Attention all you would be writers, at least those of you that aspire to set pen to paper and conspire to create a document that might pique the interest of an editor of a serial publication who in turn will publish your work and compensate you for your efforts with tons of nice crisp greenbacks. It is a little known fact that it is a rite of passage for each and every author, sometime in their career, to editorialize on the phenomena that everyone deals with at one time or another, that of making a New Years resolution. Some of us approach the ubiquitous subject with tongue in cheek, satirically poking fun at the habit many of us have of stating resolve, then promptly failing to keep our word, even when that annual promise is one you made unto yourself. Being someone that abhors hypocrisy, please allow me to confess unto you my own crime or lack of resolve.

For the last several years I have promised to myself that I would set a side some time each and every day for the purpose of keeping a personal journal. A collection of entries describing the events of the day, my opinions, my thoughts, brief descriptions of local and world events. What a noble and worthwhile pursuit, the keeping of such a hollowed document. And with the advent of the personal computer this would be so easy, so simple, to keep a running file on floppy or other media, safe from those occasional crashes of the hard drive or other related computer dilemmas that could wipe out years of work in a heartbeat. I knew in my heart that some day such material could be used as the basis for gainful financial compensation, or perhaps with my last breath on this earth I could make such a noble gesture as to bequeath a lifetime of memories to some local historical society. I have even wrote here in the good old Message Tree how important it was for those of you that have inherited the writings of your ancestors to turn them over to such groups so that the documents could be laid up in the archives for some future generation to use as a window through which to gaze into our present as well as past Ozarks.

Yea Right! You guessed it, after years of making a resolution that this year without fail, I would religiously make entries into a personal journal each and every day, faithfully recording my own little part of history for some future generation of Ozarkers, I have not yet accumulated more than a dozen entries made on any twelve consecutive days out of any of the past 45 years. But hey, it's tough, when you spend so many hours at a computer keyboard that you now have 5 little squares, etched into your forehead, with the letters "QWERTY" from going to sleep at the PC and then hitting your head on the keyboard when you keel over, know what I mean? Have you ever been suddenly awakened by the alarm on your lap top because you have been asleep so long that the thing has almost drained the batteries? How about being awakened by that little voice that says, "You Have Mail," or better yet have you been startled awake by the sound effect used by one online messenger service, the recording that sounds like a fighter jet passing overhead at or about the speed of sound? If you have experienced one or more of these, you probably are like me and have spent way too many hours at the computer!

Now, you are probably thinking, "Ed old boy, you have proselytized the gospel of the importance of keeping a journal for personal reasons, for historical importance, and just general purpose, now give a really good reason why I should take time to write!" Okay, how about money, does that get your attention?

Yes my friends, gather around and lend me your ear, 'cause money talks, and well, we all know what walks. Don't ask me why but suddenly there looms on the horizon the potential for making dollars from your experiences in these old hills and hollers! Perhaps it is just the times in which we live and some folks have a little voyeurism, a more than passing interest in reading about the personal lives of their neighbors. Perhaps it is reassuring to some that they are not alone in dealing with the typical frustrations of day to day life and they find comfort in reading that they share a commonality with others. Whatever the case maybe, you can make money with your journals. Folks are willing to pay to read just good old-fashioned stories.

Have I got your attention now, or are you thinking, "Yep, Crabtree done went and drank too much of that Eggnog recipe featured elsewhere in this issue of THE MESSAGE TREE!" Seriously folks, take a moment to think about the various books that have been published, and even movies that have been made lately that were based on compilations of diaries, journals, even letters mailed home from G.I. Joes when they were off in some faraway land defending our country. Just think about how neat it would be to read what you committed to paper, for instance, the day it was announced that W.W.2 was finally over, the day J.F.K. was assassinated, the day your oldest child was born, your thoughts and emotions on 911. Remember, even if the Iranian hostage crisis was ancient history and happened before you were even born, the currents events of this day, will be history tomorrow, and of interest to you 40 years in the future, just as you are intrigued with what life was like when poodle skirts and flat top hair cuts were the rage, and a '57 Chevy was a new car!

Enough memory lane stuff, let's get to the bottom line. There are now several publications that buy and print your journals, even publications that will help you brush up on your creative writing skills needed to make your ramblings a marketable product. Check out some of the websites mentioned at the bottom of this page.

Another rite of passage for writers is the catch 22 dealing with editors and publishers of some magazines that only will work with previously published writers. Okay, if you are new, and have never been published, how do you get published by a company that only accepts published authors? Of course there are editors that will work with new writers, but why not take advantage of a wide open field that has a lot of demand and is expanding? Another way to get noticed is to start out writing for publications that are themselves new and not yet experiencing necessary cash flow to adequately compensate their writers. The Message Tree has been begging for new writers to submit material, I even watched a commercial on a local television station asking for folks to donate their stories or ideas for stories which would be complied into an upcoming special on the Ozarks. Folks I am here to tell you there is a need for just plain stories and tales about life in "these here" hills. And even if at first you do not make any money from your writing, remember exposure is everything, perhaps an article you wrote for free, will get noticed by a high powered editor and land you a paying gig.

So let us all resolve to take a moment each day to write about our experiences, maybe make a hobby out of saving those funny e-mails you get everyday, and write about them some day. Write about the funny things the kids say, or the adorable grand children, even the frustrations the kids are having with your adorable grand children after you spoil them and send them home. You know, the "turn about is fair play" thing, after your kids drove you nuts, you can now teach the grand kids, your little angels to go home and extract your vengeance upon your unsuspecting children and their spouses! People love this kind of stuff. Just write, don't let that self-doubt, that fear of what if no one will read your work. Take my word for it, someone will read your incessant ramblings, after all you are reading mine aren't you?

For more information, type the word "journaling" into your favorite search engine, and also be sure to check out these websites;

http://www.writersdigest.com/journaling/guidelines.asp

http://www.writersdigest.com/journaling/

http://www.geocities.com/themessagetree/fovotroctnov02.htm