Holly Walrath's Blog, page 35
April 15, 2016
The QUOTIDIAN writer: developing a daily writing practice
A few months ago I attended a Poets & Writers Live event in Austin, Texas. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth McCracken, and she said, “Think about every bad price of writing advice and disagree so loudly you write a poem or fiction about it.” Her words served as a retort to the common writing advice, “write every day.” Directly following her keynote, Naomi Shihab Nye laughed that she chose to say this, when Nye would be teaching a workshop later in the day about exactly that: creating a daily writing practice. Two successful authors with two totally separate writing processes.
Today I’d like to give homage to the practice of daily writing, or what I call “The Quotidian Writer.” About a year ago, I was lucky enough to quit my non-writing job and work a shitty part-time one for a while until I finally (read: seven years after my undergrad) landed a job “doing what I like.” During that time, which I like to call My Broken Pocketbook Years, I spent my free time fussing over landing a job in the writing community, whether I could be called a real writer with no publications to my name, and thankfully, writing. And that last has made all the difference.
I started writing every day, as much as possible. Sometimes, this was fruitless (read: a lot.) When I managed to make it work, I astonished myself with what I could achieve. Now, as I juggle my career in writing with my career in the writing community, I am happy to report that I’ve established writing manners. I have things I hold onto about how I write. Writing as a habit transformed my life.
I’d like to address this to you—yes you—new writer who’s still figuring out this whole writing thing. I get asked a lot, what is your process? I get questions along the lines of, how often do you write? How do you outline your work? Do you write from experience or imagination? etc. These are all questions that really mean, am I doing it right? The answer I give every time is, this is how I do it, but every writer is different.
Subtext: Yes and no.
There is no wrong way to write, but I do believe in living as a writer. Trying new things. Trying out methods to see what works for you. Learning, being willing to learn (those are two dissimilar postures). Pushing the physical world away as long as possible, or necessary. Making sacrifices for writing. Experimentation. Openness. Honesty. The readiness to let go of whatever prejudiced notions you have about yourself and see what the other—the “shadow self”—desires. The shadow self is the writer part of you wanting to write at 3am and should not be ignored. It is the part of you bursting with ideas that need writing down. It’s a bit of a creepy bloke/dame/Mz, but that’s okay.
So if you feel your shadow self might be a daily writer, here we go. Here are several exercises intended to foster a daily writing practice: Let’s start easy. Think about your day. What do you do every day? Write down a brief schedule of your daily goings-on. (Example: 8am: Get up. Make breakfast. 9am: Go to work. etc.) Is there time in there for writing? Where would it best fit? Maybe you do this by week, i.e. which day of the week might be best for writing, and start there. That’s okay too. The point is to think about writing as a part of your life and where it might fit into that life. Do you only have a few minutes where you can sit down? Maybe that will be enough. If not, and you’re a writer who needs more time, find a space of time that’s longer. This time may be outside of your “preferred” writing time, so you may have to make it work. It may be late at night, or early in the morning. Maybe it’s a few weeks away. That’s okay too. Just make sure you choose more than one time slot, say 2-3 to start. Go ahead and schedule a date with your writing using whatever method works best for you, iPhone reminders, planner, spousal reminders, parental reminders, post-its, whatever. Then: stick to that plan for a while, say a few days or a few weeks. Don’t let yourself stop. Try not to miss that time, because it’s a promise to yourself. At the end, put away what you wrote for a few days, then analyze it. If you like what you created, then you can start to make this a practice. If you don’t, you’ll need to figure out a different way. It’s my hope that you like what you wrote, but again, every writer is different.So you’ve carved a scrap of time away from your day, you’ve locked your spouse/cat/dog/siblings/parents/friends in a closet so they won’t bug you, you’ve turned off your wifi and you’re sitting down at the paper/computer/typewriter to write. Where do you even start? Here’s a longer suggestion borrowed from Naomi Shihab Nye, who uses William Stafford’s writing process, which has four parts.Write the date, and the location if you are not at home at the top of the paper.Write any haphazard sensory details that have come to you over the last 24 hours, or since you last wrote. The way trees look. Something bizarre that happened at work. It’s like journaling.Write some wise sayings. Broad declarations about the world. Things you wish were true. The quote for your headstone.Go back through and circle the “glittery” parts as Nye calls them, the words/phrases/ideas that you like best. Then expand on maybe one of those ideas