echo 'every good' > /tmp/awk_substr_example.txt
awk '{print substr($1,1,1)}' /tmp/awk_substr_example.txt
#returns e
awk '{print substr($1,3)   }' /tmp/awk_substr_example.txt   
#returns ery
awk '{print substr($2,3)   }' /tmp/awk_substr_example.txt   
#returns od
awk '{print substr($0,7,2) }' /tmp/awk_substr_example.txt  
#returns go