Hello, writer. Welcome to a new year. Have you written anything yet?
You should write something today so that you will write all year.
I'm not nagging, I'm just sayin'.
Yeah, I am gonna start writing as soon as I finish posting this diary. New Year's resolution: spend more time this year writing than procrastinating.
It probably won't come as a surprise to you that this is not going to be a great year to sell your first novel. Or even your eighth one. Yeah, all the publishers are cutting back. It's the times, man.
But what that gives you, my dear writer friend, is freedom, like you haven't had since you were in the fifth grade and Mr. Williams called you in at recess to tell you that your essay was really good and you were going to be a writer someday. I'm talking about freedom to write because you love to do it, and because you love what you've written-- the act of creation and the thing you've created. It can be hard to remember that after 30 or 40 years of rejection slips, critique groups, and writers' workshops.
So this year, writers, we are going to soar. We are going to write what we love and for the pure love of writing it, and to hell with the critics (except the ones that have given us good reviews). This year we are going to live out Terry Pratchett's dictum that writing is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
(Those of us who live in colder climates, anyway. I see no reason to obey this stricture if you live in, say, Florida.)
Someday this here recession, or depression, is going to end. Books as we know them will probably survive. If they don't, they'll still be with us in some new form, because the Story is as old as humanity. When things perk up again, you're going to be a better writer than you are today, because you been working playing so hard.
So let's git writing.