for a few minutes, writing whatever strikes you.In addition to Stafford’s process above, Nye suggests adding a list of questions to yourself. They might be questions with no answer. They might be thoughts that are plaguing you. They might be irritations. Write those down too.You can develop a book of daily writing prompts or exercises that work for you. I like lists of strange words, or weird places, or professions. Or you might fill in the blank, “Today I feel . . .” or “I am not . . .” or “I want to . . .” Collect these and refer to them like an “idea book.” They might be story scraps you return to later, or images you find intriguing, or postcards you find, or other found objects. Keep them in an accordion file so they don’t get lost, or a box, or a notebook with pockets, or a favorites folder on your computer, whatever works for you.Consider writing at odd times of the day. Lunch breaks are convenient for this, especially if you are lucky to be able to go walk around during lunch. Take a walk and see the world. Explore a new side street, a new coffee shop. Observe and see what strikes you. Then, at lunch, write down those thoughts. This is how poet Frank O’ Hara worked (and then later published in Lunch Poems).Another good time of day is the early morning. Right when you wake up, before anyone else is awake. Go straight to your desk/couch/patio/writing space, maybe with a coffee, maybe not, and write the first thing that pops into your head. Write for about ten minutes, then go eat breakfast. Come back and read what you’ve written. The idea with this is that your brain will still be in sleepy subconscious space—the dream space. I do this a lot. What’s uncanny is that once the habit is there, you’ll start to wake up thinking about ideas, instead of scrambling to write them down before bed. Your brain gets trained to write in the morning. The side effect is that my brain now wakes me up at 6am to write because it’s used to writing at that time. Oh well. You can sleep when you’re dead, right?Driving is another time you can write. I know this is weird, but it is! How often does an idea pop into your head during your commute? I keep a little recorder in my car for this purpose, so I can press record without causing a car wreck (iPhone not endorsed unless you have Siri set up that way). I speak ideas and then return to them later. Little recorders are pretty cheap, and great to keep around for writing.I’ve woken up out of sleep to write before. Once, I awoke at 3AM, unable to sleep. I dragged myself out of bed, and went to my computer. I then proceeded to write down one a story that became one of my best ideas. I typed about 2k words that night, while my husband slept. Weirdly, I didn’t even feel tired the next day.
These are just a few exercises to use in your daily writing. The key here is mindfulness and commitment. Developing a habit is hard. Writing is hard. But finding a way to live writing is gratifying, if it’s what you love. If you feel committing is hard, try taking a workshop instead. Give yourself goals, either via word count or via time, or via conferences or writing workshops attended. See what works for you, then do it.
Tell us in the comments: What's your writing process? What sticks? What doesn't?
Today I’d like to give homage to the practice of daily writing, or what I call “The Quotidian Writer.” About a year ago, I was lucky enough to quit my non-writing job and work a shitty part-time one for a while until I finally (read: seven years after my undergrad) landed a job “doing what I like.” During that time, which I like to call My Broken Pocketbook Years, I spent my free time fussing over landing a job in the writing community, whether I could be called a real writer with no publications to my name, and thankfully, writing. And that last has made all the difference.
I started writing every day, as much as possible. Sometimes, this was fruitless (read: a lot.) When I managed to make it work, I astonished myself with what I could achieve. Now, as I juggle my career in writing with my career in the writing community, I am happy to report that I’ve established writing manners. I have things I hold onto about how I write. Writing as a habit transformed my life.
I’d like to address this to you—yes you—new writer who’s still figuring out this whole writing thing. I get asked a lot, what is your process? I get questions along the lines of, how often do you write? How do you outline your work? Do you write from experience or imagination? etc. These are all questions that really mean, am I doing it right? The answer I give every time is, this is how I do it, but every writer is different.
Subtext: Yes and no.
There is no wrong way to write, but I do believe in living as a writer. Trying new things. Trying out methods to see what works for you. Learning, being willing to learn (those are two dissimilar postures). Pushing the physical world away as long as possible, or necessary. Making sacrifices for writing. Experimentation. Openness. Honesty. The readiness to let go of whatever prejudiced notions you have about yourself and see what the other—the “shadow self”—desires. The shadow self is the writer part of you wanting to write at 3am and should not be ignored. It is the part of you bursting with ideas that need writing down. It’s a bit of a creepy bloke/dame/Mz, but that’s okay.
