I got up this morning all set to write and catch up on my poems for the PAD November Chapbook Challenge. Then, I was going to write toward NaNoWriMo. And guess what, I’m on my way to it.

I made my list last night, and allowed for Twitter and Facebook and blogging. After that, it was down to the projects that had deadlines. Two things went into this plan.

Time to Play

Twitter and Facebook are like play time for me. It’s where I get to relax, share with and learn from others. It’s my personal growth resource and that’s important. People try to say social media is bad, like guns and hate mail. You know, I find it’s always the person driving the vehicle that determines it’s benefit or danger.

And there are those who say it’s useless. The stats paint a different picture. If you are participating in marginal activities and hear naysayers in your head, it can be distracting. Know what’s important to you and include it in your tasks. Including the lighter tasks breaks up your day in positive ways.

Clear Outcomes

Sometimes my list is murky at best, with varied what ifs and maybes, and open ended deadlines. Those lists are helpful guides. Still, when I can be concrete, it helps me to formulate a clear vision in my head. Visualization helps me to know where I’m headed, how I’m getting there and when I’ve arrived.

Knowing What Comes Next

Generally, I like to go with the flow. And I like that flow inside of structured time. This afternoon, I’m going to be free and veg out in front of the TV for two hours. I’m going to indulge a guilty pleasure and watch back-to-back episodes of Murder, She Wrote. I’ll be sitting in the midst of a pile of books on writing and one for book club meeting this Sunday. And when I’m done with that, the next thing on my list will be waiting for me.

So, I have my list of things to accomplish. The goals are clearly delineated and I’m free to get to them however I see fit. And, at the end of the day, when I’ve put a line through as much as I can do I will feel content as long as I’ve done my best.

Do you find that planning helps or impedes your progress?

The Captured Verse

I sit to work and words come sliding at me. I’m at first base, over the base with an over sized catcher’s mitt. Other days, I’m at Pete’s place in Chalmette, Louisiana, with my daddy’s favorite Shakespeare Ugly Stick. They’re out there, but I have to work a little harder to catch the words meant for me.

Later, I look through my notebook and I find there, the words that paint an event, illustrate the emotions, and recall for me the reason I got them to the page. If I can still get a sense of where I was with them, those are the poems I work with.

I was asked once, by a close friend, if I wrote poems for my audience first. I told him no and added that I didn’t think that was possible.

Of course, the question stuck with me. I mull over, even now, some years later. The answer is still the same. Any audience I might have must be secondary—for safety’s sake.

Me First

It’s not selfish on my part—well it is selfish, too. (I don’t want to look like a complete fool.) And it’s to protect the audience from the raw stuff that I jot down when I’m fishing. I have to clean it up and pretty it up and format it so that they can read it the way I intended. After, they can take from it what they will. At my desk, I’m a whittler with my favorite whittling knife paring down the excess and repositioning content. It has to ultimately work for me, even after I work at it, before it can be eligible for sharing.

Laying Bare My Soul

I thought about putting the word “naked” somewhere in the section heading, since it’s as intense.

Before I share anything I revisit the verses with my audience in mind. They get the benefit of being audience to a piece only after it has met my approval. This doesn’t guarantee that the audience won’t get something crappy, only that I tried to give them something good. If that fails, it won’t be for a lack of trying on my part.

What Happened When I Let Go of My Poetry

This same friend of mine who asked about writing for the audience, was one who suggested that I publish something. My response was, “Why would anyone but me and a few friends and family members want to read this?” He replied to me, “Publish, and you’ll be surprised at the audience you gain.”

When it was time for me to publish, when it was in my spirit to share my work, I did it. Pebbles in My Shoes is the fruit of that labor. It didn’t matter if there were only the six people in my immediate family (me included) and a small group of others who read my work. I was happy I did it. It came to pass that my friend’s assessment was accurate. It took me a while to realize that I had gained a good audience. And now, 4 years later, I still smile about it.

Try This Guide

If you don’t have the time to write, do it anyway. If you have to do it for someone else, try it anyway. If you need what you can’t find, don’t spin too many lines, only relax and try anyway. What’s meant to come out will have it’s day. If you drop your baited line, you’ll hook up in time, with what you want to say.

