New Year's Writing Resolutions

1. Write on a more regular basis. Aim for three morning sessions per week. Show up at the kitchen table. Do chores later. Or not at all.

2. Remember that bad writing is better than no writing. It doesn’t all have to be your best work. It can’t be.

3. Remember that the bad writing is clearing a space for the good writing that will soon follow. Believe that.

4. Try more forms. Maybe a rondeau.

5. Buy as many collections by other poets as you can afford. Simply congratulating someone on his or her new book is not enough. Spread the word.

6. Write at least two reviews this year. Minimum.

7. Send out queries to community colleges requesting a reading and / or workshop.

8. Be bolder about asking for an honorarium. What you do is worth something. If the answer is No, go anyhow as long as it doesn’t kill your budget.

9. Remember that reading for free is better than not reading at all. Hope to gain new readers at the non-paying venues. Hope to have a good time. Support series that are just getting off the ground.

10. Be on the lookout for new subject matter.

11. If you get a good line or phrase while watching tv or nodding off in your chair, write it down. Don’t count on your memory. That good idea will be gone by morning.

12. If your husband keeps interrupting while you are revising, politely ask him to stop.

13. Work hard for your new book. But put the emphasis on fun. Enjoy it.

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