Fresh Page, Fresh Start . . .

It’s the 1st of January and time to look ahead to my creative writing hopes and plans for 2019.

When I look back at the last few years they follow a similar pattern. I start off with good intentions and produce some posts on Janet's Jottings; some are my own writing, more are reviews of books I’ve read. Then, life gets in the way and the posts trail off. This does not mean I have not been writing, just that the writing I have done is for other uses.

It is partly a question of labelling. Of course the work-related talks, letters, critiques and reports that have formed a large part of my output this year are creative writing, but not in the sense of using the imagination to conjure up stories and poems. So, not pieces for Janet's Jottings.

And there is the perennial question of permission. Can I give myself permission to sit down and write something just for my own enjoyment when there are more serious things to be doing? I can, but so often it is not until the end of the day when I am tired – not conducive to producing good writing.

However, when I reviewed my writing in 2018 and was despondent about how little I had posted to Janet's Jottings, I calculated the word count of my journal and ‘creative’ pieces. It came to over 100,000 words – the equivalent length of a novel!

That is encouraging, even if little of it has been shared with others.

So, yet again, I have made a New Year resolution to write more regularly and post onto Janet's Jottings, to engage more fully with the world of creative story-telling and story-tellers.

Perhaps 2019 will be the year in which I do.

And, if you struggle with similar questions, then I hope 2019 is the year you do too.

Whatever you write, may words flow freely and gracefully.

You can read this and more of Janet's musings at Janet's Jottings http://www.janetbone.co.uk/JanetsJottings/writing-year2019/