So if you feel your shadow self might be a daily writer, here we go. Here are several exercises intended to foster a daily writing practice: Let’s start easy. Think about your day. What do you do every day? Write down a brief schedule of your daily goings-on. (Example: 8am: Get up. Make breakfast. 9am: Go to work. etc.) Is there time in there for writing? Where would it best fit? Maybe you do this by week, i.e. which day of the week might be best for writing, and start there. That’s okay too. The point is to think about writing as a part of your life and where it might fit into that life. Do you only have a few minutes where you can sit down? Maybe that will be enough. If not, and you’re a writer who needs more time, find a space of time that’s longer. This time may be outside of your “preferred” writing time, so you may have to make it work. It may be late at night, or early in the morning. Maybe it’s a few weeks away. That’s okay too. Just make sure you choose more than one time slot, say 2-3 to start. Go ahead and schedule a date with your writing using whatever method works best for you, iPhone reminders, planner, spousal reminders, parental reminders, post-its, whatever. Then: stick to that plan for a while, say a few days or a few weeks. Don’t let yourself stop. Try not to miss that time, because it’s a promise to yourself. At the end, put away what you wrote for a few days, then analyze it. If you like what you created, then you can start to make this a practice. If you don’t, you’ll need to figure out a different way. It’s my hope that you like what you wrote, but again, every writer is different.So you’ve carved a scrap of time away from your day, you’ve locked your spouse/cat/dog/siblings/parents/friends in a closet so they won’t bug you, you’ve turned off your wifi and you’re sitting down at the paper/computer/typewriter to write. Where do you even start? Here’s a longer suggestion borrowed from Naomi Shihab Nye, who uses William Stafford’s writing process, which has four parts.Write the date, and the location if you are not at home at the top of the paper.Write any haphazard sensory details that have come to you over the last 24 hours, or since you last wrote. The way trees look. Something bizarre that happened at work. It’s like journaling.Write some wise sayings. Broad declarations about the world. Things you wish were true. The quote for your headstone.Go back through and circle the “glittery” parts as Nye calls them, the words/phrases/ideas that you like best. Then expand on maybe one of those ideas for a few minutes, writing whatever strikes you.In addition to Stafford’s process above, Nye suggests adding a list of questions to yourself. They might be questions with no answer. They might be thoughts that are plaguing you. They might be irritations. Write those down too.You can develop a book of daily writing prompts or exercises that work for you. I like lists of strange words, or weird places, or professions. Or you might fill in the blank, “Today I feel . . .” or “I am not . . .” or “I want to . . .” Collect these and refer to them like an “idea book.” They might be story scraps you return to later, or images you find intriguing, or postcards you find, or other found objects. Keep them in an accordion file so they don’t get lost, or a box, or a notebook with pockets, or a favorites folder on your computer, whatever works for you.Consider writing at odd times of the day. Lunch breaks are convenient for this, especially if you are lucky to be able to go walk around during lunch. Take a walk and see the world. Explore a new side street, a new coffee shop. Observe and see what strikes you. Then, at lunch, write down those thoughts. This is how poet Frank O’ Hara worked (and then later published in Lunch Poems).Another good time of day is the early morning. Right when you wake up, before anyone else is awake. Go straight to your desk/couch/patio/writing space, maybe with a coffee, maybe not, and write the first thing that pops into your head. Write for about ten minutes, then go eat breakfast. Come back and read what you’ve written. The idea with this is that your brain will still be in sleepy subconscious space—the dream space. I do this a lot. What’s uncanny is that once the habit is there, you’ll start to wake up thinking about ideas, instead of scrambling to write them down before bed. Your brain gets trained to write in the morning. The side effect is that my brain now wakes me up at 6am to write because it’s used to writing at that time. Oh well. You can sleep when you’re dead, right?Driving is another time you can write. I know this is weird, but it is! How often does an idea pop into your head during your commute? I keep a little recorder in my car for this purpose, so I can press record without causing a car wreck (iPhone not endorsed unless you have Siri set up that way). I speak ideas and then return to them later. Little recorders are pretty cheap, and great to keep around for writing.I’ve woken up out of sleep to write before. Once, I awoke at 3AM, unable to sleep. I dragged myself out of bed, and went to my computer. I then proceeded to write down one a story that became one of my best ideas. I typed about 2k words that night, while my husband slept. Weirdly, I didn’t even feel tired the next day.
These are just a few exercises to use in your daily writing. The key here is mindfulness and commitment. Developing a habit is hard. Writing is hard. But finding a way to live writing is gratifying, if it’s what you love. If you feel committing is hard, try taking a workshop instead. Give yourself goals, either via word count or via time, or via conferences or writing workshops attended. See what works for you, then do it.
Tell us in the comments: What's your writing process? What sticks? What doesn't?
March 14, 2016
new work, new poems
I looked at my publications for 2016 so far and realized I kind of needed to do a blog post for them, as there were quite a few! Also, this way I get to give context which is always fun. Enjoy!
My Micro Fiction piece, In the Dark World, is up at Literary Orphans.
This piece was inspired by one of my favorite video games, Zelda: A Link to the Past. You know, the part where you go to the dark world? I've always been fascinated with the concept, the idea that we could have an alternate reality where all our darkest selves live. What would your dark self look like? Powder Keg, my first speculative poetry sale, is up at Silver Blade Magazine
This publication feels important for me for several reasons. It's my first speculative poetry sale (!) and it's also part of a historical narrative poetic sequence book of poetry (say that five times fast) I wrote for my Master's thesis. The sequence tells the story of a character that becomes trapped in a cycle of reincarnation. It draws heavily from American history, as the soul travels between different periods in history. Because I wanted to include each aspect of American history, the character in this poem inhabits the life of a slave, after a previous life of freedom. In other lives, the character is a musician, scientist, civil war soldier, and revolutionary. A second poem from this project will be coming out soon, more info to be announced! I did extensive research for this project, and the poem draws from poetry that was written at the time. A primary influence for the poem is the poet Adah Isaacs Menken, who was a controversial poet and actress, of African American, white, and Creole heritage from New Orleans. Adah died before her book could be published, but her work challenged many ideas of patriarchy at the time. I found Adah's work so fascinating, and her life so interesting, that I couldn't help but weave her work into this piece.
