Alright you tenaciously creative monsters: I have made some very important decisions and commitments about my writing lately, and it is damn well time that I build them a sail for exploring the quivering wave-tips of the internet.
The most exciting development is that I have decided I want to work on compiling a book. I have enough poems that I feel proud enough of, or feel I could wrangle into something I am very proud of, that I have realized it's time to build my boat for bigger leagues. I still plan on putting together another chapbook by the end of next month.
I see this as something that will be helpful in my word-winnowing process. It will be like a pre-publishing and I will ask folks for feedback about what I have put out already.
My throat gets lovely jitters when I think about this project. I have a few presses already in mind and don't want to think to horribly seriously about where to send this book which I have yet to form. But if you or somebody you know has a potential lead on a publisher which would be amenable to my work, style, and personality, please send me some info!
Development number 2 is mainly on the jobfront. I have decided (with some help from an incredible new acquaintance!) to apply for jobs in the tech writing field. I have previously let myself feel incompetent and intimidated about these kinds of jobs but well, screw that. I have a bitchin' handle on the written word and would like to be on the market for those skills specifically. Move over Grammar Nazis, I'm aiming to be Mother Teresa with my red pen (instead of a rosary).
Development #3 is more of an update. I am once again redoubling my efforts toward getting writers together. Last weekend I treated myself to a delicious writing group with a group of writers in Olympia (I moved away 5 months ago) and I was so deeply inspired that I NEED to make more space in my current town (Seattle) for writers to breathe out loud!
Showing posts with label writing group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing group. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Two things. In less detail than I would like.
First about the writing group:
As excited as I am to whiz away with a list of ideas for what to do, i am actually thinking I should hold off somewhat and let that process happen organically at the first meeting. I don't want to dictate the purpose/activities of the group as a whole and have realized that the first meeting should merely be a compiling of potential purposes/activities writing folks would like to have folk around for.
My list includes:
Basic sharing of texts generated for second opinions;
Brainstorming activities and the like;
Resource sharing;
(related that) Talk about publicity, promotion, and publication efforts;
Conversations about the politics of writing and being a writer;
Support-type get-togethers of different types (depending on demand);
and finally
Events planned specifically for generating new text.
I hope this list will grow. And I think for the first while or so I will step up to orchestrate events which have particularly sizable amounts of interest (meaning I might plan events I don't want/need to attend but hope others do).
I need to be attentive to cataloging all objectives suggested.
Second:
I think I want to look/dig into better promoting/publicizing my work in real world print. Having my poetry blog take off some (even a little bit), while making me insanely happy, has also made me realize that I could probably accomplish the same thing in print (with effort of course). At this point most of the folks who have bought me chapbooks have been friends/family/coworker etc. And I think I might be able to change that.
I am nervous about that. Hopefully I can step up and be as proud as I feel in front of those I don't know.
More on this point later.
As excited as I am to whiz away with a list of ideas for what to do, i am actually thinking I should hold off somewhat and let that process happen organically at the first meeting. I don't want to dictate the purpose/activities of the group as a whole and have realized that the first meeting should merely be a compiling of potential purposes/activities writing folks would like to have folk around for.
My list includes:
Basic sharing of texts generated for second opinions;
Brainstorming activities and the like;
Resource sharing;
(related that) Talk about publicity, promotion, and publication efforts;
Conversations about the politics of writing and being a writer;
Support-type get-togethers of different types (depending on demand);
and finally
Events planned specifically for generating new text.
I hope this list will grow. And I think for the first while or so I will step up to orchestrate events which have particularly sizable amounts of interest (meaning I might plan events I don't want/need to attend but hope others do).
I need to be attentive to cataloging all objectives suggested.
Second:
I think I want to look/dig into better promoting/publicizing my work in real world print. Having my poetry blog take off some (even a little bit), while making me insanely happy, has also made me realize that I could probably accomplish the same thing in print (with effort of course). At this point most of the folks who have bought me chapbooks have been friends/family/coworker etc. And I think I might be able to change that.
I am nervous about that. Hopefully I can step up and be as proud as I feel in front of those I don't know.
More on this point later.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
As promised: (books!)
A short preface: I have been a pretty serious student for the past five academic years (4 years undergrad L.A. studies graduating with 40+ extra credits and the past year spent DEEP in grad school). This meant having fewer opportunities than I would've liked to read exactly what I wanted. And now for the first time in about 4 years I have a giant stack of books on my nightstand that I got to choose! This makes me gratuitously happy. It's kind of ridiculous.
I just re-established and updated my goodreads account with my summer and fall reads so I have a good reference for the books I want to talk about.
