Your Poem Editing Process

 Okay, so you’ve written a poem.  So, what’s next?  Do you immediately type it up and mail it out or upload it for submission?  Or do you take it to a writers group for feedback?  Do you print it out and frame it on your wall, or give it to someone as a gift?  Once the poem is written, what exactly do you do with it?

For me, unless I’ve written a poem for hire or I’ve written it to enter in a contest or to meet a publication deadline, I let it sit.  Yes, sit!  It sits in my notebook if it’s hand written or it sits on my computer if I typed it.  I then move on to something else.  

It may be months or even years before I get back to that particular poem again.  Yes, really!  I suppose I love to write (almost as much as I like to swim) so I write a lot.  Once I get back to the poem again, that’s when I edit it for typos, subject, line spaces, line breaks, word count, form, style and so on.  I dissect it, I suppose, at that point.  After that, I polish it up and then and only then is it ready to send out into the world if I find a place where I want to send it or a book I want to include it in.

There really is a process to writing poems.  It’s more than just jotting lines down on a napkin or memorizing verses!

How do you work up your poems?  What’s your poetry editing process?

Poetry on the Road

Do you travel?  Go places?  Run errands?  

I find I enjoy reading and writing poetry on the road, or on the go.  If you write place poems, you can certainly gain from being out and about for ideas, etc.  And traveling or moving about is a great way to find time to read poetry, or whatever else you like to read.

Poetry on the Road, to me, is like carrying around that battered book of poems you simply cannot leave home without and reading a few lines, verses, or pages as you travel.  Or it is like carrying that device, notebook, however you write, with you so you can jot down your thoughts, ideas, and turn them into a poem, or two or three.

It could also be if you attend open mics, or attend literary festivals, book fairs, or other art events.  You can take your poetry “act” on the road so to speak.

What do you take with you on the road or even around town?  What do you write as you move about your day or week?

Go ahead and get out there and take your poetry on the road!

Acting Can Make Your Character Writing Better: Live Your Writing, Dream Your Poems

 When I went to acting school in Washington DC I was taught there are two kinds of acting - technique or method.  My school employed technique but we did study method as well.

Later on, I went to Graduate school and earned my degree in Theatre and Communications.  I always preferred writing over acting.  Studying acting, participating in plays and even writing them helps me now with character dialogue.

I always found that experiences helped me with acting.  It also helps with writing.  

Yes, you can research things you write about and never go and do them, etc.  But, how much more real is your writing if you are able to actually do some of the things, go to some of the places your characters do, within reason, of course.  I think it adds that terrifically special element into your works.  

For instance, I wrote an award nominated mystery series (The Glass River and A Sunless Sea) that each time included local history and real places in the community where I live.  People were excited to have been to the places in the books.  In “A Sunless Sea,” I went up the mountain, Hibriten Mountain, where it is mostly set and that way I could include very real details in my story.  I know that what I learned in Acting has been beneficial to the way I write!

Whatever I do during each day, whatever I get to do, I’m always trying to pay attention to specific details (the man in the tank top, with round holes in his ears filled with green rings, his companion a preppy dressed lady in a fancy designer coat) and I make note of them for later use.  I read a lot, watch a tiny bit of TV, and I pay attention in conversations or around me to absorb all these goings on.  As a result, if I fall deeply asleep I often have very vivid dreams.  My dreams could be movies, I sometimes say and laugh about later.

Take aways from them often help me get through a stuck plot point or give me an idea for a poem. You can dream your way into a good poem, ask my favorite poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge!

Have an adventure when you write!  And pay close attention to your dreams … a special verse may await you!

Writers Gonna Write, Poets Got Poetry

Have you ever heard a Writer or Poet or maybe a Teacher say something about the volume of another author’s work and perhaps mention the lack of their own works in the same sentence?  You know it’s the Quality vs Quantity argument.  And of course it does make sense in most everything.  However, if you are living your life as a Writer or Poet along the lines of say Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet” where you cannot live pretty much if you cannot write, then are you not writing most every day anyway?  And if you are writing every day, what are you doing with your works?

For a long time, years probably, I ran a few of my own zines and such and I would have a few things published here or there.  I would write mostly on the weekends.  Later on, I shifted to writing most evenings and on Saturdays, sometimes on Sundays.  I feel better if I write, and I do have something to say and loads of ideas.  It depends, though, how often and how much I write at a time.  

When I started getting into place poetry, I wrote quite a few chapbooks of poems.  The poems simply flowed.  I write more poems than fiction.  I write non-fiction, too.  I do take time to Edit and Revise most everything multiple times.  Sometimes, my works sit for years before I actually do anything with them beyond editing.  So as it stands, once I achieved a level of writing I was comfortable with I began to get more and more things published, without submitting as much. (I did go to Graduate school for Theater & Playwriting, Speech, and Communications.)

I do write to be read.  I don’t write to take the work and leave it hidden on my computer.  I can do that with my journaling if that’s what I choose to do.  

So if you are any of the words bandied about so often and not necessarily in a nice way:  well-published and/or prolific, does that make you any less of a Writer or Poet than someone who maybe writes one story a year, one or two poems a year, and so on?  It can go the same way in reverse, are you any less of a Writer or Poet because you don’t write very much or it takes you a long time to complete something?

Walt Whitman kept on writing on his book “Leaves of Grass” adding and adding to it until he could not.  You can read it in the Deathbed edition.  It took me two years to read it all.  

How you write is up to you.  How much you write is also up to you.  If you want to share said writings with the world, also up to you.  

