Monday Poetry Train

This is a snippet/partial poem that I don’t have any further plans on for now.

Beauty shop chatter
revlves around
changing lives
and politics.
Beauticians act
as sympathetic
bartenders do
for men slamming
back brewskies
too late at night.

Take a ride on Rhian’s Monday Poetry Train.  No reservation required.

Filed under: poetry train, writing , beauticians, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Monday Poetry Train, poetry, writing

Resources

I realize some of my readers here are also writers.  I know some, also, are not.  For those of you who are not, pardon me a moment while I deviate a little bit from what you may be expecting.

Blogs are generally good outlets for us to talk about an otherwise largely solitary occupation/hobby.  Some blogs are also very good resources for writers regardless of what level they may be at. 

I’d like to take a few minutes to list a few of those that I think are noteworthy.

Jenn Hollowell – While she started her blog as a chronicle of her writing journey, it’s evolved into a darn good resource.  And she does a good job in putting up interesting posts and good links.

Freelance Writing Jobs – Debra Ng and other contributors maintain lists of markets and leads for freelance writing gigs, often posted daily.

Miss Snark – Miss Snark has retired, but her blog is still available for reading the Snarkives.

Pub Rants – Kirstin Nelson of Nelson Literary maintains this blog.  Past entries have included a close look at “boilerplate” contracts, book deals, copyright, etc.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, but they’re a good place to get started.

Filed under: writing , blogs, Jen Nipps, jennipps, resources, writer, writing

Writers’ Groups

When you go to join a face-to-face local writers’ group, what criteria do you use in deciding if it’s for you or not?

• Do you want once-a-month meetings or every couple weeks?
• Do you want critiques or just a oh-that’s-nice pat on the back?
• Do you want a sense of camaraderie?

Since I’ve moved, I’ve found myself looking for a new group to join.  It’s hard for me to get back to the group I’ve been in for the past seven or eight years, especially considering the fact that I don’t drive.

So far, I’ve found myself a bit disappointed in what I’ve been able to find.  Once-a-month meetings could be okay, but I want — need — critiques instead of the pat on the back.  I would prefer a sense of camaraderie, even though I could do without that because of the groups I have on the ‘net.

What about you?

Filed under: writing , camaraderie, critique, Internet, Jen Nipps, jennipps, writers' groups, writing

Buckle Your Seatbelts!

2008 has started off fast!

There’s honestly been quite a bit of stuff going on for me lately. 

A little over a week ago, I made some calls to find out when the writers’ group meets.  In the process, I talked to a member of the group and the community correspondent for the local paper.  She called me back on Sunday for a quick little interview.  It seems I’m going to be in the paper this week.   (I don’t know if that’s good or not.  *s*)

Speaking of the writers’ group, on February 13, I’ll be doing the program at their meeting.  (They meet once a month.)  It’ll be on The Idea Pocket for Writers.

Speaking of the Idea Pocket (a tool to help tap into your creativity if you’re either blocked or don’t think you’re creative)…I had been paying attention to the search terms people used to land on that particular blog.  A lot of people looked for creativity, creativity exercises, and even some looked for the Idea Pocket (I have my guesses as to how they heard about it).  Earlier this week, an art teacher from Ohio e-mailed me wanting some information.  I’ve sent that to her already.  I mentioned that on AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler and I got another e-mail from someone who writes a creativity column.  We’re going to be doing a Q&A format article for that in March or April.  I don’t know how it came to be, but I’ve been called a creativity expert a couple times now.  I guess I really need to finish the book proposal (almost done except for sample chapters) for the contest and for actual submissions. 

I’ve been working on entries for a contest.  At this point, I have 15 I’m going to be entering (there are 33 total categories, 4 for published books, but you have to be a member to enter the contest).

I wrote an essay about the residency and sent it to Poets & Writers, who said, “Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit our pages.”  OK.  So then I sent a query about it to The Writer for the “Off the Cuff” department.  They want to see it on spec.  I got that sent in on Tuesday evening.

I think that covers it all, but I won’t swear to it.

If the year has started out like this already, I’m both anxious and excited to see how it keeps going. 

