toe in the door, Lilly thinks many of these are treasures, writers, are coming to write on HubPages.

Lilly had 4 kids, and went back to school at 30. She took English, so she could write. She excelled in College writing, joining the Editorial Staff of the University Magazine. She was given an assignment to review a book of poetry for a major publisher who was advertising in the publication. Lilly rolls her eyes now, thinking of how raw, and unconsolidated that piece was, but the publisher liked it, and she earned 6 free copies of the Publication. She remained on the editorial staff 3 semesters.

Life became so filled with duty, and distraction, that Lilly kind of let it all die down. She would study great works and write for days her interpretation, stuff like that, but the idea of actually publishing in a way that would make a living for her and her kids was too far away of a goal to attempt. Lilly's spinach plant died, as it were, but it was not for nothing.

Lilly put in that initial work of seed planting in writing, many years earlier. Although she let the first crops wither into the ground, she had the experience and practice and a good basic education in writing to be read.

On this major project of life, Lilly got to use seedlings, or plants started in the University greenhouse. She started HubPages with growth already in her CV. She knows the routine, of planting, sunning, watering, checking for parasites. She knows that it takes dedication, a lot of No's before yeses. Lilly is aware that in order to be a successful writer, you must give people:

• What they cannot find just everywhere
• What they need, as quickly as possible
• Entertainment
• Hope, Love and courage

The Law of Success states in so many ways, that in order to get, we must give. This is not measurable. This happens by the law of attraction. HubPages philosophy and tools, the community especially operate under these laws. For those who have something real to give, just hang on, it takes time, blood, sweat and tears, but when it is all said and done, you are filled. Your cupboards are running over, and you can not only feed yourself, but neighbors, friends and family.

Lilly wishes the very best for everyone who reads this.If you want to write on HubPages too, go to my profile page and sign up from there. Thank you!