Happy new year! And welcome to the fi rst Writing Magazine of 2022. What writing plans do you have for the year ahead? Do write in and let us know how you’re getting on – we love to hear what you’re all up to, whether by email, letter, social network or pigeon – but don’t worry, I’m not here to check you’re hitting your targets or sticking to resolutions. In fact, quite the opposite. All you have to do is let yourself write, what you want, when you want (and can). It’s advice echoed by several of this month’s authors but I was most struck by memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink (p12), who candidly admits how hard she finds writing and how she uses a variety of psychological tricks to get into it. So if you’re struggling to start – or keep – writing, go easy on yourself: nothing stifles the creative juices more than undue pressure and the weight of expectation and, more often than not, nobody is tougher on us than us. Celebrate the small victories and sooner or later, they’ll turn into big ones.
Now – if you feel like it – get writing!