Filed under: writing , Absolute Write, creativity, Idea Pocket, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Poets & Writers, presentations, The Writer, WCDH residency, writing

Monday Poetry Train

This one has been one of my personal favorites.  I don’t know why.  It just is. 

 

Bonfire

Fire faeries
pirouette on flaming logs,
spin underneath wood,
play in the embers.
Groups of five and six
spark off,
fly into the night sky.

Bonfires
crackling, popping,
giving ample
playground to the fire faeries,
sparking with their joy,
their unique magic,
playing amid the flames.

(Take a ride on Rhian’s Poetry Train, no reservation required.)

Filed under: poetry train, writing , bonfire, fairies, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Monday Poetry Train, pirouette, poetry, verse, writing

I Am Writer, Hear Me Roar!

The wonderful Jenn Hollowell tagged me for the Roar for Powerful Words award.   Here’s what it’s about:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.

2. List three things that you believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful.

3. Tag five others and comment at their blog informing them that they’ve been tagged with this award: 

Three things I think are necessary to make writing good and powerful:

1. Be open to new ideas.  Don’t close yourself off to anything.  So what if something doesn’t appear to be your preferred thing?  Look at it from as many angles as you can and be open to what ideas might come from it.
2. Refill your creative well.  It doesn’t matter whether you call it a well, pond, pocket, or muse.  Do things that restore your spirit and it will, in turn, restore or refill your well.
3. Try it!  One of my problems is submitting things.  What’s the worst they can say?  No.  Only “no.”  You won’t be blacklisted from submitting anything anywhere ever again just because you got a rejection.  Who knows?  They might even say yes.  You won’t know unless you try it.  (Yes, I have to work on this one myself.)

Now for five people to tag:

1. Nita
2. Dorothy
3. Lori
4. Carys
5. Rhian

Filed under: writing , creativity, Jen Nipps, jennipps, memes, writing

Making Progress

One of my goals before the new year was to organize my office.

That didn’t happen.

It’s starting to bother me. I feel somewhat claustrophobic in here and that’s not a good thing. With transcription, who cares? I mean, it’s not an easy job, but it doesn’t require creativity. Just type what you hear and that’s that, pretty much.

It started having an impact on writing, though. Something has to be done about that.

It’s not just junk. It’s boxes of stuff from the move. Today I put up a box of books. Actually put them on the shelves and put the box out on the porch for us to use for putting up Christmas decorations since several of the boxes we currently use for that are flimsy.

So now all of one bookcase is full and one shelf of another is almost filled. Ahhh, books.

Let’s not go into how many I still have in storage, OK? Great. Thanks.

There’s another box in here than needs to just be put in the top of the closet. There’s a suitcase in the closet that I’m going to store some stuff in. I plan to take care of both of those issues tomorrow. Then it will be mostly clear in here. That will be a very good thing.

Once I get it completely cleared out, I hope to be able to move some other things in here that I want. Like a secretary hutch with a fold-down workspace. I love this computer armoire, but there’s no workable desk space. Right now, I have a TV tray holding some projects at my left elbow. And, yes, I’ve knocked it over before. Not a good thing to do.

I have a box of old Avon stuff that needs to go to the dumpster at the end of the driveway. Again, that will be taken care of tomorrow.

When I’m finished with the office, I’m going to move over to the built-in desk in the niche by the laundry room. That’s supposed to be my jewelry workspace. Right now, it’s a junk collector. If I’m going to use it, I guess I have to reclaim it. That’ll probably be done in the next couple weeks.

So that’s progress. And progress is good. Too bad I can’t make any more progress on getting a decent Internet provider. (Meaning high speed instead of dial-up.)

Filed under: writing , creativity, Jen Nipps, jennipps, jewelry, office, organization, projects, workspace, writing

The Things I Get Myself Into

Since I moved back to my hometown a few months ago, I decided to get back in touch with the local writers’ group.  I’d heard they had made some pretty substantial changes since the last time I had been to a meeting, which was about 10 years ago or so.

I talked to the librarian at the public library where they used to meet on Monday afternoons.  She referred me to a local church where they now meet on Sunday afternoons. 

