September Writing Accomplishments

I had a busy September! Here’s a look at what I accomplished writing-wise:

• Wrote 43 poems
• Submitted 10 poems (3 rejected, 7 pending)
• Received a poetry acceptance from a submission a few months ago
• Had a poem appear at A Handful of Stones
• Completed my chapbook manuscript, entitled We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are
• Submitted the chapbook to two contests (1 rejected, 1 pending)
• Started Daily Text I Like

I’m please with what I accomplished! Especially getting the manuscript finished (with thanks to the help of the fabulous Abe Louise Young). I’ve been working toward that goal for a few years now, and it’s finally coming true.

Here are my goals for October:

• Continue to write at least one poem a day
• Continue submitting individual poems and the chapbook manuscript
• Start keeping track of the poetry collections/chapbooks I read to get a sense of what I like, which poets inspire me, and what doesn’t draw me in. I want to do this to get a better sense of my inspirations and models.
• Start keeping track of the writing guides I use to see which are the most useful
• And, in non-writing things, I am going to attempt October Unprocessed, in which I vow to not eat any processed foods for the entire month. This is going to get interesting.

The process of a chapbook

Last week, I completed the manuscript of We’re Smaller Thank We Think We Are, a poetry chapbook containing a variety of pieces written over the course of about two years. Just completing the manuscript was a huge accomplishment for me, and I had a lot of great help along the way.

I’d been trying to put a chapbook together for a few months, but had been floundering. I had poems, but I didn’t have any clue how to actually turn them into a cohesive book. Plus, my poems were competent (a term my college poetry professor Jerry Harp used to refer to his own work once), but they needed some work, and I was blocked.

I turned to local poet Abe Louise Young for private coaching. Over the course of six weeks, we worked one-on-one to hone my revision techniques, get my poems up to par, and arrange them in chapbook form. Abe has been a fantastic mentor. I feel like a better poet, and now I have a sense of what makes a manuscript complete.

I also had help from my husband, Jon Eric, who read the first version of the manuscript and gave me some feedback that helped shape the final manuscript into what it is now. My friends Reesa, Carly, and Lynn also served as encouraging beta readers. I’m grateful for their support.

Now comes the process of submitting the chapbook to various places. As well as writing more poetry. Because I’m not going to stop at just one chapbook.

100 Words on Revenge

I’m doing another one of Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenges. This time, it’s 100 words on the subject of revenge. And according to Microsoft Office, this is 100 words right on the nose!

 

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When you’re gone, I sit down to write the list of all the ways I will get my revenge, pending my ability to evade the law. But as each idea falls across the page, I cross it out. TP-ing is harmless. Slashed tires are cliché. Salting your lawn is expensive. I don’t have an original revenge idea anywhere in my head, and that’s when I realize I need to just let the whole thing go. No point in prolonging the drama if I can’t be theatrical about it. The list goes in the trash. I go on with my life.