Poetry Window

My poetry blog is Eat Poetry, although I've been pretty lax in posting lately. I should have some new posts towards the end of the week. Today here is my poetry window which hangs in the garden and will soon hold words.

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Woof Winners for June 26th

WOOF Contest – Top Picks

Poetry

Zorlone – “Under the pale moon” - Events that occur to our mortal lives have been witnessed by the light of the pale moon. A poetry challenge to myself, inspired by the words of Robin of Robin's Nest.

Dragon Blogger – “Doggy Day Dream” - Whimsical poem about what dogs do when left home alone.

Jennifer M Scott – “Wicked Victory” - A surreal poem.

Jennifer M Scott – “At the Lake Haiku Series” - A series of haikus about swimming at the local lake.

Fiction

Romeo -“ Memories in the Shadows” - A short story about the past, the love one can recieve from a loving mother, a caring sister, and the onset of a terrible medical conditon- all linked together by a river flowing freely through an open field.

Presenting the finest of the writer’s blogs by the bloggers who write them. Highlighting the top posts as chosen by the June 26, 2009 WOOF Contest participants. Want in to join the next WOOF? The next contest ends July 3. Submit a link to your best writing post of the last 3 weeks using the form on this page.

Other WOOF Contestants for 06/26/09

About Writing

Writing Nag – “How Else Could We Discover the Stars?” - What is story and how can you add the elements of good fiction to your writing. A short piece of fiction is discussed.

Poetry

Zorlone – “I am my father's son” - "This little tribute, to one of such great importance in your life, points out many things that you must have been taught from his word and deed. Such as the connection that you have to your ancestors, the responsibility that you feel towards upholding your family name, determination and education and perhaps you hint that life has made difficult the upholding of his ideals, yet he has persevered to be a great man and a great father." - Strawberry Girl

Romeo – “Memories of the Past” - A elderly man recalls the love of his youth, battling the ever-present loneliness that comes with age.

Dragon Blogger – “Rescue From The Witch” - Fantasy poem about hunters rescuing a girl.

Growing Old

If you haven't seen these animated virtual movies on You Tube by Poetry Animations they're quite good. There's quite a few. More than 300. Here's just a sampling.

Summer afternoon, reflections on haiku

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. Henry James

Although this post might be more appropriate for my poetry blog I think that the lessons that haiku teaches can apply to all writers. Writers are deep observers and this book reminds all writers to look for moments of haiku in their life and their writing.

The first sweet pea blossom

Donegan, Patricia. Haiku Mind : 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart. 1st ed. Boston: Shambala : Distributed in the United States by Random House, 2008.

morning glory in the evening

Poetry editor and poet Patricia Donegan presents a haiku anthology that celebrates and attempts to explain the ancient Japanese poetic form and “haiku mind.” Haiku mind is defined as being present, mindful and aware, something I believe is necessary to write all kinds of poetry. 108 haiku’s are listed by themes including adversity, sorrow, children’s innocence, dreams, war experience, sacred food chain, letting go and greed. With simple language but her obvious expertise in this subject, Donegan leads the reader through each poem with in depth analysis, spiritual reflections, history, and story of some of her favorite haiku’s from ancient haiku master poets to contemporary Japanese, American and Canadian poets. Donegan reminds readers that “as is taught in Tantric Buddhism” the haiku poet should “lean into the painful points as a way to acknowledge and transmute it.” Donegan invites the reader to experience the varying styles of haiku including free verse haiku, haibun, renga, renku and Jack Kerouac’s style of haiku “American sentences.” This book reminds all writers to express “simple moments in a profound way” and asks readers to slow down to notice the simple things that life offers. Written for beginning or experienced poets or anyone who enjoys this poetic form this book gives insight into the haiku writing process that made me appreciate haiku as I never have before.

An excerpt from the book under the theme of "Fearlessness" by Buson Yosa (1716-1784) considered to be "one of the three greatest male haiku and renga poets"

the piercing cold-

in our bedroom stepping

on my dead wife's comb

Today, consider writing some haiku. Why not slow down and become more aware of the simplicity and beauty that surrounds us. You may be surprised by what you write. Now get back to your meditation.

