Explore Your World

As the tagline for my blog lets you know, I'm a hillbilly hermit. I don't go out a lot. New people in big numbers make me nervous. Even so, one of the things I do to get my writing mojo going, is to leave the house.

*gasp* I know, very shocking.

But necessary.

When you're staring at the same four walls everyday or the variation is home/work/grocery store/home, that can be very taxing for your creativity. Take it to the streets, take a walk, go somewhere new, or even go to somewhere you love but haven't gone to in a long time.

Shake things up.

This is my advice for the next October when you're writing a poem each day and you're starting to feel drained of new ideas. When you're feeling stuck, try something different. Explore the world around you.

You're inspiration is waiting for you. Sometimes you have to look for it.

Tamara Woods was raised (fairly happily) in West Virginia where she began penning poems after a boy broke her heart. She shares poetry, short stories and writer interviews on her blog, PenPaperPad. Her writing has been featured in Mamalode, In the Powder Room, and many others. She is the editor for The Reverie Journal, which will be releasing it's first poetry collection early October. She also hosts #writestuff TweetChat where writers talk about writing every Tuesday at 9 pm EST. She is a hillbilly hermit living in Honolulu with her Mathmagician.

Poetry Tip 5 - Mood Swings and Writing

Photo & quote by Morgan Dragonwillow

Tamara talked about Free Your Emotions on Thursday, I tend to have the opposite problem. Usually when I'm angry everyone knows it. Sometimes I tell myself I am too angry, sad, or depressed to write poetry. I think, "How can I possibly write when I feel like this?" But when I allow myself to sit down and write everything I am feeling, my poetry becomes clear and intense.

Strong emotions can transfer onto the page.

Of course you don't want to have a, "tear someone apart" type rant, it isn't meant to get even with someone, it is to help you work through it and take your poetry to the next level.

Poetry Tip 5:

Next time you are feeling strong emotions and don't think you can show up on the page, show up anyway. You never know what gems are waiting for you to experience through poetry.

Books:

Periodically I like to check out the Top 100 in Poetry on Amazon and see what is trending. You can also see the Top 100 Free in Poetry.

And an Article: How Poetry Can Improve Your Writing Craft

What about you, do your moods keep you away from the page?


25 Days until OctPoWriMo!

Morgan Dragonwillow is a poet, author, foodie, urban gardener, and recovering perfectionist, that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of  #OctPoWriMo You can find her Playing with Words on her blog. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.

You can also find her on Google+

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Finding Your Space

You know the feeling, that perfect beat where you’re writing and it’s just moving right through you. The words are just there!

This month a good chunk of the battle is to find that place every day and get some of those words out!

Some of you have the right space to go to. If you’re like me, then you create that space as you go. Here’s some tips to find that space.

1.  Find the place with your zen, be it the coffee shop with the best indie beats, outside in the shade of your favorite tree, or the quietest nook in your house. Mine was the screened in porch of my last house, right off the river.
2. Think about that place. Are there colors that inspire you? Is it the smell? What makes it your spot and on a busy day can you bring it with you? How much time do you spend there writing vs doing other things?
3. Figure out your time of day. Are you a morning person or do you wake up in the middle of the night? Do you sit down and write after dinner every day? Personally I loved going to that porch at sunset, so I could watch the purple through the trees.
4.  Lighting. It really sets the mood. Again, daylight? Artificial light? Maybe set some string lights up? Me? I really love writing by candlelight.
5.  What are the sounds you like? Music, nature, screaming children? I always found it harder to write when I listen to lyrical music because it puts words into my head. I do love listening to film scores, but my ultimate favorite is a crazy thunderstorm. If you like the sound of rain http://www.rainymood.com/ is one of my favorites.
6.  Find an object of inspiration. What represents you? Having it nearby can sometimes jog a feeling. Sometimes it’s something symbolic I want to focus on, usually it’s a variety of things that feel very “me.” Example, I love drinking whiskey out of teacups and my orange cat is always with me. Reminds me of Hemmingway. I sometimes bring things like old letters out to the porch with me just to think about since I’m a very visual person.

There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Finding a headspace to write doesn’t always have to be physical but for some people it helps.

My ideal space is a screened in porch right off the Tuckaseegee river in the middle of a super loud thunderstorm. It’s only lit by candlelight and lighting, filled with the smell of whiskey in a teacup, and my lap is warmed by a fat orange cat.

What’s your ideal space? Share it in the comments or tweet it with #OctPoWriMo and tell me @Beverlytanfilm!

