A New Year for 5x5

I suppose you have been wondering where we've been.  We do too.  It is a new year and so here is to a new resolution to keep this blog up.  There are several changes going on at 5x5 and we encourage you to visit here and our website regularly to keep abreast of all that is happening.

1)  We finally attained nonprofit status!  Thanks to several generous donations, we have cleared the final hoop.

2)  We said goodbye to Mishon Wooldridge, our Poetry Editor for the past two years.  Thanks for your hard work.  You will be missed.

3)  We said hello to Sonya J. Dunning, our new Nonfiction Editor!  She is one hell of a writer and brings with her a sharp eye for good writing and a growing list of publications.

These are exciting times for us here at 5x5 and we hope that you will stick with us.

I had meant to talk about writing.  Recently, I entered a 30 Day Poetry Challenge with my friends.  Rather than make New Year's resolutions that always end somewhere in February (or earlier), I committed myself to 30 days of writing every single day.

So far, this has been a success.  I hated sitting down every day to hammer out some new material, but I suppose this is the point of writing every day--to generate new material.  Today marks the half way point and so far, I have been successful.  It is humbling to realize just how much work writing is.  I write every day no matter how I am feeling.

If I am sick, I write.
If I am really busy, I write.
If I am depressed, I write.
If I have nothing better to do, I write.
If I have a deadline for something else, I write.
If I don't want to miss the next episode of Dowton Abbey, I write before or after the show.

I have not been writing at a fixed time every day as my schedule is slightly different each day of the week depending on work, teaching, classes and events.  Sometimes I spend no more than twenty minutes writing.  Other times, I come back to the piece again and again throughout the day.

I used to think that I could only write when I was inspired or that if I wrote every day it would be crap.  The key for me during the past fifteen days is to sit down and actually do the work.  Something will get put on the page.  I have to suspend my judgement and just let myself write.

I encourage each of you readers to set your own writing challenge this year.  Thirty days seem too daunting?  How about 15 days?  How about one week, seven whole days of writing?  Set your goals and set your marks!  I hope some of you will share with us what your own writing challenge was like.

Best wishes in the New Year,
Jory M. Mickelson
Poetry Editor, 5x5