Almost Heaven for Writers

 Although I’m not a writer/poet who enjoys participating in writing retreats, I have found that in order to further my craft I do need to get away from my every day once in a while.  I’m fortunate to live near the mountains or the beach and to one of my favorite places, West Virginia.

In just taking a weekend away, I came up with several new ideas and started on a new poetry manuscript.  Plus I completed a couple of pages for a new short story.  The ideas and inspiration kept on coming.

For writing, you do need to get out there and participate in life or simply get away from your regular routines to help your creative flow and perhaps give more authenticity to your works.  It certainly helps me.

I also came up with another manuscript idea, and a few marketing ideas.  If you’re an indie writer/poet, you of course have to do your own PR most of the time.

It takes time to plan a trip.  And it takes discipline to work on your art as you do.  For me, though, it’s worth it!

Where do you go for your retreat?  Where do you find your inspiration?

(These are pictures I took from a recent trip to West Virginia!)

The Secret Life of Poets

 Do you live and breathe poetry?  You at least read it, don’t you?  How do you live your life as a Poet?

There are so many things that can influence how you write.  Plus, there’s another big I word when it comes to writing:  Inspiration.  What motivates you to write your poems?

For me, I like to take walks in the woods aka forest bathing.  To me, though, it’s really a walk in the woods.  And I like to read - I read poetry almost every day.  I also enjoy talking about poetry with other poets via poetry events, open mics, or when I teach poetry classes.  I read many other things as well:  books, newspapers, ebooks, magazines, billboards, etc.  

For inspiration, though, it’s something entirely different.  Sometimes, I cannot work on my writing and poetry during my normal hours I do so for whatever reason.  It’s then that I look for inspiration at maybe a sporting event, a movie, an art gallery opening, a doctor’s appointment, sitting in the car and waiting, etc.

Ah, yes!  Have you figured it out yet?  

The secret is to my life as a poet, at least for me, is observation!  I am constantly watching, absorbing, experiencing everything.  To me, it’s a key to my writing and realness I wish to convey.  

For you, though, it may be something entirely different.  So if you’re a poet, like me, what’s your secret writing life like?

Poets Who Teach Poetry

If you’re a poet, you probably love poetry, right?  I haven’t come across any poets who don’t seem to love it, but I’m not thinking of casual poets, I’m thinking of ones who read and write it all the time.  

In the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach poetry to students in elementary and middle schools.  It is so rewarding!

I taught a class via Zoom last week and it included not only me reading my poems to them but also talking about why I write poetry.  Plus, the kids also had questions for me.

These were very well-thought out questions, too.  For the first time I was asked Who is your favorite poet, What’s your favorite poem, Do you write other things beside poetry, How long have you been writing poetry, How do you get inspired to write, and so on.  Their teacher had obviously done a great job in teaching them various forms of poetry as well as introducing them to mine using a couple of my place poetry books, “Poetry in LA,” and “Poetry in LA, 2” from my Facebook page @poetryinla. These are local area poems for the most part so the kids find them relatable.

It’s so inspiring to me to see how intently they listened when I read and also how the questions they had of me were so they could learn more about poetry.  They were a wonderful audience!

Since I’ve developed my love of poetry, my goal has always been to encourage others to like it, too.  I enjoy writing so I have a variety of poetry books available as well as poems in a wide range of publications.  I feel this way I can reach a lot of folks with my poems.

Teaching poetry is necessary so that it continues to live on.  Poets are some of the best teachers of poetry there can be!