I'd Rather Be Writing or Writers Don't Take Holidays

How do you stay in tune, in touch with your writing?  You can talk about it with other writers in writing groups, or make posts online.  Maybe join an online group. 

To me, though, all of that is simply talking - not that any of those endeavors are not worthwhile or worth spending the time.  I prefer, though, to just write something.

When I sit down and look at it for my writing these are what I'm currently writing:  birthday cards, holiday cards, thank you cards, notes with cut outs from the newspaper, my writing journal, my writing ideas book, my poetry ideas notebook, a poetry memoir, a non-fiction book about poetry, 3 blogs, poems, a novel, one letter to the editor and a song!  Make you tired?  It doesn't make me tired!  What makes me tired (and cranky) is if I don't write something for the day, each day even on the weekends. 

Even when traveling, I always take something to use for writing and I do write on the road.  Some people want to talk all the time.  Me, I just want to write!

Journaling for Beginners

There seems to be an unspoken rule, that if you are a writer then you must journal, you probably love it, right?  Well not necessarily.  I have been writing in journals before it became a verb!  I've always written something:  song lyrics, stories, essays, book reports, poems, plays, articles, ad copy, etc. so writing in a journal is a natural thing for me.  I carry a couple of them with me at all times.  In one, I jot down maybe a few words or a sentence.  In the other one, I may write paragraphs of things I want to vent about to really just myself.  I don't write my journals for others to read.  If I did, that would be a memoir!

The important thing to take away from journal writing, is that you are exercising your writing skills well by writing.  It's just as important to practice writing every day as you might do with a sport or a music piece you are trying to play or maybe a presentation or speech you are giving. 

You can find cheap journals in the dollar store, or make your own or even use a notebook - many sizes and types of paper are available.  You may use your journal for any type of writing and include ideas in it as well.

Journaling is a great way to connect with your writing skills and thoughts.  It will keep your writing sharp and fresh!

PR for Poets

What is PR for poets?

There's not a lot on it.  Most of the PR for writing is focused on generalized writing.  There are resources out there, though, if you look hard enough.

Approaching the sale of poetry, though, is or can be a little different.  First of all, how exactly do you want to sell your poetry?  Is it a poem you want to sell?  A picture of a poem?  Maybe a book of poetry or chapbooks?  Maybe you want to put your poem or a few lines on a novelty item like a keychain, tote bag, or pillow.

That's the first step - is where you plan to sell it.  If you are selling pieces of poems or single poems, then you can use an online service that prints pictures on things and use those - maybe sell them at craft shows.  As far as books go, I've found that selling them at readings or giving a reading and selling them later has generated the most sales for me.  The next avenue that has been useful is email.  Then, of course, there's social media.  Pick the SM avenue that works for you - where you engage the most with your audience.

To be honest, I'm still learning how to generate PR for myself and my poetry.  It's a learning process for me. I think you have to explore all your options and then pick one or two that really work for you and start you focus there.  The rest, then, will hopefully start to fall into place.