Behind the Glass and Other Poems is up at Sixfold Literary Journal These poems are part of a book-in-progress I'm working on that center on non-traditional ideas of feminism and relationship. I often struggle with the idea of being a woman, a wife, a friend, but also a feminist. I see the things that confine me to these terms, and find myself wondering if it's possible to be all of the above. I think these roles intersect, overlap, but at times pull each other apart.
"Sheaves of Wheat," and "Break of Day" are up at Page & Spine I'll let you draw your own conclusions about Break of Day, just to say that it's inspired by the Houston oil & gas complex.
Sheaves of Wheat is based upon a painting by Van Gogh, which I first viewed at the Dallas Museum of Art many years ago. It is part of a series of paintings on the same subject, concerning the relationship of nature and man. Here's what Van Gogh had to say on the subject:
"One does not expect to get from life what one has already learned it cannot give; rather, one begins to see more clearly that life is a kind of sowing time, and the harvest is not yet here.“
EDIT: The Last Man on Earth is up at Urban Fantasist / Grievous Angel by Charles ChristianSheesh, I wasn't kidding about this being a busy month! I just got news that my microfiction The Last Man on Earth is now live at Charles Christian's Urban Fantasist. Charles' kind words about this piece are little pieces of joy I plan on carrying in my pocket. Thanks Charles!
As always, I encourage readers to draw their own conclusions as they read. Poetry is interpretable, and that's the fun of it. I hope you may read these works and enjoy them.
Thanks for reading!
March 4, 2016
the fee conundrum: via the top 100 lit journals for fiction
This is a blog post I’ve been thinking about for a while, but in recent weeks it feels even more pressing. Last week I opened the e-mail newsletter for one of my favorite literary journals, Pulp Literature, who has published my work in the past, to find a hidden note about a new policy: Pulp Literature will now be charging a $10 submission fee.
My first reaction? Another one bites the dust. I felt a twinge, like every time I get a rejection letter. This was an outright rejection for me, before even submitting. As a new writer, I struggle with the submission fee conundrum as much as anyone else. I’m a broke poet who volunteers at a local writing center. My ability to pay submission fees is nil. For this reason, I don’t submit to journals that require: 1. Only postal submissions 2. Any fee to submit 3. Most Contests (Don't even get me started on that subject). It’s not that I don’t value those journals, I truly do. One day, I may be able to afford to submit for a fee, but right now it’s not an option.
Multiple writers have written about the quandary of running a small lit journal, where many of the editors are volunteers who don’t get paid, versus the artistic dilemma of paying writers and the fact that many writers don’t make enough money to afford submission fees. Even further, writers are often fighting a culture of exposure – when major publications like Huffington Post can get away with not paying writers. Lit journals argue that the fee is for the service, a “tip jar” so to say (putting aside the fact that most tip jars are optional). The argument can be made that journals have other options besides charging fees. They can choose to accept submissions via email, which requires no charge or just the cost of running their email box, which we can assume they would do anyway. Part of the issue may be the rise of Submittable, who charges fairly high costs for a service that is valuable, but let’s be honest, a monopoly.
I realized no one ever really examines this subject on a detailed level. So I made a breakdown of the top 100 literary journals publishing fiction*. This list shows which journals charge a fee, how much that fee is, and whether they pay contributors. You can read below, and draw your own conclusions, if any can be found from this data.
*This list is graciously supplied by Clifford Garstrang, who gave permission for it to be reprinted in this form. This list focuses on literary genre journals who nominate for the Pushcart Prize, and can be viewed in its full glory at Garstrang’s website.
The top 100 lit journals and their fees:
Note: Asterisks next to fees indicate journals that offer mail submissions as well. Question marks indicate no published information on the journal’s submission guidelines.
A few thoughts I have on the list: Glimmer Train’s non-open period fees are $17. They have free periods about 2 months out of the year. Ouchy. Glimmer Train is one of the major lit journals out there winning awards, but this fee is so exorbitant. I can see a small token fee, like many journals offer, especially if the journal offers mail submissions as an alternative, and if the journal pays its contributors. Writers, if you’re thinking of submitting and the entry fee is over $5 for a general open period – pause and consider whether it’s worth the cost. Magazines like American Short Fiction charge a fee but offer no mail submissions. This may be a burden for many writers. Mail submissions are an old-fashioned, but good alternative to charging a fee, at least as a back-up. You can fit 5 pages in an envelope and mail it anywhere in the US for the cost of a stamp (plus another stamp for your SASE). That’s about $1, while these journals are charging an average of $3. You may say that’s a small difference, but if you’re submitting to all the top journals, it adds up. For fiction writers, the fee for Submittable might be worth saving the cost of postage, but not for poets. Some magazines, like New England Review and Bellevue Review, waive fees for subscribers. I actually like this option, because it encourages writers to read the journal and get an idea if it is right for them. But, it is a bit self-serving. I was surprised by the amount of journals that did not provide information on payment or whether they accept simultaneous submissions. I wish every journal was explicit with this info.
