Artist's Way Journal - Week Two, Day One

The beginning of a new week, and I need to read Chapter Two.  It's still sunny here, and I should go outside.  This isn't going to last.  I can see little glimpses of it through the windows, but no big vista.  That might be a good thing--promote better writing.  Here in my laundry room/computer room it feels more like a cave, and gets cold in winter.  It's not winter yet, though!  Not with this great sun.

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Evening now.  Just got back from poetry workshop, which was very good.  Great poems, great conversation, great energy.  Just sad that one of our members is moving--I'm going to miss her regular presence, though I know we'll see each other again, her energy, and quirky sense of humor, and strong and growing stronger poetry.  All the best!!!

Today's entry will be short, I think, in favor of going up to read my chapter, which I still haven't done.  It does feel good to type right now.  Very liberating.  I want to make time this week, or in the next day or so, to do some submissions before September is over.  There are some deadlines on or around 1 October that I shouldn't let pass.  I've done a lot of letting things pass this year, and I'd like to turn that around--back to my more aggressive charge last year.  I guess getting the GAP Grant did help matters, and now I've used that money...  so I need to really watch where I send things.  

It felt good to share a poem from a journal entry from several years ago.  I started the poem when I was working at the other gym, so it's been a few years, even for making a poem out of the journal entry.  Earlier today I completely changed the shape of the piece, favoring a long column, single stanza, spaced at 1.5.  The line lengths vary from one to three words.  It looks like my edits will be few, and I now have a better title.  Always nice to have something else to add to my "Usable Poems for Submitting" list.  Tomorrow--find time to submit work!!!

Something else I need to do, and I've probably already mentioned this more than once (remember, I'm not rereading my journal!!) is to re-order and re-evaluate my full-length manuscript.  Cull out the weaker pieces, and add newer poems I feel are stronger.  Shake things up a bit.  I just got the book "Ordering the Storm--How to Put Together a Book of Poems," by Susan Grimm, published by Cleveland State University Poetry Center.  I'm looking forward to reading it, and putting it to work.

So, it's late, and I'm off to bed.  Time to consult Chapter Two of the Artist's Way... and do a little writing in the leather journal.

The Artist's Way
Originally uploaded by wingedeyes

--R