The other day, I finally remembered to call the church.  The secretary didn’t know what I was talking about.  Now, before you start thinking “WHAT???,” I have to say this is a rather large church with more than one secretary.  While one might know about it, others might not.  Instead of just hanging up, though, she put me on hold and went to ask the pastor.  When she came back, she referred me to a member of the group.

I called and chatted with her for a while.  We talked about many things, including writing and things that had happened during the intervening years.  Before we hung up, she mentioned she wasn’t as active in the group as she used to be and gave me the phone number for yet another person. 

I called and visited with her for a while, too.  Again, we talked about many things, this time including our dogs.  (I have a chiweenie.)  When I mentioned about doing a presentation while I was in Eureka Springs, she said, “Oh?”

I thought, uh-oh…

She said she was in charge of getting programs together for the meeting and asked what my presentation was about.  I explained a little bit about the Idea Pocket.

She said, “Do you want to do the program for this month or for February?”

“Um…February…” 

So that’s what I’ll be doing on the third Sunday in February.

Now, the Idea Pocket was originally meant as an introduction to creativity in that the purpose is to show people that ideas are everywhere and you should be able to just reach into your “pocket” and pull one out to work with.  The concept is, of course, figurative, but the Idea Pocket puts a literal spin on it to help show that ideas really are everywhere in even the most common events/things.  I hadn’t thought of how to use the concept with people who already know they’re creative.

But because of this opportunity and the things I get myself into, I’ve already figured out how it applies.  Then again, that wasn’t too terribly hard since I’ve used it myself. 

Filed under: writing , Idea Pocket, Jen Nipps, jennipps, write, writer, writers' groups, writing

Contests as Avenues for Publication

A couple days ago, I recieved a comment to “Writing?  What’s That?” about my opinion on if contests are a good way to get fiction published.  I asked the commenter for permission to quote them, but since I have not yet heard back, I will only refer you to the entry in question.

The short answer:  No, I don’t think contests are a good way to get fiction published. 

The longer answer:  Something you need to remember is that there are a lot of scams out there.  If you hear of a contest you’re interested in, check it out!  Check with Preditors & Editors, Writer Beware, the Bewares & Background Checks board at the AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler, and any other source you can come up with.  Perhaps even the Better Business Bureau, though I wouldn’t swear to that because generally by the time I get to the point where I would check with them, I’ve ruled the potential contest out as one I would like to enter.

The only contests I enter have an acceptable (to me) entry fee and are sponsored by organizations I am a member of.  Those include the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. (where you have to be a member to enter the contest), the Ozark Creative Writers, Inc. (where you are qualified to enter the contest when you pay the conference registration), and Romance Writers of America.  I’ve also entered contests sponsored by AbsoluteWrite, Byline Magazine, and Writers’ Digest.

I will concede the fact that there are some legitimate contests out there where publication is part of the prize package.  You need to do your research and determine which ones those are.

Other than publication being a part of the prize package, such as with many magazine competitions, winning or placing in a contest is no guarantee you will be published.  It doesn’t even mean you will be read.  Some contests are simply ego strokes, which, while they feel good, don’t really matter much in the long run.

Filed under: writing , AbsoulteWrite, contests, OCWI, OWFI, Preditors & Editors, RWA, scams, Writer Beware, writing

Monday Poetry Train

When it comes to holidays and crunch time, I forget about the Monday Poetry Train.  Sorry this particular car has been derailed for a while.

Let’s see what’s waiting in the vault….

An oldie, but (maybe?) a goodie.

FINANCE DANCE

Abe Lincoln
wants to two-step.
Sally Mae
wants to waltz.
Visa comes in
trying to tango.
But rent overwhelms
them all with the twist.

Money talks.
Money dances.
Debt cries.
Debt prances.
Loan struts in,
The be-all end-all cure
for my financial sin.

(Take a ride on Rhian’s Poetry Train.  No reservation required.)

Filed under: poetry train, writing , finances, Jen Nipps, jennipps, loans, Monday Poetry Train, money, poetry, verse