A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-Five-Hundred

I know that I should start writing some different kinds of prose pieces than what I have been working on.  This is not to say that I don't value the work I am currently doing.  I still have strong feelings around the work I've been doing, and the material feels very important to me.  Even so, I recognize that I should be working on some more personal essay type material at the moment.  I feel that would help me in a number of different ways.  For one thing, I believe that it might push me in directions I am not always comfortable going as a writer.  I often don't like to reveal details or specifics and find it hard to talk directly about events in my life.  I think their is a certain amount of fear that comes up for me, if I am honest, and that I feel scared that what I am revealing will cause me harm in some way.  I don't always respond that way, to be certain, and I have a number of poems that are quite revealing, but in general, I find that I get very squeamish about revealing too much.  The best way I can think to overcome that is through confrontation, and I think focusing on some personal essay type material might be good for that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poem: Neighborhood Inhabitants

Neighborhood Inhabitants There was a fox once, and another time, otters, and now a peacock that we think got lost during one of the storms. She stays down on the other end of the street, though, does not visit us. We have a racoon family that stays in our tree some nights, and there is a baby lizard, a brown basilisk, who we have seen several times. It is not supposed to be here, is invasive and troublesome to the local ecosystem, as are the duck.  I hear there are giant snails now who eat stucco or concrete or something of that sort. I have not seen one, though, I just heard they are here and big as my fist.
Read more

A Writer's Notebook, One-Thousand-Eight-Hundred-And-Seventy-Three

I am still finding it difficult to get back to a more productive work schedule at the moment.  In part, I am sure it is that I gave myself permission to slack off a bit, and it is difficult to walk that back, especially because I am still writing and being productive, even if not to the same degree. I know it would be good to get back to doing more writing, but I also know that I am still meeting my core obligations, even if at a more minimal level.  Really, I just need to make the choice and force myself to stick to it.  To that end, I am planning to at least get back to work on my longer projects again tomorrow, even if I don't increase the poetry output right away.
Read more

A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Three

I received my acceptance to attend workshop at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival next year and am very excited to be working with Matthew Olzmann, a poet whose work I have admired for some time.  He has a rare capacity for being simultaneously absurd and serious in ways that are hysterical, but with devastating insights underneath.  I feel quite fortunate to have the PBPF, and can say, honestly, that each workshop I have attended there has been incredible.  As a person who has taken many workshops in my life, and who often finds them wanting, I am always astounded at the caliber of the classes at the festival, both in the instruction and in the community of poets I have encountered.  I only wish it could be more than just one week out of the year.
Read more