John Peterson

Writer for Journeys encouragement line, Valentine's Day, multiple occasions

John Peterson claims to have held more jobs than any other person in the world. With 38 under his belt, including stints as an oil rigger and truck driver, he may be right. At each job, he kept his eyes open and with a writer’s sense, made sure nothing from his experiences would be lost.

Now, a 14-year veteran and senior lead writer at Hallmark, John makes the most of his past by using it to help create everyday cards. His favorites include short, snappy prose or verse. Either way, John’s versatile, poetic writing style helps him adapt to any writing project.

When creating cards, particularly for Journeys,Hallmark’s new line of encouragement cards, John likes to imagine himself as the potential sender who needs to express a particular emotion.

“I try to empathize with what a sender might be feeling and what she might want to say in a certain situation,” he said. “We’re so afraid of saying the wrong things during difficult times that we often don’t say anything. Even though people today are more open to talking about subjects like cancer, divorce, addiction, and miscarriage, most of us still find it very difficult to find the right words.”

John follows a three-step creative process that includes gathering, sorting, and crafting words. He starts by gathering raw materials, loose phrases, and abstract ideas. Then, John sorts the materials by grouping concepts and throwing out the items that don’t fit. He finishes by crafting the remaining ideas and words until they fall into place.

For the Journeys line, John wrote a card for “empty-nesters” – parents who have sent their last child into the world.

“I felt ‘empty nest’ sounded like a sad term, so I wanted to say that sending off the last little bird can be an opportunity for positive things, too, like personal growth and adventure,” he explained.

Another Journeys card he wrote begins, Today I Will … and is a list of statements, or affirmations, that someone going through a serious illness can say to themselves as a way to focus energy and find strength.

“I wanted these to be the kinds of statements I’d want to be able to say to myself if I were going through a life-threatening illness,” he explained.

He admires literary greats like William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson because they have taught him how words can flow together melodically. John possesses a potpourri of inspiration that comes from his family, his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a Huck Finn boyhood of exuberant freedom, and a love of nature. Hiking trips to Colorado and along the Great Lakes, as well as mountain biking adventures throughout the United States, also feed his inspiration.

Born in Storm Lake, Iowa, John has lived throughout the Hawkeye State, in Boston, San Francisco, and New Orleans. He graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in journalism and English.