What Happened to Me Recently

My dad died October 25, 2007. From the time he died, my mother asked me repeatedly would I write a poem for his funeral program. I told her no. “Are you sure?” she asked me. I tried to get indignant but there was none of that in me. I just couldn’t collect everything that was in my head and heart—it seemed so much bigger than me.

My cousin reminded me of the things that I told her about my writing and how I just let things come to me because forcing rarely worked. “It will come when it comes,” she told me, telling me what I’d often said. I was skeptical in this instance. So, I let No stand for my mother and went on with the rest of the preparations.

We were in New Orleans in the hotel and around the city getting everything together, running into one obstacle after another. Finally I was in FedEx Kinko’s waiting for a machine to copy the programs. I sat at my laptop and the words came.

Life Lessons

I remember the dancing spirit
the steadfast father
the undaunted provider in all times.

I recall the man who knew
how to be with
friends and family in warm companionship.

I learned that keeping people
means letting them be themselves
and being the best person I can.

I understood long ago
I am you in more ways than I can count.
You gave me the best of you.

For that,
I am eternally grateful
and humbly content.

Thank you, Daddy, for everything.

Getting it Right the First Time is Rarer than You Think

It’s a rare one who writes right the first time, every time. And I am not that rare one. I used to think a poem needed to work the first time written, or it was meant to be trashed. I thought the writing process that we learned about in grade school was for the masses and that genius afforded the real writers to just write once. I got it into my head that I couldn’t pursue writing because I was one of the masses and not the genius. Happily, I found that is not the case.

Ritual is Only Part of the Process

Through the years, I’ve read a lot about writing. Not the definitive list, but a good few books and articles, by some profoundly talented people. One common thread I noticed in the fabric of all writing stories, is that the best of them—of us, work at writing. We work to refine our skills, to keep up with current communication trends, and we invent new techniques along the way that suit the way we write.

And, there are the rituals; stories abound of writers who sit, sweat, fret, fume, gnash, gnaw, rant, writhe, meditate, moan, exercise, chant, eventually yielding to release and renewal, to re-insert balance and bliss into their writing life. Many that I’ve read about have ridden this frantic magic carpet, some regularly, only to return to sanity and civility, after having given birth to their next great work.

Hands Off! Move Away from the Article

That’s a great deal of fitful frenzy to finalize a piece only to skip the last step. Working writers do put work down before proofreading. They take time away from a piece in order to clear it out of their heads. However, they don’t submit their writing before they return to it later with their fresh reviewer eyes.

Ted Kooser, Walter Mosley, Julia Cameron Natalie Goldberg, and Brian Clark all write about their rituals to get the writing done. They also have in common their healthy respect for proofreading.

Okay, So How Long Do I Wait?

The consensus on preferred length of time is days, weeks maybe, away from a piece of writing. One writer even suggested that you stay away the length of time it takes to forget you wrote that piece.

As copywriters, we generally don’t have that much time. When I can’t separate from a piece for days, I leave it for another article or two. Or even better, I’ll put mine down for someone else’s work, preferably on another topic. It sort of clears my mental palette.

And, To the Proof

When you return to your project with a fresh mind and eyes, be ready to let go of parts that really don’t work. When I return to a piece of writing, I’m looking for three things to be present:

1. correct grammar
2. clear content
3. appropriate tone

I don’t want readers to struggle through improper usage and cryptic innuendo when the tone needs to be clear. If they’re still there, be ready to let go of the parts that really don’t work. After all, do you really want to claim, possess, and hoard a dud? I’m guessing no.

Take time to proofread. If you have to change it, just do it. It’s yours. You own it. And when published, it will stand for you, good or bad. Then proofread it again. Then, ask yourself these questions too:

• Does the content speak to the title?
• Did you say what you wanted?
• Can your audience hear you loud and clear, or will you need to be translated, interpreted, broken down?

Writing is hard work and the processes we use to get the job done vary widely. One constant we all must implement is proofreading. You have to hear the continuity in your work before you can expect anyone else to hear it. If you don’t get it, don’t let it go.