Sarah E. Morin's Blog, page 3

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Today’s poem. Credit goes to my best friend Sherry Pennington (aka Corn) for the pictures. We made beads together a few years ago at Kokomo Opalescent Glass. Can’t remember if these beads are hers or mine! (Hers, I think.)

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When I was in early elementary school, I really did worry about my older self forgetting me. I liked myself reasonably well, and didn’t want to lose me. Now and then I still take an inventory of myself and try to preserve everything I am in a slice of time. It has made me come to realize that we all do change over time, but we never truly really lose ourselves.

In a side note, I am pleased to announce that one of my poems made the longlist for the Alpine Fellowship! I was one of 86 longlisters (is that a word?) out of 2800 entrants. The topic was “identity.”

Why I’m So Much More Productive Writing this Year (and how you can be too)!

Just crossed the 75% completion mark on my goal to submit/publish 100 poems in 2019!


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Let me tell you what is making the difference this year:



1. Write down your goal.

Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, discovered in a study that we become 42% more likely to achieve our goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a regular basis. Your goal ought to be measurable and have a time limit. Mine this year is to submit 100 poems for publication or to contests. We’re writers, so writing down our goals ought to be an easy warm up to creating our masterpieces. 

 

2. Tell someone about it.

We all know about accountability partners. I don’t need someone to kick my butt if I don’t write. I honestly would hate if someone called me up to nag. No, my accountability partners need do nothing but listen. The shame of not following through after I tell someone I will do something is enough. I am my greatest motivator. On the plus side, it’s nice to hear people cheering you on as you report on your progress. I told Facebook. You can tell your friend or partner. Or your dog. Someone.

 

3. Sign up for free writing enewsletters.

Combing through the Internet for contests and magazines who accept your work is a pain. Good news! There are people who will do half the work for you. My supportive hubby actually signed me up for two writing enewsletters – so sweet. We both go through the newsletter and find opportunities that pique our interest. My top picks:

 

Freedom With Writing

 

Authors Publish

 

Both are free to subscribe. They send you an email several times a week with a quick synopsis of the opportunity and links to the site of the publisher or contest. It will look something like this:

 

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And then you click through to this:

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As you see, there may be ads, but they are not obnoxious and well worth it since it’s a free service. Both Authors Publish and Freedom With Writing put a special focus on opportunities that pay the author and have no entry fees. Can’t guarantee every opportunity will meet those criteria, but so far most have.

Another benefit of subscribing to enewsletters is they provide natural writing prompts. I never knew I wanted to write a utopian short story, or a prose poem about Alzheimer’s–until the submission guidelines suggested it.

4. Put the deadlines on your calendar.

It’s no secret that we get more done with a deadline nipping at our heels. Contests and themed magazines are brilliant at giving me this incentive because they have natural deadlines. So mark up your calendar so you have to look at the deadline and work it into your week. I prefer Google Calendar, so I can copy-paste the submission info and links into the event details. I also color code all my writing deadlines so they pop out. Google Calendar sends me reminders on my phone and email. This may be the only time in my life I have consistently run ahead of schedule on my writing contests. Let me tell you, I have made many a sprint to the post office 5 minutes before closing for the NFSPS contest in prior years!

5. Track your progress.

It’s a good idea to track your submissions anyway so you don’t break rules about multiple submissions or forget who is considering what and when to expect to hear back. So I was already tracking my submissions in Excel. This year I decided to take it further. Every can drive or fundraiser at my school growing up seemed to feature a giant thermometer on a board by the office. Did you know you can actually create these in Excel? There are dozens of tutorials on Youtube.

 

 

So I’m not holding a can drive, but a poem drive. It is unabashedly hoaky, but I get a little thrill every time my thermometer inches up. It creates a drive in me to look for the next contest and fill it more. If you don’t like the traditional thermometer concept, keep your bragging list pinned to your fridge, by your desk, put quarters in a  jar and take yourself for ice cream later.

 

A lot of these are common tips, but they are common for a reason – they work! 2019 has been one of my most productive writing years yet.

What tips do you have for productivity?

Picture of My Grandma

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My Aunt Nancy posted this picture of my Grandma on Facebook a while back. I had never seen it. She seems like a different person at this age, and yet I can see in this face the Grandma I knew and loved. I’d like to ask so many questions…

Impact

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Today’s poem is written in reflection on the passing of Kevyn Miller one year ago. Kevyn was my coworker, and did an outstanding job mentoring the youth I supervise. This morning I was pondering how the youth whose lives he touched are continuing to grow in confidence, pursue the topics he taught them, and work hard as he demonstrated. When we think of impact, is it big and flashy? Or is it deep and gentle?

What kind of impact will your life have?

Waking Beauty Included in Video

Well, this is fun! Waking Beauty was included in a video of 9 Astounding Works of Christian Fantasy.

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Especially jazzed to be on a list with Karen Hancock and The Light of Eidon. She’s my favorite Christian writer, hands down.

The video is an Ezvid Wiki and was posted by Beaarriola. Thanks, all!

 

Spring Fanfare

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Getting my Georgia O’Keefe on at Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve in Fishers, IN.

Potholes

Last night, bumping along the road, I was reminded of this poem I wrote a while back:

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Weighed and Found Wanting

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Today’s poem is about jealousy. I believe ambition can be a good thing, but it has to be carefully driven, like a prize racehorse. When I start comparing myself to others, I tend to glaze over the nuances of each of our experiences. I was never meant to be better than others – I was meant to be the best me possible. And I can pursue that without denigrating anything someone else achieves.

Who do you compare yourself to? Should you?

 

Shadow Twins

Just as Spike and I were leaving our poetry group, Noble Poets, last night, I caught this image on the wall. The sunset was shining in through large windows on the far side of the room, giving the wall lamp a great shadow. Loved the juxtaposition and had to write  poem.

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Redacted Love Poetry

My first attempt at redacted poetry. In this form, you take any existing written page and select words from it to create a new poem. You can decorate around it. Spike and I created this while preparing to host a both at Nickel Plate Arts last Valentine’s Day.

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Something I love about this form is even people who are intimidated by poetry can do this form, but committed poets find it a creative challenge, too. One lady who stared at her paper for 25 minutes before circling any words later said it was one of the most fulfilling creative experiences she’d had in a while. Poetry is for everyone!