Thursday, November 1, 2018

Reading Your Poems in Front of an Audience for Beginners

I've been writing for a long time, since I was a kid.  I've been writing poetry not as long, but for many years.  Yet this year, 2018, was the first time I really got in front of people to read my poems.  I had read a few here or there when I won an award or had a poem published in a Lit Mag or two and I was invited to a reception.  Other than that, I had never really read my poems in front of an audience.

For my first reading as a featured poet, I read in front of a group of about 45 people.  Since then, I've taught poetry in schools, at Arts events, and have given a few more readings from my poetry books and one of my fiction books.

Everyone has their own personality and style as well as types of work from which they'd want to read.  The first thing I'd highly recommend you doing if you are wanting to read at an open mic or even give a reading is to read your own works (words) out loud!  Yes, simple advice, but it will make you more confident about what you are reading.

Next, you may want to rehearse in front of family members or the mirror.  Third, you may want to plan what you are going to read (poems or sections from your book) and also plan what you are going to say. 

Fourth, practice!  Just like a musician practices, you as a poet should practice reading!  It will give you confidence and also give you a chance to make sure that you know how to pronounce everything! 

Fifth, be yourself!  Don't try to make yourself into an extroverted performer if you are not. 

Good luck out there and happy reading!

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Lyrics and Poetry

Songs and lyrics evolved into what we know as poetry today more or less.  Can you still use lyric writing for your poems?

If you are telling stories within your poems, it is certainly a good start.  You can take memories and put them together as verses in a song and even use a common refrain or phrase throughout the poem.

What does a lyric mean to you?  Is it a full song?  Maybe a few lines from a song?  Maybe a verse or two. 

Say your poem out loud - what's the lyrical quality to it?  Is there rhythm or not?  Does it rhyme?

Lyrics of sorts can weave back and forth through your words.  It's like having an overall theme or notes to follow to complete the work as a whole.

Poets used to perform their poems out loud on stage, on street corners (and some still do.)  Spoken word poets are reciting their lines in lyrics, but poem like ones, so to speak. 

A poem needs no music, but it can sound like a song all the same ... that gentle or fast flow, that repetitive catchy hook, those end line rhymes or not. 

Writing a lyric poem will gives another way to work out the flesh of a poem just in more of  form, albeit a loose one.  After you've written it, say it out loud, sing it out loud, put it on the page -- which way do you like it the best?  The nice thing about poetry is that you can pick one way or two or all three and still come up with a good poem.

Friday, September 21, 2018

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!

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

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!

Saturday, September 1, 2018

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.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Excerpt from "The Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit"


An Excerpt from the fiction novel "The Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit" 

by LB Sedlacek


"Ernie:

I hope this finds you well.  My handwriting is getting too shaky now to write much.  I still fish, though. 
I bet you are wondering about this mailbox I told you about in my last letter.  Go to Sunset Beach.  Park at the pier.  Bring good walking shoes and your dog if you have one. 
It’s two miles south approximately.  Start walking!
The mailbox is almost beyond the end of the sand dunes line.  There’s a small flagpole there, but I can’t promise it will stay with the weather. 
There’s a bench, too.  Come on.  Sit a spell.  Read the mail.

Yours truly,
Melody"


Now available as a Book or E-book - The Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit   


Wednesday, August 22, 2018

How You Write, Where You Publish

There are so many outlets for writing these days.  Does how you write determine where you write, where you publish?

With blogs, such as my own, you can publish nearly anything anytime you want.  But what if you aren't on a computer, don't use one, don't want to use one, what then?

Journals are a good choice.  Of course, you can do one of those online as well.  You can carry a notebook, notepads, note cards, and write stuff by hand. 

Cell phones and/or their apps can be another destination for your works, your ideas, your thoughts.  You can also publish on certain apps right from your cell phone.

Publications such as journals and zines accept submissions in a variety of styles and types of writing.  Newspapers or magazines may accept articles on spec or hire you as a reporter or writer. 

Other forms include writing ad copy, business writing, speech writing, or maybe writing correspondence for a politician or someone else.

The opportunities exist for you to find a home for your works!  Start at your favorite online source to search for what interests you or visit your local library (or book store) and pick up a reference book writing and/or submitting.  Good luck!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Teach this poem: "Dead Men Don't Know Jack"

BACKGROUND:

My poem, "Dead Men Don't Know Jack" was first published on my Medium page at:  https://medium.com/@lbsedlacek/dead-men-dont-know-jack-95cdd5d6ac5f  As of the writing and posting of this post it has received 3600 views and 2900 reads!  It has to be my most read poem ever.
I'm very proud of it.

I've always enjoyed reading westerns and watching westerns so once in a while I write a western poem.  Another one I wrote pays homage to Louis L'amour - it's called "Boots Crunching on Gravel." 