My thinking is this:  Write Without Ceasing!  It is the writer’s way.  (You can find a home later for your work, if you so choose!)  

The Tools for Writing

What is in your writer’s tool box?  You do have one, right?

You don’t literally have to have a tool or tackle box for this, but then again you always could.  It depends on if you write full time while on the go, or maybe you write only at home or at a desk or you rent studio space (or maybe you simply utilize a table at your favorite coffee or dining spot.)

It’s probably good if you have a routine of sorts when writing, so that you know exactly what you need to do so.  Also, a certain time of day or days when you plan to write would also help.

Here is the ideal writing tools I’d have (or have) when writing at home or on the road:

1) flat surface like a desk

2) pen and paper

3) notebook

4) small note book

5) scrap paper

6) self-stick notes

7) tablet

8) laptop, smart phone

9)Thesaurus 

10) paper clips, envelopes, stamps

11) stapler, stapler remover, staples

12) self-address stamp with ink

13) printer

14) blue light glasses

15) back scratcher

That’s pretty much it!  Of course you can see I use a mixture of off computer means to write as well as on computer.  I prefer to submit by email or online these days but some places still prefer mail.  To me, being a writer means you need to be versatile in your work, and of course to always be prepared to get that idea down by any means possible so you don’t forget it!

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!

Creating Through Experiencing

Lately, I haven’t been writing as much as I have in the past.  No, I don’t have writer’s block.  I don’t have anything in particular, aside from a book mystery series sequel that I’m working on, that I want to write.  I have several poetry books in the editing stages, so I certainly have plenty of material.  I always have several projects I work on at once anyway.

I have become interested in experiencing different kinds of art and sometimes nature to fulfill my creativity that way.  I imagine it will flow into some sort of writing project sooner or later.

For instance, I went to an art museum (in a small city so there was one other person there besides the friend I went with and the 3 emps) exhibit a few weeks ago.  Before that, I visited a historic grist mill which was super scenic especially on a beautiful day.  A couple of months ago, I went to a different art museum, much larger than the other one in the small city which is odd because this one is in a tiny town.  It had an exhibit of drawings by a fresco artist in North Carolina.  I also went to a local sculpture center.  I’ve gone to see a restored submarine (viewing only) and visited a lighthouse (didn’t climb it).  All those experiences really add up for me to fuel my ideas.

The other thing I like to do is to sit and enjoy nature.  By that, I’m watching the trees, listening to all the sounds, and soaking up a little sun (not trying to tan or anything).  Usually, I’m reading something when I do this, too.  

To be a good writer, you really should read something.  Same with most any of the arts, I suppose.

Experiences become memories.  Experience helps you to create.  Experiencing can give you the tools to write with realism.  

So get out there, experience and then create!

It’s all in the View You Find

Okay, here’s where I admit I have always been fascinated by View Finders.  I even enjoy the small ones, the kids toy which you can now customize with photos of your own.  Yes, really!  

There’s something magical about being able to drop in a quarter, sometimes two, and see the world out there up close.  It’s nice, too, that you can actually do something for a 25 or 50 cents as well.  

Whenever we come across one, we always stop and take time to look.  We’ve seen some really neat ones, too!  

Before the ones in the picture shown here, we last took a moment to take a view from one at the top of the Incline Railway in Chattanooga, TN.  Also a fun spot to visit - there’s an outdoor large sculpture park, a train museum and so much more.

View Finders, though, are probably like pay phones and becoming harder to find.  There’s a local train theme park that has one and we’ve looked out of it several times, especially in the Fall when the leaves turn so many different colors.  

You also see them along boardwalks, piers, at mountain attractions.  Of course, you can use your camera or smart phone probably to see the very same thing.  But as a child, you may not have all that so it’s fun to step up those metal steps, drop in your quarter, and twist the view finder around and see what you can see. And as an adult, it’s good to do something a little bit different, to take a look from a completely different view.

The view finder we looked out of yesterday was at a state park.  The overlook was river channels, marshes, and the park.  I kept saying, “Look, there are boats in the channel, and see those boat docks.”  I am very fascinated by anything to do with the water.  And, yes I was smiling and laughing the whole time.

View finders are for any age.  To me, view finders are magic.

So what’s your view?  What do you see when you stop and take a moment to look around?

(Photos taken by LB Sedlacek from the Tower in Palmetto Islands State Park)  

I Don’t Need Prompting to Write (Then Again, Maybe I Do)

April is poetry month!  In celebration, there will be a flurry of poetry events, poems published and of course prompts.  

Do you use prompts to write?  Do you need them?

I’ve noticed a writing publication I read regularly includes prompts in a column.  But it doesn’t stop there, they are everywhere especially if you read non-fiction books on writing.

I use them sometimes, but generally I don’t.  I’m not one to write themed poems, either so I rarely submit anything to a publication that has one.  It’s not how I write.  But how I write and how you write are certainly different!  And for good reason!

What is your favorite prompt to write?  What kind of prompts do you like:  fiction, non-fiction, poetry?

The other way to take prompting in writing is do you need something to get you started or to remind you to take time to do it?  I’ve noticed after a flurry of activity with writing poetry, mostly place or travel poems, I haven’t been writing nearly as much.  I’ve spent more time lately on the sequel to my award nominated mystery series as well as with an idea I’ve been knocking about for several years for a short story - I keep telling myself it’s not something I want to write, but yet there it is.  Some ideas simply won’t leave you alone until you explore them.

Whatever prompting you may need, well it is yours to decide.  It’s your story, in whatever form it may take.