The amount of journals not charging a fee is shrinking. I wish I had made this list last year, but I can tell you I recognize several journals that have added a fee. It is my hope that I can address this list again next year and see if anything has changed.
I’m planning a similar discussion on genre magazines, which is an entirely different category. Many genre journals go about this with a much wiser approach. The comparison between the two is fascinating, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for that post.
Until then, submit wisely my friends!
My first reaction? Another one bites the dust. I felt a twinge, like every time I get a rejection letter. This was an outright rejection for me, before even submitting. As a new writer, I struggle with the submission fee conundrum as much as anyone else. I’m a broke poet who volunteers at a local writing center. My ability to pay submission fees is nil. For this reason, I don’t submit to journals that require: 1. Only postal submissions 2. Any fee to submit 3. Most Contests (Don't even get me started on that subject). It’s not that I don’t value those journals, I truly do. One day, I may be able to afford to submit for a fee, but right now it’s not an option.
Multiple writers have written about the quandary of running a small lit journal, where many of the editors are volunteers who don’t get paid, versus the artistic dilemma of paying writers and the fact that many writers don’t make enough money to afford submission fees. Even further, writers are often fighting a culture of exposure – when major publications like Huffington Post can get away with not paying writers. Lit journals argue that the fee is for the service, a “tip jar” so to say (putting aside the fact that most tip jars are optional). The argument can be made that journals have other options besides charging fees. They can choose to accept submissions via email, which requires no charge or just the cost of running their email box, which we can assume they would do anyway. Part of the issue may be the rise of Submittable, who charges fairly high costs for a service that is valuable, but let’s be honest, a monopoly.
I realized no one ever really examines this subject on a detailed level. So I made a breakdown of the top 100 literary journals publishing fiction*. This list shows which journals charge a fee, how much that fee is, and whether they pay contributors. You can read below, and draw your own conclusions, if any can be found from this data.
*This list is graciously supplied by Clifford Garstrang, who gave permission for it to be reprinted in this form. This list focuses on literary genre journals who nominate for the Pushcart Prize, and can be viewed in its full glory at Garstrang’s website.
The top 100 lit journals and their fees:
Note: Asterisks next to fees indicate journals that offer mail submissions as well. Question marks indicate no published information on the journal’s submission guidelines.
A few thoughts I have on the list: Glimmer Train’s non-open period fees are $17. They have free periods about 2 months out of the year. Ouchy. Glimmer Train is one of the major lit journals out there winning awards, but this fee is so exorbitant. I can see a small token fee, like many journals offer, especially if the journal offers mail submissions as an alternative, and if the journal pays its contributors. Writers, if you’re thinking of submitting and the entry fee is over $5 for a general open period – pause and consider whether it’s worth the cost. Magazines like American Short Fiction charge a fee but offer no mail submissions. This may be a burden for many writers. Mail submissions are an old-fashioned, but good alternative to charging a fee, at least as a back-up. You can fit 5 pages in an envelope and mail it anywhere in the US for the cost of a stamp (plus another stamp for your SASE). That’s about $1, while these journals are charging an average of $3. You may say that’s a small difference, but if you’re submitting to all the top journals, it adds up. For fiction writers, the fee for Submittable might be worth saving the cost of postage, but not for poets. Some magazines, like New England Review and Bellevue Review, waive fees for subscribers. I actually like this option, because it encourages writers to read the journal and get an idea if it is right for them. But, it is a bit self-serving. I was surprised by the amount of journals that did not provide information on payment or whether they accept simultaneous submissions. I wish every journal was explicit with this info.
The amount of journals not charging a fee is shrinking. I wish I had made this list last year, but I can tell you I recognize several journals that have added a fee. It is my hope that I can address this list again next year and see if anything has changed.
I’m planning a similar discussion on genre magazines, which is an entirely different category. Many genre journals go about this with a much wiser approach. The comparison between the two is fascinating, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for that post.
Until then, submit wisely my friends!
January 17, 2016
Art as A Way into Writing: An Exploration
The following blog post is a cross-post from Writespace.Ever since childhood, I’ve been an art museum lover. I’m the person that gets to a new city and visits the art museum the very next day. I’ve been to museums in Israel, Portugal, Austin, Boston, New York, DC, Mexico, Maine, and more. It’s a ritual that helps me learn about the city. Different curators work in different ways. Museums have wide ranging collections – from Van Gogh in Dallas to Rothko in Houston. Galveston art museums feature works inspired by the ocean. Portuguese museums are rich in religious artifacts. The Boston art museum includes historical American pieces. Art is a way into a city.
