writing poetry strategies

I have a few days to get the latest poetry tip into shape- I write regularly for Literature Base magazine.

I read a bit of poetry- of course I do, I'm a poet. Through this reading, some poems start with a simple word like 'look, wait'.

Can I suggest leading words as the way into a poem, marrying it with a simple vignette- will kids have that coapacity?

revision

I've been literally in the world of my next novel- a verse novel. One of the characters needed to be re-awakened and become part of the three dimensional action and not a part of the static background- well this led to repercussions because the main character showed a trait I didn't know that character had.

A bit like ripples on a mat- it affected to some degree the plot and other parts of the story needed adjusting.

But the good news is that the revision has made the novel so much stronger.

Now for the little tweaks before the novel goes back to my wonderful editor.

Aussie Nibbles

 

My new book due out the 2nd of July

word weeds

I overuse certain words, in both prose and poetry.

I know I do. I use them as tools, trusted, valuable. Or so I think but on a re-write I can see they stop the flow, get in the way, take over. Sometimes they take over from those delicate precise words that conjure up on their own the feeling, the pathos, the suspense, the surprise that I want.

Here then are those word weeds:

* suddenly
* and

Do you have any word weeds that constantly crop up- especially in a new patch of writing ground?

21st

21st parties, I've had my share, well from the parenting and catering point of view- 6 to be exact. My last child turned 21 over the weekend. It was a family gathering from grandparents to grandaughter.

I guess we enjoy hospitality, not the cleaning up afterward or the putting away of dishes and cultery that only sees the light of day on such occasions as this. But what great chatter, hot food, the birthday cake and speeches. ( We still haven't refined this aspect)

Makes me think of my own 21st- a bbq in the garage with some college friends, a low key affair because I had only just got engaged in the December... engaged at 20 now there is the difference between the generations.

 

taken by my grandson

tiny poem

 

Illustration by Ozlem Kesik

Desk life

Submitting work- updating material, working new material, reading, reading emails, meetings, planning workshops, writing emails, and family life a backdrop to the computer screen. These are all new images of a writer. If only... my desk was neatly stacked with paperwork in chronological order, if only I could find that entry form, or scribbled email, or if only I could write that birthday card and post it now...

But I have an idea for a poem- it just flashed now and I've got to get the first line down and the tone before I forget it...

sealines

Cowes, Port Albert, Foster, that's what a quick week's trip in a caravan can bring. Even if it is the start of winter- the sea is powerful and the South Gippsland landscape breathtaking. A new landscape gets new threads going. I love the sea and did a quick spot of beach combing. The wind was wild and it was often a coat, hat and gloves day- so nice to have winter after so much hot dry summer.

I wrote two stories and knitted a few more lines of other stories I have on the go- as well as more lines of a few more poems... at least a caravan doesn't take long to clean.