A NEW YEAR!Tis the time of year for resolutions and goal setting, but have you noticed, first of the year, the same ones keep showing up? “Get the call” is popular, but that’s not a goal; it’s an objective. Goals should be something you have control over, not an editor sitting at a desk in New York. ‘Nuff said.

A better way to start the year would be to sit down and write yourself a letter. Julia Cameron, in her book The Right to Write, suggests writing two. Let’s call this an escape to recommit yourself to writing.

Pad and pen in hand, go to a local cozy joint-a coffee café or luncheonette-order a mug of something hot, then write a letter from your Inner Writer to you. The second letter will be from you to your Inner Writer. This is your opportunity to air your fears and grievances. Get them out of the way.

Offer reassurance and yes, put down some plans to achieve what you desire. You needn’t list the steps. Leave that to goal setting which you probably already did on January one. This is just to assure yourself, in writing, that you intend to deal with these things.

Jot down all those nasty feelings that cause writing roadblocks and offer solutions.
For instance, if grammar is your nemesis, promise yourself you’ll get The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and bone up.

“Your letter to your writer is a chance for your kindly adult self to be reassuring and practical,” says Cameron. “More than anything else, the part of us that writes needs support, reassurance, and encouragement. We can offer those ourselves. When we do, our writer responds by taking to the page more happily.”

Now grab your pocketbook and go!

Dale Ketcham’s next book, SWORN OFF WOMEN, will be out in February. Here’s what best-selling author Roberta Gellis said about it. “[A] delightful book, lightly humorous, warmly tender, deliciously sexy.

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