Comments and Questions
August 13, 2008 by John Hewitt
Guest Post
I have a guest post running today over at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye. My article, Your Competition Stinks – Isn’t it Great!, covers many of the blindingly stupid mistakes people make when they apply for a freelance position. It is the first of my reciprocal guest posts that I am writing to thank the people who helped me out last June when I went on vacation. I’ve been a little slow about getting to these and for that I apologize. My day job has kept me very busy lately, and it has been a real challenge just to keep up with my daily posts. I am trying to pick up the pace though.
30 Days of Poetry
Last September I ran a series called 30 Poems in 30 Days. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. I am considering do it again this year, but I want to see what the level of interest is. I haven’t focused on poetry for a while, so I don’t know how many people in the community are interested in poetry or in a project like that. I feel like I need at least ten willing victims (I mean participants) to make this a fun event. This leads to some questions:
- How many of you would like to see that series run?
- How many of you would participate by posting a poem a day (or at least trying to) using my prompts?
- I am leaning toward writing about poetry in forms this time around. Do you love or hate that idea?
- Would anyone be interested in guest posting for the series?
The Olympics… on NBC!!!
NBC, I know this is futile, but I have three requests:
- Please remove the following words from your broadcasts: mother, father, mom, dad, inspirational, any phrase with “heart” in it except “heart rate”, awe inspiring, tragic, dream, overcome, journey, magical, scrappy, sacrifice and proud.
- I want to see the best. In many events, that means Americans, but in just as many events that means someone else. I want to know more about the best athletes in the world, and I don’t care where they come from.
- No more fake fireworks!
Update
Here are some more words and phrases NBC can drop: unlikely, Superman, rising star, dejected, catch lightening in a bottle
Related links
- The Entire 30 Poems in 30 Days Series -- 2008 (0.500)
- Looking for Guest Bloggers -- $250 Prize (0.404)
- Fear and the Guest Blogger (0.404)
- Why Newspapers are Dying (and what they can do about it) (0.404)
- 5 Reasons I Love Blogging More than Freelancing (0.404)
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I’ll pop over and read your guest post but had to comment on the Olympics. Yes, yes, yes! I would add to the list save the snarky comments about other countries. Typical example, commenting that the Women’s Cuban Beach Volleyball players had lied about their height. Americans would be outraged if a Cuban commentator made that statement about our team. In my mind, one of the best things about the Olympics is to celebrate these incredible athletes from all over the world. Yes, I feel a certain pride for the Americans but I appreciate the talent of all and think they deserve to be treated with respect.
Karen Swims last blog post..The Baffling Case of the Invisible Client
John,
Thanks for the great guest post. I know my readers will enjoy it as much as I did.
John, your guest post reminded me of a job I once applied for which was advertised in the UK national press (Financial Times). At the time that kind of advert usually generated about 300-400 applications which was daunting enough. I came second and the job was offered to the successful candidate. A week or two later the successful applicant pulled out. The employer contacted me and offered me the job straightaway for one main reason. After initially being told I hadn’t won the job, I wrote in to thank them for their time and to say how disappointed I was, how much I had enjoyed meeting the people during the interview process and how much I liked the company. They were obviously impressed by the effort I had made. I ended up as CEO. Sometimes, it’s easy to distinguish yourself just by making a little extra effort.
I would be interested in a 30 poems in 30 days series. The idea of concentrating on forms is a good one because every writer could use a new tool for their toolbox. Of course, some forms take more than a day’s worth of effort, but
I would be happy to contribute a guest post on a form. I have written poems in a wide variety of forms(pantoum, haiku, sestina…) and I’m always ready to try a new one.
John, just had to let you know that your original guest post about Iron Man (that’s the post where I discovered your blog), which inspired my post about Dune, has now helped to inspire another post!
Guess that means I need to keep visiting on a regular basis
Thanks for the inspiration!
Morgans last blog post..The Truth is…I am NOT Iron Man, BUT I am Dave Barry’s Illegitimate Daughter
Hi John! I’m not a poetry writer but the offer of prompts that I could use for my prose writing would be welcome! Thanks!
@ Karen
My newest pet peeve is the announcers telling me what the athlete i “thinking”. During the Mens All Around I just kept repeating the phrase “He’s thinking he needs to do really well in the next event” over and over.
@ Lillie
I was happy to do it. your site is great.
@ Ewan
I am a big fan of the Thank You Note. It is a great tool.
@ Jenn
So far the response is less than overwhelming, but I appreciate your interest.
@ Morgan
Wow, Iron Man just keeps giving. I’ll read your new post as soon as I have a chance.
@ JoniB
Prompts are always good. A month of prompts just might work.
Bring on the formal poetry!!!
I’d love to guest post about some obscure form that surely someone, somewhere, would want to try. I will also do the prompts. Whether or not I will post them is another story.
PS I agree 100% about the Olympics post.
I’m rooting for the 30 Poems in 30 Days series, too!
Even if you’re not a poet, writing poetry can strengthen your fiction voice; give you a better feel for rhythm, diction, and tone; and help you improve the authenticity of your dialogue. In my humble opinion, great fiction writers are attuned to the nuances of language in much the same way a great poet is.