This poem, "Dead Men Don't Know Jack," is about the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok by Jack McCall so it's based on a true story.  It's a rhyming poem.  Most of my early poems, as this one is, were rhyming poems.  I wrote it when I first started writing poetry so it's one of my earlier works.  Most of my earlier works, as with a lot of beginning poets, rhyme. 

It was inspired by a teacher of mine who used to play the character of the Judge in a play about the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok.  I never saw the play, but every class I had with him he usually brought it up.  My teacher was a story teller himself.  I'm not sure if he ever wrote anything or not.

I am thrilled that my poem has garnered such an interest.  It was a fun poem to write.  I do enjoy writing cowboy poems!

TEACHING THIS POEM:  "DEAD MEN DON'T KNOW JACK"

1) Read the story of Wild Bill Hickok.  What kind of person was he?  Write a poem based on a modern day bad guy.

2) Look at pictures of South Dakota.  What does it look like?  Write a place poem set in the days of the wild west.

3) Talk about cowboys with your group.  What kind of cowboys exist today.  Where did the term come from?  Write a poem about your favorite cowboy hero or bad guy.

4) Watch your favorite western.  Who is the star?  Who are the characters?  Were they real people or made up?  Write a poem like a scene from a western.  Be sure to include settings and wild west characters.

5) Read some of your favorite rhyming poems.  Why are rhymes so popular?  Do you like to read rhyming poetry?  Do you like to read other kinds of poetry?  Write a rhyming poem.  Then take the poem and turn it into a non-rhyming poem, aka free verse.  Compare the two poems.  Which one do you like better.

You can have a lot of fun with western poetry.  You can read real life stories of the wild west or even the modern day west.  You will find plenty of situations, tales or characters (real or not) to write about.  Visit a western movie set (I did that once in New Mexico).   Watch some westerns!  Read some Louis L'amour and come up with some stories of your own. 

You can find out more about me at:
LB Sedlacek
or
LB Sedlacek on Medium

Thursday, May 31, 2018

FINISHING LINE PRESS CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY

FINISHING LINE PRESS CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY:
Words and Bones by LB Sedlacek
$13.99, paper
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/words-and-bones-by-lb-sedlacek/
LB Sedlacek is a poet, author, editor, poem critic and publisher. She has had poetry and short fiction published in numerous journals and zines. Her poetry and short fiction have won several awards. She co-hosted ESC! Magazine’s podcast for the small press, “Coffee House to Go” with Michael Potter. She also served as a Poetry Editor for “ESC! Magazine.” She is the Publisher of “The Poetry Market Ezine” a poetry resource newsletter just for poets. She holds a BA in Business from Lenoir-Rhyne University and an MA in Communications and Theatre from Wake Forest University. She lives in North Carolina with her family and their hyperactive dog! In her free time, she enjoys reading, swimming, and volunteering for her local humane society. Her website is www.lbsedlacek.com Find her on Facebook @lbsedlacekpoet or Instagram @poetryinla

”Words and Bones” is an apt title for LB Sedlacek‘s fine chapbook for words are the scaffolding in these pages; words which both come from and go to the marrow. The author’s craft here has a simplicity, an elegance in clarity which makes even the complex, the scientific, not only accessible but familiar as a memory shared by a particularly American yet, ultimately, universally humane collective unconscious. What a fine mineral of many facets she has brought from her depths into the light of day.” –Stephen Mead, Visual Artist/Author

“You’d never think a skeleton is a complete person. I would have said the same thing about a poem until LB Sedlacek‘s “Words and Bones” came along. It’s a work which truly strips its poems down to their bare bones with all the un-necessary words nowhere to be found, leaving a manuscript of complete and wonderfully brief pieces. These poems expose the often overlooked remarkable details in the every day mundane which can only be seen when a poet’s eyes gaze upon them. The heartbreak, the wonder…you’ll begin to see it in your bones too.” –Rick Lupert, author of “God Wrestler”
#poetry

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Preview poem from "Words and Bones" forthcoming from Finishing Line Press


Whispered Silence
by LB Sedlacek
                                   
                                       He moved his lips this morning.
There was no sound, but I’d
turned it down, but when I
turned it up all I could hear
was the hum of the signal.
It was faded and blocked by the trees
and those eyesore cell phone
towers that never send a signal
when you need it.  I whacked the
TV but that didn’t help.  My
eyes seized on a caption that
explained why there was no
sound.  I took my cell phone
and whacked it on the counter.
I dropped it in the sink to see
if it would float.  I dropped
one in a toilet two years
ago and it sank like my
hand did when I spotted a
fish and tried to grab it.
His lips keep moving and I
watch them transfixed.  I look
up “transmogrification” in
the dictionary and think there
are more words than I could
ever imagine that start with
“ex.”  I stare at his mouth,
his beard, his curly black
and white hair and realize
that I heard every word.


