My poem “Telescope Confessions” is in the Winter issue of “Blue Heron Review” published earlier this year.

Diving for Fries

New poem, "Diving for Fries" was recently published by "Arcturus"

It's all in the word, a little about the dash, and white space!

Recently I was critiquing a few manuscripts (I also do manuscript critiquing) for some new clients, and I was really surprised at their use of the dash.  This - or -- or --- if you would like a proper visual of it.

One dash here or there is not such a big deal.  When dashes are all over, though, it makes one ignore the words, the poem, the manuscript and just think about the lines at the beginnings, ends, or in the middle of a line.

---!

Not trying to be funny or anything, but it is like a Yellow Light!  That's a caution light here in the states.  For most, it means okay better slow down, get ready to stop.  For some it means, oh the light's turning red so hit the gas and fly on through.  Not exactly a safe way to drive.

So why put a dash in your poem?  To me, a dash is like taking a pause or a breath when speaking.  You know those people that pause all the time when they talk, and those that never do.

I admit it.  I'm a pauser.  I am thinking of what to say next.  When I'm writing, the words and sentences fly out of me so fast I can hardly get them down.  When talking, not so much.  Talking is a struggle for me most of the time ... unless I'm talking about poetry.

The white space, white lines, a space between words in a poem is another pause, another way to shift focus in the poem.  It can be a powerful move using white spaces within the line, between lines, or all the way down the page.

Down
the

page.

Like that--!

Now for the words themselves.  A writer, a poet, most likely is in love with words and/or reading like me.  I read everything, even those stupid ads they put on restaurant tables. I still enjoy reading a newspaper, billboards, ads and reading the dictionary or words of the day for fun.  Word choices will guide your poem, make your poem and be your poem.  Pick words you are familiar with and don't use too many words that most readers won't know or they will likely not finish reading the whole poem.

If you get stuck, think of your favorite words (you know you have some) and write a poem.  Use the words at the beginning, the middle, the end or use one or two in each verse and see what you come up with.

The proper use of the dash, white space thrown in with the right words can really set your poems on fire!  Sizzle            on--      my poet    friends!

Virtual place poetry

Using a popular social media app, I've started a page where I write poems about one specific area around a certain place.  These poems are what I call virtual place poems.  I'm not submitting them anywhere.  I'm not writing them to submit anywhere.  I'm writing them on the go as inspiration strikes.  Sometimes I even include a picture to go with the poem.  It's a new way to write for me, writing all via an app, editing on the go as well.  It's a great way to keep my writing sharp and different.

I do have readers of these poems.  A lot of them are my friends who usually don't read poetry but because these poems are about a place familiar to them, they are reading them.  It's helped me gain new readership as well among acquaintances and friends who didn't know I was a poet.  It's also helped introduce poetry to people who are interested in the place enough to read a poem about it.

To me that's win-win in poetry/poet land!  New readers.  New people familiar with my work.  New way to go about writing poems!

I will probably put the poems into e-book and possibly chapbook form as some point so I can get them out there in other formats.  But right now it's fun to compose a poem on the go!

Everyday, as a writer, it's important to write something to keep your skills fresh and keep yourself motivated!   Look around on your social media apps and figure out what works for you.

Marketing for Poets

Marketing a poetry chapbook or poetry book, isn't easy but it can be done.  You will probably achieve the most success if you can sell them at readings or in person.  Be sure to autograph them if you do! There are things you can do to market your book and sell copies, so don't be afraid to give it a try!

1) Market your chapbook or book online with a featured website or featured page for it on your website,

2) Use social media like Twitter or Tumblr to advertise your book,

3) Ask friends who teach if they can feature your book or chapbook in a class,

4) Do package deals, where you offer another book of poetry as a freebie for purchasing the chapbook or book you are selling,

5) Get your poetry book or chapbook reviewed,

6) Make postcards, bookmarks, or business cards to advertise your book or chapbook with a link to purchase it (or address if you are also selling them offline),

7) Don't be afraid to make your own plan!

There is a limited market for poetry and poetry readers so it may be easy to get discouraged when trying to sell your chapbook or book.   So carry copies of your chapbook or book with you, and keep searching for options to sell your poetry that may come your way!

Poetry in Pictures: poems inspiring pictures

This is not a post on creating Ekphrastic poetry.  I have read some of it. I generally don't write that kind of poetry myself.  It's not that I don't like art.  I do!  I love Modern Art, though.  Usually when I say that, people adjust their view and look at me sideways as if what's the matter with you?  What is the matter with me? 

I don't like everything to "fit" in a box, in a form, in whatever.  With poetry, there is formal poetry and then there's not.

I'm not talking the kind of poems where you take a book for instance and on every 5th page you pull the 11th line, and then pull the 2nd word and then put that all together in a poem.  I'm not sure I'd call that poetry, but a lot of people do.  My favorite kind of poetry that fits into that are the ones called bookshelf poems - you know where you check a stack of books and take words from the spines and create a poem.  I haven't tried it, but I think it's an interesting choice.

My choices when I take pictures could be seen as interesting (ah, different!) as well.  I'm not talking the family vacation pics or the ones where you pose for endless selfies with your friends (Hi, friends!).  I'm talking what you see, your perspective, your eye.

Images as poetry?  Try putting them all together into a collage.  Does each image speak to you?  Can you put one word with each picture?

I find that if I use an image with a poem, the picture doesn't inspire the poem.  For me it's the other way around:  the poem I want to write inspires the pictures.

My favorite kind of pictures to take?  Water pictures!  I love the water.  I've yet to write a water poem, though, except I do tend to write a bit about swimming (love to swim - I put it up there with breathing!)

Take pictures!  Write poems!  And by all means, be inspired!

One of my many water pictures: 

The Pure Consciousness of Writing

It seems I'm always writing something.  I keep 2 journals.  One is more of we did this, we did that, memories to keep.  The other is more of a writing journal.  Just stuff I want to write, but not put into a project, no writing prompts, nothing like that.  I write for work.  I do poem critiques.  I edit, publish, so there's writing there.  I'm also almost always working on a poetry project (chapook, poem submissions specifically written for a contest or theme issue, books.)  I usually have a short story going too or a novel length work.  I write articles for one of the local papers.  I write song lyrics for my guitar group. 

I'm always, always writing.

I've noticed, though, sometimes I get stuck, I can't continue, I want to scrap it all, don't know how to move characters forward, can't think of the right word to finish the poem, and so on.  When that happens, like most writers I'm sure I get kind of annoyed and think I'll never finish.  If I step back, if I just be then usually something happens or I come across something that missing piece that I can use to pull me out of the stalled state I'm in on a particular project.  It simply seems to happen.  I have to remember to look for the opportunities that move the writing forward!

Writing without writing is writing. 

Thinking about what you want to do with a story, a poem can not just help you finish it but also make it better.  Jotting down ideas or even words can propel your work to the end.

I've been working on a longer piece of fiction and was about to give up.  At the same time, while cleaning out one of my bookshelves I found a book loaned to me by a friend.  I decided to read a little of it and it simply happens to have thoughts on part of what my project is about.  A little coincidental, maybe?  For me, yes because it's not along the lines of what I normally write.

Write in consciousness, we should all aspire to that!