Recently, I’ve noticed a subconscious illustrative quality to my own writing. My work tends to get accepted by Journals that feature art and innovative layouts. I published a poem in Vine Leaves, which is a beautiful magazine-sized journal, and a micro fiction in Literary Orphans, who boasts a collaborative platform between art and writing. My work is lyrical—visual even as it is words on paper. As I track this in my own work, I think about the influence of art. Art is a way into writing.
It’s not that I stare at paintings every day and write from them, although that can be a fun exercise. Part of it is that I am basically a failed visual artist. For a long time that was the career I thought I would follow, and then art classes destroyed my creative desire. Teachers forced me to draw something real. I rebelled--and dropped out of any formal teaching. I still draw, but most days my creative endeavors are applied to writing, where I don’t mind being told what to do. The other part is that I’ve always defined myself as an artist. I’ve written before about my creative inspiration: my aunt, artist Evelyn Peterson. Being the creative person in the family means you are either the black sheep, or the darling. I’ll let you guess which I turned out to be. As my work naturally finds its way into visual representation, I re-learn that art is a way into myself.
The juxtaposition of art and writing isn’t just about responsivity. In writing about art, or using art as inspiration, or having a background of visual art as writers, we’re not just responding to the art itself – to the way it looks on canvas, but something deeper. Visual artists work from the same creative spark of a writer--they find something in the world that disturbs their imagination, and they use it to create. Artists and writers cross over into their imagination, they come close to the disturbance, they bring it within themselves and push it out again, like a heartbeat. Art is a way through the darkness.
On February 13th, I’ll be hosting an art-based idea generator workshop at Writespace. The idea generator is a short workshop meant to give writers creative inspiration--to draw them close to the disturbance. It includes prompts, exercises, thought experiments, and a general fun atmosphere. The idea is not to count words, but to inspire them. We’ll explore different ways of approaching the visual through writing. We’ll also step into one of the artists’ studios, and talk to a visual artist about how they approach their work. For this workshop, art will be a way to generate new ideas.
January 15, 2016
INSPIRATION With Poets & Writers Live
As writers, how do we get inspired?Poet David Biespiel advises that the entry to an idea starts with an irritation – something triggering our minds as writers and making us approach, even with caution. It could be a news story about a lost child, the opening of a flower to the sun, or the way the light looks in the afternoon. The fact that we keep returning to the same irritations means that while we become more successful, more accomplished, oft-published writers, within our dark hearts the artist-as-creature still resides.
I spent last weekend in my home town, Austin, Texas, at Poets & Writers Live. The event, hosted by Poets & Writers Magazine, carried the theme of “Inspiration.” I returned to my new city of Houston refreshed and reminded of how significant connecting with other writers is to my life as a writer. We are not solitary monsters, burrowed in our holes with our pincers clenched. We are vessels, waiting to be filled, waiting to overflow.
Elizabeth McCracken, self-proclaimed "crabby" author, and keynote speaker at Poets & Writer's Live, Austin, Texas January 2016 I was impressed by the variety of writers participating as speakers. I found several new names that I plan to follow down a rabbit hole (probably adding to my TBR pile, which is so high it threatens to smother me in my sleep, but hey, it’s not a bad way to go.) Among those names I include Elizabeth McCracken, the self-proclaimed “crabby” keynote speaker, whose words made me remember that not every writer is cut out of the same cloth. We are different, and that is magical. As McCracken proclaimed, “Cultivate your own universe.” This should be our theme for 2016 writers! As Chuck Wendig often says, “You do you.” I find this advice particularly vital for speculative writers. Many new spec lit writers I meet are daunted by the task of world-building. I say – build your own writing life alongside new worlds.
Other treats of discovery included Ben Percy, who sounds like a mix of Darth Vader and the guy who voices movie trailers, and read an essay about creating suspense that as my friend noted, did what it suggested (it managed to be suspenseful and also fulfilling). And oh yeah, he used a picture book as an example.
Naomi Shihab Nye, guardian of the daily poem, believes that as writers, we need to use what we have given our time. I’ll be posting more on this topic soon, as I am fascinated by the range of “techniques” and “practices” different writers employ.
Further writers I discovered include Saeed Jones of Buzzfeed, whose personal experience of finding the self in memoir gave me hope for the genre, and David Searcy, a CNF writer that I surprised myself by loving.
The event culminated in a reading by Texas Slam Poet, Ebony Stewart. I had the pleasure to share the stage with Stewart at Write About Now's recent ladies mic, where she hosted with grace and hilarity. The experience of seeing her read her work in front of a crowd of people who may have never heard spoken word performed live felt exhilarating. Electricity filled the room as a group of writers responded to her work with a standing ovation. It was a moment I will not forget. (Video of her reading at Write About Now below for your viewing pleasure.)
