Submission Frenzy!

I got a bit behind on my submissions, because I was self-rejecting and not sending anything out. But poetry is subjective, and even if you've read the magazine that you're submitting to the editor is the best person to make the call on whether your work is suitable. So now everything is back out.

You'd think sending poetry out in batches was quicker and easier than sending out a piece at a time, but it's really not. You still have to check all four or five pieces to make sure you're not resubmitting. Then you have to combine them all into a single document and format to market requirements as there isn't really a standard.

Now I need to Write More Poems. I bought Robert Lee Brewer's Smash Poetry Journal to help with that (he's the guy who does Poem a Day), but it will probably end up like the other writing prompt books I've bought - I just can't seem to write in them. And I started a poem, but needed to look something up in a particular book that I can't find despite the fact it's never left the house.

I'll get there.

Poetry Prompts

While it's possible to get inspiration for poems from what's going on in the world (the news, family events), sometimes I find I need a little help to get started.

I've got a Poetry Prompt Pot, basically a jar in which I keep prompts from writing magazines, and leftovers from Poem a Day. If I'm stuck I can pull a prompt from there, although I usually pick three and throw two back.

There are also several sources online. The Poetry Society has a page of prompts, as does Creative Writing Now, and Writers Digest posts up a fresh prompt every Wednesday. Robert Peake's website has a prompt generator that will provide a list of words, a challenge (eg "Refer to an an extreme or intemperate landscape" and an image - plenty to combine for inspiration. The Visual Writing Prompts blog provides a selection of image/instructional prompts based on the genre of prompt you choose. There are probably apps as well, although I haven't personally tried any.

So plenty to be going on with, and thousands more at the click of a Google search. The only problem is finding time to use them all!

Poetry Foundation app

I've been trying to fill my tablet with useful and inspirational writing apps, rather than games. There's actually not that much that's useful, outside of word processors or note-taking, but I did find the Poetry app by The Poetry Foundation. It presents you with a random list of poetry to read, although I'd prefer if it just presented you with a single poem. There's a mix of old and new, and if you don't like what you get, you can spin for a new selection. Definitely one to download if you want a poetry fix.

There are a few apps that claim to provide writing prompts, but I haven't tried any of those. Also several white-noise generators, which can be quite handy if you don't want the distraction of music. And, of course, I've downloaded the Kindle app so I can read writing books (which are the only ones I've downloaded). Probably that's more than I need - I never used to carry a library around with me!