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

I spoke last night about trying to get my work out, and about the feelings that come up even when placing work here on my blog.  One thing that is helpful for me, in getting past my apprehensions, is just recognizing the sheer volume of work that I currently have.  At present, there are six or seven hundred poems on my computer, most of which were written this year.  Each day, for at least a month now, I have been writing four poems a day, and so that number is swelling rapidly.

Now, the fact that I am so prolific at present is giving me a lot of freedom, as it makes me willing to take certain risks.  For example, as I mentioned, last night, placing work on a blog is a good way for a writer to eliminate the chance of it being published in a journal.  While that is true for an individual work, I am posting one poem a day, while I have already got a large stockpile and am adding four new pieces daily.  In other words, even accounting for the pieces that are bound to be duds, I am able to post a poem a day and feel comfortable that I am not hurting myself.

Indeed, the impact of posting is somewhat the opposite, even just in terms of my own psychology.  In looking at the folders of poetry on my computer, I am often struck with the feeling that I am sort of hoarding all of these pieces I have written.  I am not intending to, but I am keeping them all here on my computer, where others do not see them.  In my mind, I often imagine a dragon keeping a stockpile of treasure, a silly image, I know.  The end point, though, of writing these pieces is not so that they can sit and accumulate. 

So, even without a larger readership, having the blog as a place to post poems regularly functions as an opportunity for me to share work when I don't have a venue, which makes me feel better in general.  Part of this is the desire I have to get these poems in front of an appreciative audience, but beyond that, their is something important for me in just making the gesture of putting the work out.  It is a way for me to not feel that I am just writing these things and waiting to get a publisher.  I am in control, and am taking actions that demonstrate my commitment to the work.

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