I was reminded that quotations are not just for Tumblr and cloud-background memes. The wellspring of quotes at this event, not just by the speakers, but also by their mentors and the writers that inspired them, dazzled me. Here are a few that stuck with me:
“I am really two poets: The writing poet, and the editing poet.”
–William Carlos Williams
“I am afraid I must insist upon desperation.”
–Dean Young
“Each thing gives us something else.”The more I visit writer’s conferences, the more ornaments of motivation I find within them. I think it’s an amalgamation of absorption within “the craft,” giving one’s self space to address writing as a career and a “thing I do,” but also the importance of relationship with the writing community. This idea of absorption brings me back to Biespiel’s thoughts on the approach to the creative process of writing. As a life practice, I’m trying to come closer to my imagination and inspiration. The closer you come to letting yourself live writing, the more clamorous the creative process will be. Listening to prosperous writers talk about their work reminded me that the process itself doesn’t get easier, but I believe that developing a writing identity can.
–Naomi Shihab Nye
I develop customs for writing events: I take copious notes. I save whatever folder I’m given, and I keep any notes and mementos all in the same folder so I can return to them later. I make note of people that interest me. I try to be less of a wallflower, sometimes without success, bringing home new business cards and handing out a few of my own. My latest habit is live tweeting (you can find my live tweets in the previous blog post.) If all else fails, I have a beer at lunch to clear my mind. It works best if it’s a local tap.
Lastly, I try to approach the irritation with less caution. I tell myself that not every writer is the same. If my curiosity is peaked, I let myself plummet down the rabbit hole, with any luck dragging a few friends with me.
January 10, 2016
Poets & Writers Live austin inspiration live tweet round-up
This weekend I attended Poets & Writers Live in Austin. The theme was "Inspiration". Below are my live tweets from the event in a handy-dandy list for your viewing pleasure. I will be posting a follow-up of my impressions of the event soon.
Lets do this. #pwlive starts with Elizabeth McCracken. pic.twitter.com/8BoUolFo3w
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
Think a/b every bad price of writing advice and disagree so loudly you write a poem or fiction about it. --Elizabeth McCracken #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
.@theferocity on memoir writing: Can I make an object of my past self? #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
On daily writing: "To get started with something tiny can be a gift to ourselves." --Naomi Shihab Nye #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
"When you're writing a novel you want to keep it to yourself until the creature is done." @EdwardCarey70 #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
Without a hyper sensitivity to the relationship that happens at the beginning of one's poems one cannot get to the end. -Alex Lemon #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
"Dig into the mistakes...everything in there will give you the keynote for what you've written." - Susan Schorn #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
"Which brings us to the second rule: You can't just look away." -David Searcy #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
"I'm a Sunday writer but I insist on every day being a Sunday." --David Searcy. #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
"Nonfiction is meaningless. It's the only genre defined by what it is not." --Matthew Gavin Frank #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
With or without God this moment continues to end and end. @CarrieLFountain #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
Ben Percy's use of a Grover picture book to explain narrative is the best thing ever. Things could not be more desperate. #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
@EbPoetry taking the stage ya'll. #PWLive
— Holly Walrath (@HollyLynWalrath) January 9, 2016
December 3, 2015
digital cross-overs: sixfold
I’m a busy writer. Not too long ago (two years to be precise) I decided that if I wanted to be a writer, I had to get busy and write some things. That’s what being a writer means, right? But I also committed myself to community. I committed to submitting. I’m going to share with you a few things I’ve found as a part of this process.
This fall, I stumbled upon a neat little site called Sixfold. Sixfold is an online literary journal where selections for publication are chosen by submitters. There are no editors involved, just writers reading the work of other writers. Sounds interesting right?
The way it works is this: You pay $5, along with several hundred other writers (the full number is unknown) and you vote on a series of manuscripts in three rounds. Each round you vote on 6 manuscripts. The highest voted manuscript gets $1,000. The top 30 poem manuscripts get published. (More about the process is available here.)
I’m in the second round of voting right now, and I have to say I’m enjoying the process. It is challenging to rank manuscripts – Which read slightly better than the last? Or slightly worse? It reminds me of working at a literary journal in college. Except, I can give feedback to my fellow writers! This is my favorite feature of the website.
I don’t know whether my manuscript will get very far in the voting process, but even if it doesn’t the fun of getting to rate poems and receive feedback from other writers hooked me. With NaNoWriMo on, I panicked this week because I realized it was the second round of voting, but I got my vote in.
The voting process is pretty easy. I enjoy reading which poems were picked. The top poems get voted on by a total of 390 writers. This differs greatly from a normal literary journal, which might have 1-2 slush readers, then an editorial board or one editor reading second tier submissions. The economic model makes more sense too. Writers have to pay to play, but they are guaranteed feedback. It is rare (read: doubtful) for a literary journal to offer feedback, especially on poetry. Yet most journals charge for submissions, expecting writers to be happy to pay and receive nothing in return but a rejection letter.
