Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Poetry’ Category

Aug 27

Energize your writing by entering a contest

Writing is its own reward, but it’s good to submit to contests to see how your work rates. It can give energy and focus to your writing, and if your submission wins, you might catch the eye of an editor or agent.

See the list below for several upcoming contests. For a more detailed list, visit Poets & Writers online.

Flash Fiction
Gemini Magazine
Deadline: August 31, 2013
Entry Fee: $4 ($3 for each additional entry)
Gemini Magazine, Flash Fiction Contest, David Bright, Editor. P.O. Box 1485, Onset, MA 02558. (339) 309-9757, editor@gemini-magazine.com.

Gemini Magazine awards a prize of $1,000 and publication annually for a short short story. Submit a story of up to 1,000 words. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete instructions. Read more

Aug 21

2 Comments

Rented typewriter at a library leads to success for Ray Bradbury

It’s no wonder the late Ray Bradbury was a big supporter of libraries and urged writers to read classics for writing inspiration.

Bradbury mixed a regular writing practice with reading classics to fuel his prolific career.

He wrote the classic Fahrenheit 451for a total cost of $9.80. Bradbury’s office was the library, and in 1951, he rented a typewriter for 10 cents per half hour at UCLA’s Powell Library. When the timer went off, Bradbury would read and draw inspiration from classics, including Herman Melville, William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe. Bradbury, who would have turned 93 tomorrow, wrote his classic Fahrenheit 451 over nine days in an estimated 49 hours.

“Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.” Read more

Aug 19

6 Comments

Try these writing (and reading) exercises to hone your skills

Musicians riff and play scales to practice. Athletes have training routines. Why shouldn’t writers do writing exercises? Sometimes, a writing exercise turns into a poem or short story or becomes the seed of a novel or essay.

Writing exercises offer a way to experiment without the pressure of “getting it right.” They can prompt ideas for your work in progress and warm you up to write for an extended period. If you’re facing a blank page, a writing exercise might be the way in to something new.

Daily writing exercises help establish a routine. The hardest thing about working on a goal can be getting started, whether it’s exercising or writing. Just getting to the gym, putting your running clothes on and stepping out the door, or sitting down in front of your computer or notebook is the first step. Once you’re there, the rest isn’t so hard. And once you’re done with the “workout,” doesn’t it feel great?

Try this exercise: Find a random object in your house. It could be a souvenir you brought home from a vacation, a piece of art, a gift someone gave you, or a memento from your childhood. Write for 10 minutes about the object. Write about what it means to you, how you acquired it, why you keep it. Tell this object’s story.

Read more

Jul 25

Revise your poem with this writing checklist

So many facets of writing craft go into making a poem or story flow and resonate with readers. The complexity of fitting all the pieces together into a meaningful whole is exactly what I love about the challenge of writing and revising.

I’m creating a list (a work in progress) to remind me of what I want to think about when I write and revise my poetry. Maybe these points will help you in your writing or if you’re called on to critique a friend’s poetry.

  1. Does the title help advance the poem’s story?
  2. Is the first line compelling?
  3. Does the first line reveal what I want the reader to know? Does it ground them in the meaning of the poem, hint at what’s to come? Read more

Jul 16

Warm up for writing with poem sketching

I’ve known artists who begin a painting by making a sketch. I see this as a form of experimentation or a rough draft to get a sense of what could be. As a writer, I practice my own form of sketching by playing with words on a page to see what images and ideas rise to the surface.

I first began this form of poetic sketching after reading the book “Poemcrazy” by Susan Wooldridge. I’d type random words in rows on a page, cut them up, and place them in a jar. Taking a handful of words, I’d see which words resonated and how they could be arranged to create a whole. This form of poem making reminds me of how I view writing poetry as a puzzle to solve, figuring out the best way to fit words together to form a pleasing whole. Read more

Jun 20

3 Comments

Master class tips for reading and writing poetry, part II

The more I read and write poetry, the more I see how it helps me approach other forms of writing. In my last post, I wrote about tips for reading and writing poetry. Here are several more tips from a master class I attended taught by poet Matthew Shenoda:

  • Make the title a jumping off point. I usually start out with a working title but then change it at the end after the poem is fully formed.
  • Analyze the “story” the poem tells, it’s angle, and how it pulls you in. Read more

Jun 18

3 Comments

Master class tips for reading and writing poetry, part I

Do you ever struggle to figure out what a poem means or how to approach writing one?

I’ve always loved poetry so when I studied for my MFA, I attended every poetry workshop that I could, even though it wasn’t my focus in the program.

One of my favorite classes was a master class by poet and teacher Matthew Shenoda.

One of Shenoda’s tips was to read poetry conceptually. He suggested we ask ourselves these questions:

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »