Tying Up Loose Ends
January 2025
Quick Recap Questions:
How have you (re)defined your relationship to writing this Winter? What have you added/subtracted/changed? What are your writing goals for the coming year?
What questions are you currently entertaining to move forward as a writer?
Have you begun creating a loose curriculum of learning for yourself? A rigid one? Still playing around with what works best for you?
What I’ve been doing writing-wise:
I’ve joined Finnegan's Take for their generous offer of hosting a zoom writing session every Monday for 1 ½ hours, so I’m getting in a nice chunk of productivity time.
I’m working on a triptych of poems, one of which I think is going to be a small section of my memoir and not a poem. Although, there may be an entirely new poem that I can spin from that memoir section…
I wrote a poem “Vesper Shawl” which is a prayer for little brown bats, an ekphrastic poem after a knitted vesper shawl with wings. I love the idea that bats are liminal because they are most active at dusk.
I’m researching bees and am finding it amazing that there is not a cult devoted to the worship of these amazing little creatures—I mean, there used to be, but there should be again! I am enamored, truly.
I sent out 31 packets of poems this month; I’ve gotten 12 rejections; I had 10 poems published; I wrote one guest blog post for the Chesapeake Bay Writers website; and I entered two poetry prizes/awards. And I’ve had two meetings with my poetry group—we meet every other Wednesday online (Go DMV poets!)
I have watched at least 5 videos of book launches and watched 3 videos related to marketing books. I have watched three videos related to craft.
What I’ve been doing art-wise:
I was gifted a gel printing block this holiday season and I am making zines! My new, unreasonable goal is I want to make a zine for every writer I know with inspirational poem/phrases I’ve written on them. If you want one, let me know your two favorite colors and mailing address when you email me: loraleeclark13@gmail.com. It’ll give me a reason to make more art!
What I’ve been reading: So much fiction! I’ve finished five books this month and I’m primarily a non-fiction reader, but given the general state of our political reality I think I’m craving escapism and stories that nurture my soul. So, I’ve recently devoured Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross; Woodworm by Layla Martinez; Saturnalia by Stephanie Feldman; and Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell. I read half as eBooks and that was a new experience—I’m an old-fashioned gal who usually likes the heft of a tome in her hands, but this wasn’t an unpleasant experience.
Something for you: Free write #1: I am tired of…
Free write #2: I used to…but now I…
Challenge: take one of your free writes (or a piece you’ve already written) and try writing it in a different genre than you normally write in. For example, poetry if you normally write fiction or an essay if you normally write poetry. Switch it up; what carries over? What new metaphors do you explore? What new muscles are you required to flex?
(The first picture is a watercolor/ink/embroidery piece I did named “People of the Sun”. The second pic, blue and orange, is the first “acceptable” print I made from the gel plate—the others have been “learning curve” prints. And the last pic is going to be turned into a zine as well but is watercolor and ink with my carved rubber stamps.)