OctPoWriMo 2015 | Free your emotions

One of the most powerful aspects of poetry stems from tapping into your inner self. When you let down your guard and allow yourself be vulnerable, it opens your mind up to so much more. It can give your writing wings and authenticity.

I'm normally a person, who keeps my feelings in. I don't' necessarily share how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking unless I feel close to a person. I keep things at a surface level and I'm not even sure why. It's just the way I deal with the world, I suppose. With poetry, I can expose my inner-workings, my feelings, my thoughts, impressions, and interpretations. I don't feel shy or awkward. Not anymore.

This amount of openness can be a little bit off-putting at first. It might feel conspicuous, slightly uncomfortable. But with poetry as Linda was telling us yesterday, things are open to interpretation. You may be talking about one thing and the reader could see it a totally different way. Her experiences colors what she reads. By honoring your truth, allowing yourself to permission to feel and write about it, you can help your readers find their truths.

 It's emotional freedom at its finest. If you give yourself permission to let go.

.Tamara Woods was raised (fairly happily) in West Virginia where she began penning poems after a boy broke her heart. She shares poetry, short stories and writer interviews on her blog, PenPaperPad. Her writing has been featured in Mamalode, In the Powder Room, and many others. She is the editor for The Reverie Journal, which will be releasing it's first poetry collection early October. She also hosts #writestuff TweetChat where writers talk about writing every Tuesday at 9 pm EST. She is a hillbilly hermit living in Honolulu with her Mathmagician.

Open to Interpretation

Photo by takomabebelot / CC BY

As a songwriter, I strive to make my writing relatable within my personal narratives. An emotion, a circumstance, a memory, all specific to my own experience, and if I'm successful, those things can be interpreted in various ways to the listener.

That's how I feel about so many of my favorite songs, and the same goes for poetry. After all, song lyrics are poetic prose set to music. Whether they rhyme or not is irrelevant. Sometimes the simplest ideas put forth in everyday language can be the most powerful and meaningful to an audience. Less can certainly be more.

A number of years back I wrote a song about a family member's struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. Without coming out and stating anything about his condition, I let the narrative weave around the emotions and imagery without being literal. That song is probably the one that most people have remarked to me later was of personal significance to them in a number of ways. For some it conjured thoughts of love relationships, for others it spoke to their own struggles.

When you're writing poetry, it's an excellent opportunity to play around with meaning and experiment with the different ways in which you can convey an idea or emotion that can be taken further in the reader's mind. And it doesn't have to be complicated. Readers are always looking for that "Me too" moment. In poetry, although abstract thought is so alluring, an underlying current of understanding and solidarity is at its core.

So Tip #2 of #OctPoWriMo15 is: Keep it open to interpretation.  No matter how "out there" you want to be with your poetry, (and I love to be in outer space) it's great to leave some room for readers to nod their heads and say "Yes! I get it! That's me."

Linda Roy is a writer, singer/songwriter/musician whose humor blog elleroy was here mixes funny with a soundtrack. She is the founder and lead singer of the Indie/Americana band Jehova Waitresses and her writing has been featured at The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Humor Outcasts and In the Powder Room, among others. She is a 2014 BlogHer Voice of the Year recipient and has contributed to several anthologies, including the third book of the New York Times best selling "Pee Alone" series, I Still Just Want To Pee Alone. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

OctPoWriMo Count Down Begins!

If this is the first time you have found us, OctPoWriMo is an October Poetry Writing Month. It is a poetry challenge to write a poem a day during the month of October and link up your poetry here for all of us to share and support each others poetry journey. You can find inspiration through our daily poetry prompts or write from your own prompts.

We are so excited about OctPoWriMo 2015! Last year we saw over 15,000 visitors during the month of October, that's a lot of visitors! Who knows how many we will have this year.


We are officially in the count down to OctPoWriMo! We have a great group of poet volunteers that are going to be helping out here with tips, prompts, reviews, and more leading to the first day of October when the challenge begins!

Tamara Woods, who decided to join us last year and fit right in with our poetic bunch!

Linda Roy, is joining us once again! She was a contributor to OctPoWriMo in 2013 and we are very happy to have her back once again!

Beverly Tan is our newest contributor and I look forward to reading her posts!

And of course me, Morgan Dragonwillow, the creatrix of OctPoWriMo.

You can find out more about each of us either by clicking on our names and going to our websites/blogs/social media, or by going to the Creatrix and Contribtors page.

We will miss Julie and Amy and all of their great tips and prompts but they were unable to join us this year. If we're lucky, they may pop in to say hello!