I’m not saying it’s perfect. Sixfold just underwent a serious funding campaign (which it met) to stay alive. No options exist for genre writers. But the model calls into question the traditional literary journal format, and suggests that in our digital world, there are other ways literature can thrive.
What does it mean that literary journals are increasingly crossing into the digital realm? Print is certainly not dead yet, but the space that Sixfold inhabits is one of both democracy (user-generated, user-voted content) and digital community. These two ideas coming together may mean something for the future of literary journals, or they may just be a passing fad.
Let’s just say, it’s another way I’m keeping myself busy.
This fall, I stumbled upon a neat little site called Sixfold. Sixfold is an online literary journal where selections for publication are chosen by submitters. There are no editors involved, just writers reading the work of other writers. Sounds interesting right?
The way it works is this: You pay $5, along with several hundred other writers (the full number is unknown) and you vote on a series of manuscripts in three rounds. Each round you vote on 6 manuscripts. The highest voted manuscript gets $1,000. The top 30 poem manuscripts get published. (More about the process is available here.)
I’m in the second round of voting right now, and I have to say I’m enjoying the process. It is challenging to rank manuscripts – Which read slightly better than the last? Or slightly worse? It reminds me of working at a literary journal in college. Except, I can give feedback to my fellow writers! This is my favorite feature of the website.
I don’t know whether my manuscript will get very far in the voting process, but even if it doesn’t the fun of getting to rate poems and receive feedback from other writers hooked me. With NaNoWriMo on, I panicked this week because I realized it was the second round of voting, but I got my vote in.
The voting process is pretty easy. I enjoy reading which poems were picked. The top poems get voted on by a total of 390 writers. This differs greatly from a normal literary journal, which might have 1-2 slush readers, then an editorial board or one editor reading second tier submissions. The economic model makes more sense too. Writers have to pay to play, but they are guaranteed feedback. It is rare (read: doubtful) for a literary journal to offer feedback, especially on poetry. Yet most journals charge for submissions, expecting writers to be happy to pay and receive nothing in return but a rejection letter.
I’m not saying it’s perfect. Sixfold just underwent a serious funding campaign (which it met) to stay alive. No options exist for genre writers. But the model calls into question the traditional literary journal format, and suggests that in our digital world, there are other ways literature can thrive.
What does it mean that literary journals are increasingly crossing into the digital realm? Print is certainly not dead yet, but the space that Sixfold inhabits is one of both democracy (user-generated, user-voted content) and digital community. These two ideas coming together may mean something for the future of literary journals, or they may just be a passing fad.
Let’s just say, it’s another way I’m keeping myself busy.
November 24, 2015
Upcoming Events
Here's a list of events I'm involved in or will be involved in for 2016. Come hang out with me and learn some writing stuff.
February 9th: Attendee, Poets & Writers Live, Austin, TX.
February 13th: Workshop Leader, Idea Generator Writing Workshop, Writespace. Houston, TX.
February 22nd – 28th: Coordinator, Writefest. Houston, TX.
March 30th – April 2nd: Attendee, AWP, L.A., CA.
June 3rd – 10th: Attendee, Lighthouse Litfest.
June 17th-19th: Panelist, Comicpalooza (More info TBA).
February 9th: Attendee, Poets & Writers Live, Austin, TX.
February 13th: Workshop Leader, Idea Generator Writing Workshop, Writespace. Houston, TX.
February 22nd – 28th: Coordinator, Writefest. Houston, TX.
March 30th – April 2nd: Attendee, AWP, L.A., CA.
June 3rd – 10th: Attendee, Lighthouse Litfest.
June 17th-19th: Panelist, Comicpalooza (More info TBA).
October 27, 2015
Texas Book Fest? You Mean Amazing-McAwesome-Magical Fest Right?
I just got back from the Texas Book Fest last weekend, where I was promoting Writefest, a new literary journal fair and writer’s workshop in Houston, Texas, hosted by Writespace, the local grassroots literary center I work with. I spent the weekend on a whirlwind meet and greet with a fellow writer friend, and I think we may never recover. We hung out with other writers, met remarkable authors, and got some serious Writefest inspiration.Here’s a few highlights from the trip, as if you needed more proof that Austin is a city of magical unicorns.
1. We met Margaret Atwood. She was overwhelming, forcefully devoted to the craft, and it was like standing next to the literary equivalent of some kind of really sweet, tolerant norse god. Or something.
6. We met several people interested in Writefest, and got to share the good word about our mission to embolden new writers to submit submit submit! Austin – you are one rad city and I miss you always.
Now my TBR pile is a massive highland crag and I have to go read for a while to assure my husband I am not a crazy book hoarder. Oh let’s admit it, I am a crazy book hoarder.
