Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lost Poetry Found and other stuff!

What I'm listening to: "Blessed Silence" by An Empty House
Do you ever have one of those days where you find something and go "Cool! This is fun!" Well, I found some of my old poetry. So, tell me what you think... unless it sucks...

Props
Being nice--you know, the sweet,
Quiet wallflower who smiles 
Brightly as You release 
Frustration upon her shoulders.
A five foot, three inch Atlas
Character forced to merely Exist
as a Prop for this Giant Promethian Challenge
                                               Marne Kirstatter
                
Well, that satisfied my need to validate my poetry, which brings me to a subject I've been thinking about today. A fellow writer-friend of mine is on the down side of her writing. We've all experienced it... Or at least those of us who are more human than android have. Sometimes writers need validated, and that is a very difficult thing to get when you are not published or winning contests. We need someone to tell us that our dream is worth while, that our writing is valuable, and that we don't suck Easter eggs.
And sometimes, we don't get that. I hear all the time (and it's true), writing is a solitary occupation. 
BUT there are ways to make it less so:
Join an on-line writers' group
Join a critique group (RMFW has some, RWA has a million...)
Join a writers group (a live one)
Go to conferences (The Colorado Gold is a GREAT One, and I'm going to the Crested Butte Writers' this year, too)
Go to workshops (RMFW is offering some, see Vicki's earlier posts)
Enroll in a Creative Writing class
Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. But the theme here is, GET OUT THERE and SOCIALIZE! if writing is a solitary life, it's because you're allowing it to be.
And I think that's as much for me, as for anyone else. A reminder not to sit in my house and mope, but to get out, get the stink blown off me (as my mother used to say), and get the brain juices flowing...

6 comments:

  1. Great blog, Marne. I love your poem.

    It reminds me of someone.


    Hmmmm. I wonder who?

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  2. LOL. The funniest (and one with the most anger/swear words) poem I ever wrote, I wrote when I quit smoking before I met my honey. I was walking through the smoking section on the college campus, and I got so angry I wanted to snap those smokes out of their mouths and inhale them all. Instead, I wrote a poem...

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  3. Oh, I agree. So many of us are introverts and want our solitude, but we all need someone in our corner cheering us on. Good post.

    And, hey, I wanted to give you all a heads up that I'm interviewing Kevin Wolf (member of RMFW and Crested Butte Writers) on my blog tomorrow.

    - Luanne :)

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  4. I would add to your list. Start blogging. Open up to more writers than ever before. Join blogfest that require a short story or flash fiction. I have found so much support with my blogging friends. Some of us our emailing each other too. As you know, Marne, I am a member of RMFW and in a critique group...but to also have the blogging community has been a great star in my darkness.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium.

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  5. Oh Nancy, that is a good one! Thank you

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  6. Good advice here. Writing is hard work, and funnily enough, once you've finished you realise that that isn't even the hardest part.

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