The book is $13.99. Include $2.99 per copy for shipping and handling.  Please mail all orders with a check payable to Finishing Line Press at PO Box 1626 Georgetown KY 40324 or pre-order online:  Pre-Order “Words and Bones” by LB Sedlacek

Monday, May 7, 2018

A review of The Glass River - reviewed by George Brosi

REVIEW OF "THE GLASS RIVER" - REVIEW
BY GEORGE BROSI:

 "This is a murder mystery set in contemporary Happy Valley, North Carolina, in Wilkes County, the site where Tom Dooley grew up and was buried after he was hanged in Statesville in 1868 for the murder of Laura Foster. L. B. Sedlacek is a prolific writer of poetry and fiction. She is co-host of “Coffee House-to-Go” a podcast and the publisher of “The Poetry Market Ezine.”https://apmtbooks.com/blogs/reviews/march-2018-reviews

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Pre-order "Words and Bones" from Finishing Line Press

“Words and Bones” new from Finishing Line Press comes out this summer. “You’d never think a skeleton is a complete person. I would have said the same thing about a poem until LB Sedlacek‘s “Words and Bones” came along. It’s a work which truly strips its poems down to their bare bones with all the un-necessary words nowhere to be found, leaving a manuscript of complete and wonderfully brief pieces…”  ~Rick Lupert, author of “God Wrestler”  SEDLACEK-LB-WEB-600x600
The book is $13.99. Include $2.99 per copy for shipping and handling.  Please mail all orders with a check payable to Finishing Line Press at PO Box 1626 Georgetown KY 40324 or pre-order online:  Pre-Order “Words and Bones” by LB Sedlacek

Friday, March 9, 2018

What's in a Reader or This is Not the Audience I Imagined

Readers come in all shapes and sizes.  When you write, the common mantra is not to just write what you know but to also write for the audience you imagine will read your work.  I don't know that I've ever truly determined who my audience would be.  I've written song lyrics, plays, short stories, non-fiction, memoirs, mysteries, business writing, essays, ads, you name it, and of course poetry.  With all those different kinds of writing that brings different kinds of readers.

Recently I did a poetry reading and wrote a family friendly poetry book with poems all about my local area.  That has brought me a whole different kind of audience that I'd never considered before - local readers! 

Finding local readers is usually suggested when you're looking at marketing ideas for whatever it may be that you are selling.  However, I never would've dreamed that the local part of my latest works ("Only in LA (LA Poems)" and "Traveling with Fish") would stir up such a wide range of interest.  I now have readers that span from elementary school students, to middle school to young adults, adults and seniors!  Not only am I selling more books than ever, I'm reaching all sorts of people with my works. 

I never imagined I would find such a diverse readership.  I think most of the time my readers were fellow poets like myself for the most part. 

I am very happy to discover that my local works have been able to reach so many different people beyond fellow writers.  After all, I don't necessarily write for my work to be read - I write because I have to - but it's a good feeling to have it read and written work is ultimately meant to be read.

So the next time you imagine your audience when you write, go big, go broad, imagine every kind of reader you'd ever want and then go for it.  Now get to writing, your readers are waiting!

Monday, February 26, 2018

Come share poetry with me - Open Mic and Reading

Local poet LB Sedlacek will read from her collection Poetry in L.A. (Lenoir Area) as Poetry Caldwell's featured writer on Friday, March 2 from 5:30-7pm. The event, including a family-friendly open mic, is free and open to all.  Caldwell Arts Council.
#art  #localart  #kidfriendly  #poetry  #ncpoets  #northcarolina  #northcarolinapoetry

Traveling with Fish now available

My new fiction travel novel is now available as an e-book or paperback.



After inheriting a cabin, a travel writer and her family move from the North Carolina mountains to the coast with their dog and fish. "Traveling with Fish" is my travel postcard in literary form all about the NC coast near Hatteras. It's a story that evolves from a travel writer inheriting a fishing cabin from an acquaintance she barely knew and how she and her sons, husband, their dog and their fish all move together and adapt to life on the coast.

Traveling with Fish - Ebook
Traveling with Fish - Book

Monday, January 15, 2018

My interview in South Florida Poetry Journal

South Florida Poetry Journal kindly interviewed me in their January issue in the Five Questions, Three Poets section.  Read it here:  LB Sedlacek - poetry intervew

Watercolor by Firestone Feinberg

Artemis at Sunset

As this year begins to come to a close, I thought about one of my favorite things to do: watching sunsets.  While I am often up early enough...