Ditto on the Olympics, though I probably haven’t been watching quite as many different events as you have, John. : ) My husband and I have a running joke where we’re waiting for the next stupid metaphor from any given announcer (we’re still wincing from “China syndrome”)! If they had a dodgeball competition, I would fully expect a “Peking duck” comment of some kind from them … And what’s with booing the athletes in the opening ceremonies–what do they have to do with the politics of their country’s ruler/president/dictator/whatever?
@ Leigh – I’m curious about your view on poetry making a better fiction writer. I feel so ignorant and clumsy when I try poetry. I adore reading it and listening to it, however. Can you offer any advice on overcoming the poetry clutz-ness?
Hi John,
I’d be very happy to see the poetry series. I would also offer a guest post on a certain type of poetry or poet.
I haven’t been writing poetry during the past year, so it’d be interesting to see if those prompts can put me back in poet-mode!
@ Zoë
Thank you for the vote. That puts my count up to six (two people wrote me directly). I need four more people to express a real interest and I will start to work on this.
hello,
I would love to write a poem a day in any form you can throw at me, I need a challenge in my life. So i hope you are up to the challenge of giving us a real challenge
Four K Strong
Relationship Rescue and Love Poemss last blog post..What Makes A Good Relationship
John — I actually found your blog through the poetry series you did last year. I loved it. If you did it again, I would read it.
Amys last blog post..Controversy: the Always Hot Topic for Freelance Writers/Bloggers?
4k, Amy,
Thank you for the support. The chances are starting to look a little better now.
@ JoniB
Hi, and thanks for the question! Off the top of my head, the best advice I can think of I’ll steal from Alexander Pope, who wrote “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,/As those move easiest who have learned to dance.” The only thing I would take issue with in his thoughts is that writing is easy–perhaps for him, but not for me!
I’m by no means an acclaimed poet (or fiction writer, for that matter), but what helped me was to read lots of poetry, and I started out emulating my favorite writers (that goes for fiction, too). Then, over the years, I moved on to my own distinct voice. There are still missteps, of course, but as Pope said, part of the battle is getting the experience, acquiring that skill (and that comes through trial and error).
If nothing else, reading and writing poetry help you develop your ear.
I hope this answer is not too generic, JoniB. I wrote my master’s thesis on a cycle of music-themed poetry, so I could happily sing the praises of poetry until the sky falls down…which would be far too boring for this forum! ; )
If John decides to do the 30P/30D again, I will do my best to promote it and participate in it. (I would like to show that even nonwriters can benefit from poetry, too!)
@Leigh
Thank you for taking the time to answer! I’ll give it some consideration and maybe I’ll even give it a try. Afterall – no one has to read them but me, right?
@JoniB
It’s no problem; glad to do it! Sure, do give it a try–as you said, you are not obligated to share it with anyone. I’ll bet that you’ll find that a lot of it turns out better than you thought it would. And make sure you read them aloud; poetry is meant to be heard! (And this can help with fiction, too!)
Good luck!
Leigh
JoniB and Leigh,
While reading your posts, question and answer, my mind is called to a line in David Lynch’s 1984 movie Dune…
“This is part of the weirding way that we will teach you…
Some thoughts have a certain sound…
that being the equivalent to a form.”
All language has a very real shape, both in thought and in essence. The nuances of meaning and sound affect both speaker and listener, writer and reader. Good writers use this; poets blatently advertising it through form, while movelists employit to sublty create the elements of their narrative.
Dancing is never easy, for there is mouch to coordinate and communicate through the movement of the body, and dancers who feel the music always do it best. But the fact that dancers move with the greatest easy simply states that through learning to dance and move to the usic, a dancer gains control over the body that makes all other movement easier to accomplish. The movement is not easier, just the dancer posesses greater skill.
Poets are dancers among writers. The often self-imposed forms of rhythm and repeated souds of alliteration and rhyme become the beat and cadence of their work; the carefully selected words and phrases, the movements of the hands and feet, the tilt of the head, the leaning into the partner and the gentle leading that guides the reader across the floor of meaning.
As a person learns to dance, that person’s improved skill and control in moving will make all movement easier. As a writer learns to write poetry, the writer’s improved skill and control in writing will make all writing easier. If you wish to improve, write.
Jon, I enjoyed your last poetry series. I will enjoy another. I will write each day in response to you propmts, but my previous posts reflect my feeling on publically sharing my poetry.
JoniB,
Keep writing, trust your voice, and trust the poets you like to read. A common problem (especially for, but not limited to, beginners) is writing as if poetry is just prose with line breaks. One book that addresses what makes poetry poetry is Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky.
Good luck!
Ellen
@ James & Ellen
Thank you! I will certainly give the 30p/30d a try now.
@John
Count me in!
Well said, James and Ellen. I haven’t read any poetry how-to books since the years I was in college, unfortunately, so I can’t recommend any one per se, though I think there might be a widely used book called _Sound and Sense_ that is a helpful stepping stone, but there are many others.
I’ll participate! I was going to do it last year, but I think I was too lazy or something. Also I’ll bring it up at my writing forum, and maybe some of the others would be interested in joining.
The forum is here, if anybody’s interested: http://authorsnotes.info/forum/index.php
Went through you previous series john. Thanks very much.
Sir,
You have inspired me to start my 30 day challenge of poetry. I will start tonight. New year, new adventure, this is great goal for me. Today I was just looking for an average length in poetic books. I’m glad I came across you site. Thanks.
Cordially,
Sandy