In Britain, boxing day was the day the upper classes gave gifts to the servants (the timing of the holiday just screams "regifting," doesn't it?). Well, like the vast majority of the human race, I have no servants, unless I count that scrappy muse of mine. She's been a little flaky lately -- or maybe I've just become more demanding. Either way, I figured I would make boxing day all about her, in an artist's date kind of way. What could my muse really use today and in the coming year? I think mostly she just needs more downtime. More days at art museums, more long walks without errands at the end of them, more evenings without company or plans. What can you give your muse this boxing day?

"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset . . . His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him."

--Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Best wishes for the holidays from About.com. May we all have the courage to go our own way with our writing this year, no matter what others may think.
(Photo by George Marks / Getty Images)

A writer friend of mine recently spent an evening planning her goals for 2010 with a project manager friend who helped her first brainstorm for goals and then break them down into manageable chunks. Because she also paints and sews, her big goal for the coming year is to integrate these activities with her writing. Her first task? To enroll in a painting class for the spring semester so she can start getting feedback on this side of her creative life. What are you planning for the coming year? Take this year's poll, read comments from previous years, and do a little brainstorming of your own in the comments section below.

Poll:What's your writing resolution?

• Make time to write.
• Overcome writer's block.
• Complete an unfinished work.
• Read more.
• Keep a journal.
• Work on writing space.
• Write a novel.
• Submit work.
• Try a new genre or art form.
• Be easier on yourself.

View Results

If you've got your presents bought and wrapped (or you just want a break from the holiday madness), look ahead to January deadlines. Dobie Paisano, Jentel, and MacDowell all have January 15 deadlines for their residency applications, and the Iowa Review, Per Contra, and Glimmer Train are all hosting story contests. But it's high season for writing deadlines: you'll find many more opportunities in the link above.