The first year of my diploma is done and dusted.
I feel both happy and sad.
Happy that I've got through this year, made friends, learnt heaps and heaps, passed the exam, the assignments and the portfolio.
But also sad that this means I am one year closer to finishing the diploma. And, fearfully, I will have to wean myself off the deadlines and comraderie and return to going-it-alone in my writing.
So I am setting some small challenges for what remains of the summer holidays.
The first is to enter as many poetry competitions as I can with existing poems I've written this past year. I don't have many, but what I have needs to be edited and sent out into the world.
The second is to put together a small collection to send to Happenstance poetry publishers. One of the rewards for having a poem awarded runner up prize in a magazine competition (Writers Forum) is to send Helena Nelson a further five poems (plus my original winner) for critical comments. There is a small chance that she will take on one of the successful poets to produce a poetry pamphlet. Well, a small chance is just that. But in the meantime I need to be writing some bloomin' poetry or I'll have nothing to send but blank sheets of paper.
The third, which kinda ties in with number two, is to get down to writing more poems. Now that I have put the house and garden straight after a year of focused neglect, I shall abandon them both again to put pencil to paper. I WILL write and I WILL NOT feel guilty about it.
btw. If you happen to be poetic it's worth checking out the Happenstance blog for great tips on submitting poetry.
Hmm .... inspired by reading Just Kids - Patti Smith's biog of her and Robert Mapplethorpe's early penniless days in NY - I thought I'd write a poem for Mr RB's birthday, just like Patti woulda.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit crap. Alot crap. I now can't even re-read it (let alone re-write it) as I am stuck on a word. I described East Anglia as a 'swell' - as in the bump-shaped bit as you'd see on a map, but obviously E Anglia is very flat so 'swell' just didn't work. I can't think of another word - even 'bump' puts in mind some sort of undulation - so I gave up.
Don't think I'm cut out for poetry after all.
Good luck with all your stuff! I like the titles so far.
Gawd! Finding the 'right' word. Bloomin' nightmare.
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