Yesterday I finished reading The Eyre Affair. It was deliciously childish. The action never dipped too far into overbearing. I was surprised every time I put it down that the amount of "action" type stuff that had happened (as the snooty reader in me finds such things in most cases to be fluffy overkill). It reminded me of both Harry Potter (in it's complexity level and attention to detail) and Roald Dahl (in it's clearly playful and unashamedly ridiculous moments). It brought canon literature (perhaps a bit too classically wesatern/euro loaded) into a blissfully public and hilariously diluted cultural pastime. I thought the protagonist was a pleasantly strong female character although I could definitely feel that the book was not written by a woman. The world itself and the problems it presented are the true gems of this book (and hopefully the series!). It was dynamic and playful. Stylistic to the point of being unpleasant to some I am sure, but totally up my alley. And worth trying out if you want a ludicrous escape from academic ideas and conversations about literature.
The writing group's first meeting is drawing near and my mind is spinning like a beehive with wingfuls of ideas and anxiety. My short list of books/readings to bring looks like this:
Writing Down the Bones--N. Goldberg (my favorite book about writing to date)
(essay) Poetry is Not a Luxury--A. Lorde (she gave beautiful and precise words to what I have long believed about poetry)
Writing Without Teachers--P. Elbow (he uses cooking metaphors to great effect to illustrate writing processes)
(poem) A Ritual to Read Each Other--W. Stafford (I am going to post this poem later and write more about it)
Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women who Write--G. Brandeis
And a copy of the Evergreen State College Writing Center's yearly publication Inkwell (which I co-editor-in-chiefed last spring)
(I'll also be bringing copies of my chapbook but don't intend for them to be a focus of the meeting)
Making this list has actually put me in the mind that maybe this writing group should have a collective library of books about writing/for writers/suggested by other writers. Wouldn't that be amazing?
This list has also made me want to make separate post on a few of the resources listed. I will probably make corresponding posts for Writing Down the Bones (which is a truly phenomenal read), Poetry is not a Luxury, and A Ritual to Read Each Other. Also I think I should design a post around the article I wrote for Inkwell, perhaps feature another as well if it seems appropriate.
For the writing group I still need to hash out what I want the meeting to look like in case things oscillate toward the awkward. I also need to compile a list of games and activities I think writers would like to play/do.
Looks like I've got my work cut out for me! See you next time folks!
I just re-established and updated my goodreads account with my summer and fall reads so I have a good reference for the books I want to talk about.
Yesterday I finished reading The Eyre Affair. It was deliciously childish. The action never dipped too far into overbearing. I was surprised every time I put it down that the amount of "action" type stuff that had happened (as the snooty reader in me finds such things in most cases to be fluffy overkill). It reminded me of both Harry Potter (in it's complexity level and attention to detail) and Roald Dahl (in it's clearly playful and unashamedly ridiculous moments). It brought canon literature (perhaps a bit too classically wesatern/euro loaded) into a blissfully public and hilariously diluted cultural pastime. I thought the protagonist was a pleasantly strong female character although I could definitely feel that the book was not written by a woman. The world itself and the problems it presented are the true gems of this book (and hopefully the series!). It was dynamic and playful. Stylistic to the point of being unpleasant to some I am sure, but totally up my alley. And worth trying out if you want a ludicrous escape from academic ideas and conversations about literature.
The writing group's first meeting is drawing near and my mind is spinning like a beehive with wingfuls of ideas and anxiety. My short list of books/readings to bring looks like this:
Writing Down the Bones--N. Goldberg (my favorite book about writing to date)
(essay) Poetry is Not a Luxury--A. Lorde (she gave beautiful and precise words to what I have long believed about poetry)
Writing Without Teachers--P. Elbow (he uses cooking metaphors to great effect to illustrate writing processes)
(poem) A Ritual to Read Each Other--W. Stafford (I am going to post this poem later and write more about it)
Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women who Write--G. Brandeis
And a copy of the Evergreen State College Writing Center's yearly publication Inkwell (which I co-editor-in-chiefed last spring)
(I'll also be bringing copies of my chapbook but don't intend for them to be a focus of the meeting)
Making this list has actually put me in the mind that maybe this writing group should have a collective library of books about writing/for writers/suggested by other writers. Wouldn't that be amazing?
This list has also made me want to make separate post on a few of the resources listed. I will probably make corresponding posts for Writing Down the Bones (which is a truly phenomenal read), Poetry is not a Luxury, and A Ritual to Read Each Other. Also I think I should design a post around the article I wrote for Inkwell, perhaps feature another as well if it seems appropriate.
For the writing group I still need to hash out what I want the meeting to look like in case things oscillate toward the awkward. I also need to compile a list of games and activities I think writers would like to play/do.
Looks like I've got my work cut out for me! See you next time folks!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
To jump right on out of the starting gate:
While mulling over the actual starting of this blog lots of things have accumulated in want of an expressive venue:
First I must give credit to this article which my lovely housemate passed on to me:
which was definitely the straw on my proverbial camel's back. Reading it made me realize that I was being silly by stopping myself from using an additional outlet which is totally available for my using. It helped me push over the final flimsy hemming and hawings.
I liked the article a lot and think it would be especially helpful to writers who feel illegitimate. Essentially the message of "you are not your work" was amazingly succinct powerfully logical, and totally digestible.
