Ah, Spring!

That glorious season when a writer’s fancy turns to … new year’s resolutions.

I know, I know, we’re supposed to make resolutions in January. But frankly, winter doesn’t inspire me. By New Year’s Day, I just want to slouch around in my fuzzy pajamas, static-zapping anyone who comes too close, and be thankful I don’t have shop or wrap, clean or cook, visit or entertain for a while. After January comes the dead of winter – and here in Northeast Ohio, that’s an appropriate name. Cold and knee-deep is followed by cold and slushy. Everything is gray unless it's covered in white. Oh, sure, there’s sledding and snow ball fights and spooning in front of the fire. There’s candy for Valentine’s Day and green beer for St. Patrick’s Day. But by in large, winter is the dregs. My resolution is usually just to survive another winter.

But spring -- spring is my season. The gray begins to fade into green. The brave crocuses stick their brightly-colored heads up. The kids can go outside to play. (Just because we have a hardwood floor does not mean they can use the dining room as a basketball court!) The Indians open their season – and if we're lucky, they don't have to shovel off the base paths.

And I sit on my porch and breathe the unfiltered, unheated air and I think about what I'd like to accomplish this year.


So what are my writer’s resolutions for this new-born year?

1) To get organized. No more boxes and piles of papers. I want things in binders with labels, in file drawers or in the trash. I want my computer files in order, too, and backed up. I want old drafts deleted or pitched. I want financial records in one place. Contracts together. Submission guidelines. Research materials. Plot ideas and notes. Partial manuscripts. Everything in its place. (You get the very messy picture, right?)

2) To get over the fear. To finish manuscripts, polish them up and send them out. To stop avoiding writing that last few pages because oh, what if somebody doesn’t like this story? I need to get a grip on reality: No editor is going to pound on my front door and say, “I know you have an amazing manuscript in your bottom drawer, please, please, won’t you let me read it?” Also, no editor is going to pound on my front door and say, “Is this piece of crap your manuscript? It’s dreadful. I’m here to confiscate your computer and every pencil, pen, crayon and marker in the house. For the good of mankind, I must make sure you never write again.”

3) To get focused. Some days I can come up with a dozen plot ideas. But turning a great idea into a book is a whole different matter. So I need to make notes on all those wonderful ideas, and then I need to focus on growing one into a full-size story. One story at a time. Okay, maybe two, but that’s definitely all. Unless the third idea is completely awesome. But three is absolutely the limit. Unless …

4) To get disciplined. I have a pretty chaotic life. Kids, job, house, dog, cats, husband. So when I do get the chance to sit down and write – I need to sit down and write. Not play FreeCell. Not chat. Not watch videos of Keith Olbermann being rightly and morally outraged. Not used Resolutions 1 thru 3 above as excuses. Just open the WIP and write.

5) To get published some more. Having Thirteen Silver Moons published was a huge step for me. It still tickles a little to think that people I don't even know are reading my book. But of course, it can’t happen again if I don’t finish a book and send it out.

So – those are my resolutions for the new year. I invite you all to go sit in the sun for a few minutes and think about what you’ve accomplished since last spring. Then decide, where you want to go from here? And what do you need to do to get there?