Page 36 - January 2021 Voices

JUST WRITE

Jump-Start the New Year!

Ken Coomes, DTM

According to the Times Tribune only 8% of to it. Each may inspire you with an idea to write
Americans who make New Year’s resolutions about something.
keep them all year, and 80% will have broken The third is a tool to jump-start your writing,

them by the start of February. Finder.com tells conquer writer’s block, or simply give you an
us that 74.02% of Americans made New Year’s idea, or prompt. This is The Writer’s Toolbox. The
resolutions going into this year, up 15.17% from Toolbox purports to get your story ideas onto
the previous year. paper (or into a file - my addition), get from the

Whether you made any New Year’s Resolutions first line to the last, develop characters and plot,
about writing or not, and even if you made one and say good-bye to writer’s block.
or more of them and have already broken them, Last, but not least, is a writer’s group I
don’t worry. There are three strong reasons I say discovered last year - the Creative Academy for

this. First of all, you have eleven months left (or Writers, out of Canada. The Creative Academy
so, depending on when you are reading this.) offers a “pay as much as you wish” approach. I
Second, you have the rest of your life to improve. recommend trying them out before you donate,
That opportunity doesn’t go away when you fail to see how much they help you. Then donate

one or more resolutions this year. And finally, accordingly.
when it comes to writing, I want to give you four We’ll explore each of these in more detail
tools that will help you make progress towards in the coming months. I hope to tell you more
your writing goals this year. about Reedsy in February, Bonni’s book in March,

The first is the Reedsy blog. Totally free, the Writer’s Toolbox in April and the Creative
Reedsy offers writing prompts, writing contests, Academy in May.
and webinars by professionals in the field. Just But I want to start this year with a teaser.
like Toastmasters, Reedsy offers the chance to Here’s a writing prompt for you. No contest, no

get feedback from other writers, as well as the submission (feel free to send me something, if
opportunity of giving feedback. You choose if you wish). Just a little something that might help
and when to submit short stories, ranging from you start writing something new - in this case,
1-3K words long. I’m offering a “first sentence.”

Another of my favorite sources of writing “My mother was doing that thing she did.
prompts is Bonni Goldberg’s book, Room to That thing with the rag in the sink.”
Write. Each of her 150 chapters offers a prompt, Happy New Writing!
discussion about the prompt and a quote related

36 ONE COMMUNITY