My resolution for the new year is simple and far-reaching, and peripherally writing-related. It’s based on the idea that any piece of writing can be improved by reducing the wordcount by 5-10%. So I resolve to Edit The House: to go room by room and reduce the amount of stuff by 5-10%. We’ve already edited the kitchen, as a side effect of the remodel, and I’m particularly looking forward to editing my clothes closet. I’m less enthusiastic about editing the bookshelves upstairs, but something has to go… they’re so full there isn’t even any more room to cram books in on their sides. There will be a garage sale this summer. I have another goal for the year (but I’m not going to make it a formal resolution, because I prefer to have just one new year’s resolution): to put the novel in the mail by my birthday (February 21). That’ll give me five weeks to edit it after the workshop in mid-January. My resolution for 2004 was to Finish The Novel, which I defined as finishing the first draft, revising it once, preparing the submission package, and submitting it somewhere. I think I can mark that as a near-miss (or even done, if you count sending it to the workshop as “submitting it somewhere”). Not much writing news to report. I’ve been slogging away on my critiques for the novel workshop. I need to pick up the pace, but I’ve been partying hard for the last few days (one party Friday night, two today, another tomorrow). And I need to make an addendum to the David’s Index post of December 30: one more rejection came in under the wire, a 141-day(!) boingeroo from Gordon Van Gelder rejecting the story he asked for a rewrite on. (“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to pin down what isn’t working for me … I’m just not feeling this one.”) Oh well. That one goes to scifi.com next. Happy Gnu’s Ear, everyone!