Confession Tuesday
It’s Tuesday, time to go down into the cave and bring something back for Confession Tuesday. Share a bit of yourself with us and we will do the same.
I confess, I used the phrase “go down into the cave” because I was thinking about the workshop I took last December with Maria Mazziotti Gillan. She used that expression as a writing prompt. Seems appropriate during NaPoWriMo/PAD to metaphorically go down into myself, slay something, and drag it to the page. Feels very primal. Feels like work.
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So far, I have written three poems for April (woo hoo), they’re just not in any shape to post yet. I am also trying very hard not to slip more than a day with my poems. Nothing worse than playing catch-up at the beginning of the month. Fortunately, I have enough journal entries, notes, and bits of phrases to get me started.
This time around, I want to say more of the unsayable. I’d like to push the language and the leaps of thought as a jumpstart for my summer project. Again, the trouble is time. It’s about making a conscious effort to finish a draft in one sitting no matter how much (or how little) time I have.
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I confess that I have a hard time setting boundaries for myself. I have too much on my plate and still I take on more. I’m hoping things level off a bit this week. I want a solid hour of writing time every day, I just need to make sure my hour of time is not at midnight.
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Question for the Blogger users: Is it me or has Blogger changed their programming? My formatting is completely wonky. I can’t create simple line breaks with html tags. Everything runs together in my sidebars. I’m afraid to make changes because it takes forever to reformat--my "All Things Poetry" section is a perfect example. I’m also having trouble posting on other Blogger sites. WTF? So annoying!
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If you’re around Wednesday, April 6, hope you’ll come to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for this event:
The Writer's Life Series: From Idea to Bookshelf: Authors Share Their Publishing Stories
Presented in Collaboration with the National Writers' Union, Boston Chapter
Wednesday, 8-9:30 p.m. Apr. 6, 56 Brattle St.
Admission: $6
Charles Coe, Series Moderator
Barbara Beckwith and Yleana Martinez, Series Advisors
On April 6, three authors will discuss their recently published books and their journey from conception to publishing. Join them as they talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what was unexpected.
Saloma Miller Furlong was born and raised in an Amish community in Ohio, which she left in her quest for freedom and a formal education. She graduated from Smith College in 2007 and currently works in the German Department and European Studies Program at Amherst College. Her memoir, Why I Left the Amish (Michigan State University Press), was published in January 2011.
January Gill O'Neil is the author of Underlife (CavanKerry Press). Underlife was a finalist for ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award, and the 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize. She was featured in Poets & Writers magazine's January/February 2010 "Inspiration" issue as one of its 12 debut poets. She is on the planning committee for the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival. A Cave Canem fellow, January is a senior writer/editor at Babson College and runs a popular blog called "Poet Mom" (poetmom.blogspot.com).
Jerald Walker is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption (Bantam, 2010). His essays have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies, including Creative Nonfiction, The Harvard Review, Mother Jones, The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, The Barcelona Review, The Best American Essays, and The Best African American Essays. He is an associate professor of creative writing at Emerson College.
Sec. 01: 1 Wednesday, 8-9:30 pm. Apr. 6, 56 Brattle St.
$6
I confess, I used the phrase “go down into the cave” because I was thinking about the workshop I took last December with Maria Mazziotti Gillan. She used that expression as a writing prompt. Seems appropriate during NaPoWriMo/PAD to metaphorically go down into myself, slay something, and drag it to the page. Feels very primal. Feels like work.
****
So far, I have written three poems for April (woo hoo), they’re just not in any shape to post yet. I am also trying very hard not to slip more than a day with my poems. Nothing worse than playing catch-up at the beginning of the month. Fortunately, I have enough journal entries, notes, and bits of phrases to get me started.
This time around, I want to say more of the unsayable. I’d like to push the language and the leaps of thought as a jumpstart for my summer project. Again, the trouble is time. It’s about making a conscious effort to finish a draft in one sitting no matter how much (or how little) time I have.
****
I confess that I have a hard time setting boundaries for myself. I have too much on my plate and still I take on more. I’m hoping things level off a bit this week. I want a solid hour of writing time every day, I just need to make sure my hour of time is not at midnight.
****
Question for the Blogger users: Is it me or has Blogger changed their programming? My formatting is completely wonky. I can’t create simple line breaks with html tags. Everything runs together in my sidebars. I’m afraid to make changes because it takes forever to reformat--my "All Things Poetry" section is a perfect example. I’m also having trouble posting on other Blogger sites. WTF? So annoying!
****
If you’re around Wednesday, April 6, hope you’ll come to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for this event:
The Writer's Life Series: From Idea to Bookshelf: Authors Share Their Publishing Stories
Presented in Collaboration with the National Writers' Union, Boston Chapter
Wednesday, 8-9:30 p.m. Apr. 6, 56 Brattle St.
Admission: $6
Charles Coe, Series Moderator
Barbara Beckwith and Yleana Martinez, Series Advisors
On April 6, three authors will discuss their recently published books and their journey from conception to publishing. Join them as they talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what was unexpected.
Saloma Miller Furlong was born and raised in an Amish community in Ohio, which she left in her quest for freedom and a formal education. She graduated from Smith College in 2007 and currently works in the German Department and European Studies Program at Amherst College. Her memoir, Why I Left the Amish (Michigan State University Press), was published in January 2011.
January Gill O'Neil is the author of Underlife (CavanKerry Press). Underlife was a finalist for ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award, and the 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize. She was featured in Poets & Writers magazine's January/February 2010 "Inspiration" issue as one of its 12 debut poets. She is on the planning committee for the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival. A Cave Canem fellow, January is a senior writer/editor at Babson College and runs a popular blog called "Poet Mom" (poetmom.blogspot.com).
Jerald Walker is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption (Bantam, 2010). His essays have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies, including Creative Nonfiction, The Harvard Review, Mother Jones, The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, The Barcelona Review, The Best American Essays, and The Best African American Essays. He is an associate professor of creative writing at Emerson College.
Sec. 01: 1 Wednesday, 8-9:30 pm. Apr. 6, 56 Brattle St.
$6
Comments
I confess that I'm drinking coffee right now. (Exciting confession, that!)
I confess that I'll have anything at a Starbucks except their coffee: a chocolate smoothie, a vanilla bean scone, hot chocolate, etc.
On your question: I haven't noticed any problems with Blogger's formatting -- except once recently, when I tried copying and pasting an old poem, it went from "verse" form to paragraph form. Inexplicably! Happened only once.
Yesterday, I changed to an updated editor function--much better so far (I confess, I haven't been doing anything with sidebars, so I'm just speaking about writing a blog post). To get there, you go to the settings tab, scroll way down to the global settings section, and switch to updated editor.
Good luck! I find all of this maddening. Of course, I'm the type who never moves the furniture around because the old set up is perfectly fine, so any change annoys me. Technology changes drive me around the bend--then I get used to them and wonder how I lived without them.