My only point of possible divergence would the point about "never-ending edit". I actually do think every piece of writing has endless editing possibilities (not to say that any of them are perfect or even better!). Editing should never be done toward the purpose of perfection but towards appropriate and effective in a particular context (the old diatribe of "keep the audience in mind" is one piece of that). No single edit of a piece of writing can cover ALL the bases. But if you set your sites on a few bases important to your message/cause you have much better chances of effectively covering them.
Second order of business:
I made a giant mess of chapbooks(50) back in September (between applying to 4-5 jobs per day). Pictured (apologies about the quality of the photo better versions to come) above is one example. Some of the covers are different (which I love). It is comprised of 27 poems taken from the April-August sections of my blog. Based on the general feel and progression I chose for the poems I called the chapbook Romantic Breathing. I spent about 6 hours selecting the poems, layout and progression. Each individual book takes about 20 minutes to do the cover art and put together. I'm selling them for $5. I have been trying to carry a few with me everywhere just in case the opportunity arises to show and maybe sell my work to folk. It has been a wonderful experience and I hope to come out with another in February or March. If I continue writing poems at this rate perhaps a chapbook will become a biannual affair (which is almost too exciting to imagine!!!!!)
Two weeks ago I was invited to perform pieces from this book (and some others) as the featured poet at an Everett open mic I have been attending since high school (that's 6 years, whoa). That was really exciting and encouraging. My whole family came and I wasn't nervous at all. The best part was watching my father really enjoy the stuff I was reading. I realized at several points during my performance that I am an incredibly gestural as a poet. Sometimes I would end up rocking as I was reading the words or grabbing little bits of the air as if to shake them into the sensations of a particular personification. It was a joy. I hope to find more performance venues
And lastly (as I recognize that this post is getting overlong) I am so happy/anxious/proud to be the main organizer of a writing group. I moved to Seattle in September and have since been getting more and more involved in my writing. One way this has manifested is through my attempts at getting the writing group started. The first preliminary meeting is this Sunday! I have so many ideas! I don't want to group to be any one thing or have any one writing goal beyond getting writers together. Rather I hope that the meetings and event themselves can be the things which hold goals (like a particular meeting for line edits or an one for idea talk or one for writing games, to share prompts and to trade books etc...). This is a subject I intend to document in the following weeks.
For my next post: books I've been reading
First I must give credit to this article which my lovely housemate passed on to me:
which was definitely the straw on my proverbial camel's back. Reading it made me realize that I was being silly by stopping myself from using an additional outlet which is totally available for my using. It helped me push over the final flimsy hemming and hawings.
I liked the article a lot and think it would be especially helpful to writers who feel illegitimate. Essentially the message of "you are not your work" was amazingly succinct powerfully logical, and totally digestible.
My only point of possible divergence would the point about "never-ending edit". I actually do think every piece of writing has endless editing possibilities (not to say that any of them are perfect or even better!). Editing should never be done toward the purpose of perfection but towards appropriate and effective in a particular context (the old diatribe of "keep the audience in mind" is one piece of that). No single edit of a piece of writing can cover ALL the bases. But if you set your sites on a few bases important to your message/cause you have much better chances of effectively covering them.
Second order of business:
I made a giant mess of chapbooks(50) back in September (between applying to 4-5 jobs per day). Pictured (apologies about the quality of the photo better versions to come) above is one example. Some of the covers are different (which I love). It is comprised of 27 poems taken from the April-August sections of my blog. Based on the general feel and progression I chose for the poems I called the chapbook Romantic Breathing. I spent about 6 hours selecting the poems, layout and progression. Each individual book takes about 20 minutes to do the cover art and put together. I'm selling them for $5. I have been trying to carry a few with me everywhere just in case the opportunity arises to show and maybe sell my work to folk. It has been a wonderful experience and I hope to come out with another in February or March. If I continue writing poems at this rate perhaps a chapbook will become a biannual affair (which is almost too exciting to imagine!!!!!)
Two weeks ago I was invited to perform pieces from this book (and some others) as the featured poet at an Everett open mic I have been attending since high school (that's 6 years, whoa). That was really exciting and encouraging. My whole family came and I wasn't nervous at all. The best part was watching my father really enjoy the stuff I was reading. I realized at several points during my performance that I am an incredibly gestural as a poet. Sometimes I would end up rocking as I was reading the words or grabbing little bits of the air as if to shake them into the sensations of a particular personification. It was a joy. I hope to find more performance venues
And lastly (as I recognize that this post is getting overlong) I am so happy/anxious/proud to be the main organizer of a writing group. I moved to Seattle in September and have since been getting more and more involved in my writing. One way this has manifested is through my attempts at getting the writing group started. The first preliminary meeting is this Sunday! I have so many ideas! I don't want to group to be any one thing or have any one writing goal beyond getting writers together. Rather I hope that the meetings and event themselves can be the things which hold goals (like a particular meeting for line edits or an one for idea talk or one for writing games, to share prompts and to trade books etc...). This is a subject I intend to document in the following weeks.
For my next post: books I've been reading
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