A New Year and so... new mayhem

Wow, okay so it's a New Year... now would be a good time to sharpen those pencils or dust-off those keyboards. Yes, we human beings are very often creatures of habit, tradition and ritual. So we like to categorize things and put things in places just so... What the heck am I talking about? Well, consider the ritual of Spring Cleaning. It makes sense to throw open the windows and break out the cleaning solutions and feather dusters in order to air out our homes, and make things new again in time for Spring's new beginnings. We have times and dates and places that we keep for special occasions or even hum-drum duties. And all that being said (or written as it were), perhaps the New Year would be a good time to take inventory of our writing tools and needs for the upcoming months. Do you have enough of your favorite writing tools? Is your sharpener still sharpening sharply or does it need to be replaced or repaired? Is your computer operating at top mode or have all of your files slowed things down to a crawl? Hey, how about that snazzy new writing software you were dying to try out last year? Maybe this year would be a good time to give it a spin! There are tons of things we can do to make this year's writing more pleasant and streamlined... kind of like a literary spring cleaning. Check out those unfinished stories you have languishing in a drawer somewhere... maybe they can be spruced up and be made marketable after all. Maybe you can even take a shot at that screenplay you were unsure of tackling last year. Anyway, the New Year may be a good time to start the ritual of new beginnings, new ideas or the tweaking of not-so-new ones, grabbing the duster and wiping off that computer desk 'til it shines... and then let the murder and mayhem begin for the New Year!