I grew up in the land of parades. The weeks before Lent meant dressing up in homemade costumes, piling into our station wagon, meeting cousins on the roadside, and fighting for throws from floats decorated with scenes from mythology or the Wild West. Now I live in a place where Mardi Gras is a relatively foreign concept, but I wear beads in purple, green, and gold to honor my heritage. I am wearing them now, as a matter of fact.

When I was a kid, Lent meant giving up something: potato chips, chocolate, coffee. (What? I began drinking coffee when I was five years old. First day of kindergarten = first cup of cafe au lait.) As I grew older, I grew out of that Lenten tradition of sacrifice, but it’s in my blood to do something in the weeks between Mardi Gras and Easter, as winter moves into spring.

A project that reflects renewal works better for me, particularly since giving up coffee is no longer on the table. A few years ago, I did 40 straight days of book reviews. Last year, I did 40 days of submitting my work. The book reviews were meant to promote writing by women authors. The submissions were meant to promote my writing.

This year, my winter-into-spring blog project is for you, the working writer. For the next 40 days, early in the morning, I will post 3 writing questions. Each day’s questions will examine some specific aspect of writing or the writing life. The questions may be very specific or quite broad.

Grab a notebook or open a document, and each morning spend a little time thinking about these questions and how they apply to you. You can answer as briefly or in as much length as you wish. There are no grades, no feedback, no judgment. You can post your answers as a comment or keep it as private your teenage diary. Consider it a free mini-course in examining where  you stand as a writer, or in your writing, for the next 40 days.

I’ll also post some pretty pictures, to combat the end of winter doldrums.

The questions begin on Wednesday. For tomorrow, Happy Mardi Gras!