During September:

We will be sharing poetry tips, our favorite poetry books, poetry journeys, and possibly guest posts during the month of September leading to OctPoWriMo. 

There are two ways you can participate during September:

• You can begin to get to know the other participants by leaving a comment with a link to your favorite poem (either from last years OctPoWriMo or another poem on your blog).
• You can share in the comments during the month of September any poetry type post from your blog.
• You can write a guest post with your poetry journey, your poetry process or anything else about poetry.
• And of course you can chat with us on Twitter using the hashtag #OctPoWriMo and on Facebook in the Writing Poetry Group

If you are interested in sharing a guest post email me at morgan_dragonwillow@hotmail.com.

Normally I would have a separate post for the Poetry tip of the day but Blogger decided to be a bear and make things difficult. 

Poetry Tip One - Letting Go

If you aren't sure whether you would like to participate or not, read what Dawn said about joining OctPoWriMo last year.

2014 is the first year I joined OctPoWriMo 

Before then, I never believed I could write, let alone write poetry. But with the support of some friends on my blog, I tried my hand at some short poems. It felt good, I tried again, and the prompts were great, the support from other poets welcome, and I managed to write almost one poem a day, which was not something I expected when I started on that journey.
There were many reasons why I didn't think I could.
First, I'd always been told as a child that I was good at maths and sciences, but not so good at literature, and I always had the hardest time figuring out the hidden meaning behind texts we studied in class. So I didn't think I could express things myself through words, there is nothing in my poems that isn't right there, in your face, I haven't mastered the art of simile and such yet. But it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself!
The second reason I wasn't sure about participating in OctPoWriMo is that English isn't my first language. Who was I to think that I could express anything worth reading in a language that isn't my own? It certainly was a challenge, I used thesaurus and dictionary on a daily basis, but it also helped improve my mastery of the language. And for that, I'm really thankful too.
Reading poems from other, more seasoned writers made me realise how far I still had to come. But it also gave me ideas, things I wanted to try too... it was very rewarding.
Reading poems from others also made me realise that sometimes, the simplest of words are the ones that manage to convey what I feel. And what is poetry if not a way to elicit feelings and emotions in the reader?
The comments were great, encouraging me to keep going. I realised that not all my poems were masterworks, and I'm not even sure any of them were. But it enabled me to try my hand at many different forms, at many different themes, and to express myself, without feeling judged. And that helped me tremendously.
(I guess those could be reasons 3, 4 and 5 ;-) )
So if you're not sure whether you want to take part, if you don't think you have it in you to try poetry, if you don't think you can pull this off... forget your insecurities, leave your doubts behind. If I can do it and want to try again this year, you can do it too!

Poetry Tip One: Let go of what you think poetry should look like and allow yourself to explore and play with your words. Who knows, you just may discover how much you enjoy it!

Check out our previous first tips.

2012 Tip One: Getting Ready

2013 Tip One: What's in Your Writing Tool Box?

2014 Tip One: Why Do You Write Poetry

Count Down: 30 Days until OctPoWriMo!

Special for Indie Authors!

We are offering Indie Authors a special deal as we did last year to showcase their poetry book covers for the month of September and/or October. Check out Indie Authors Promo for more information.

 

Morgan Dragonwillow is a poet, author, foodie, urban gardener, and recovering perfectionist, that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of  #OctPoWriMo You can find her Playing with Words on her blog. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.

You can also find her on Google+

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OctPoWriMo is Coming!

The time is almost here for another 31 poems in 31 days in October! I am looking for volunteers to help with tips (in Sept.) and prompts (in Oct.) posts, writing encouraging comments on the participants posts, and sharing OctPoWriMo on social media.

We are also looking for guest posts regarding poetry books, your poetry process, your journey to poetry or any other story about your poetry journey that you would like to share with OctPoWriMo.

If you participated last year or the year before, we would love for you to share your OctPoWriMo experience with us and we will post it during Sept. on OctPoWriMo.com. It can be anything from a paragraph to 500 words long.

If you are interested in any of the above, please contact me either by messaging me on my Facebook page, Morgan Dragonwillow, Poet, or by emailing me with the subject, OctPoWriMo at morgan _ dragonwillow @ hotmail . com (make sure you take out all of the spaces when emailing me).

Photo by Morgan Dragonwillow

OctPoWriMo is a wonderful challenge for all of us that love exploring words in all its forms. I hope you decide to join us again this year and discover where your words will lead!

Peace to you,
Morgan Dragonwillow

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