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

lamb's ear

beginnings of Concord grapes

How to grow a summer garden

RIP Farrah and Michael

It's hard to write about such icons of my generation. When I first saw that Michael passed away my first thought was he couldn't have because Farrah Fawcett just died. There are great tributes to both of these icons on the web today as well as in print. All the news channels did wonderful coverage last night and I'm sure it will continue all week. I hope they both rest in peace.

A Cup of Joe

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
"Over the Teacups" 1891

In my interview last week about Social Spark I noted that they needed to attract more food/beverage advertisers. I try to find advertisers that fit with my blog demographic which according to Alexa is college educated women with children age 32-45 but what Alexa doesn't know...they are writers and coffee drinkers. Or at least I think they are because every writer I know drinks a lot of coffee. I check Social Spark this morning and find Coffee For Less!

Coffee For Less also sells coffee brewers, espresso machines,french presses, coffee syrups, hot chocolate, Keurig K cups and all the familiar brands of coffee, Millstone, Starbucks, Dunkin'Donuts, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Tassimo, Gloria Jean and all the popular coffee pods.

Follow Coffee For Less on Facebook or Twitter for discounts and coupon codes. A top 500 E-Retailer. Coffee of the month clubs, coffee gifts and much more including all the products you need for coffee service.

Free Shipping On Orders Over $50

A morning without coffee is like sleep. Author Unknown

Friends

I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that. W. Dayton Wedgefarth

I am sitting at my desk a lot this week I have a packet of work due Monday so little time for posting. My constant companions. Cocoa at my feet

and the doves on the other side of the wall.

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

How Else Could We Discover the Stars?

I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude that the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?
Nancy Willard

This week I am reading Sandra Cisneros' Woman Hollering Creek and other stories on the advice of my adviser. Published in 1991 many of these stories were first published in literary magazines including Americas Review, Story and Grand Street. What I'm enjoying about this collection is it is redefining what a story is to me. One example is the first piece in the collection, My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn. In this piece Cisneros writes a descriptive engaging short piece that defines friendship and sisterhood for a young Mexican-American girl. In three short pages I am immersed in the culture, voice and time the story was written in. After reading this collection I wonder how many of my short pieces that I had thought were unfinished deserve another look. How do you define story? In How Fiction Works Oakley Hall writes that "fiction lives on the specific, the particular. It dies on the abstract and the general, such as: "Local man appointed to post." With Cisneros' opening paragraph (one long sentence) in My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn, the reader is introduced to a very specific character there is only one Lucy Anguiano:

"Lucy Anguiano, Texas girl who smells like corn, like Frito Bandito chips, like tortillas, something like that warm smell of nixtamal or bread the way her head smells..."

Engaging dialogue and dialect reveals character. "Have you ever eated dog food? I have." And descriptive sensory images put the reader immediately into the action and the characters in this south Texas border town. "Fat couch on the porch" "Screen door with no screen" "...pin the pink sock of the baby Amber Sue on top of Cheli's flowered T-shirt..."

All of this in three short pages. Strong writing is story.

Today, look at short pieces that you have written. How can you add or take away from your paragraphs to make the writing "work." Does your dialogue give information? Do you use powerful verbs? Are your characters unique and specific? Does your writing include sensory details? What would improve the piece? Is it part of a larger piece of work or can it stand on its own? Now get back to work!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

What's Your Opinion?
Journalism is Dead

To My Dear Father

"When a child is born, a father is born. A mother is born, too of course, but at least for her it's a gradual process. Body and soul, she has nine months to get used to what's happening. She becomes what's happening. But for even the best-prepared father, it happens all at once. On the other side of a plate-glass window, a nurse is holding up something roughly the size of a loaf of bread for him to see for the first time."
Frederick Buechner, 'Whistling in the Dark'

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Images from Vintage Holiday Crafts

Having Imagination

Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take you only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all.
Franklin P. Adams, Half a Loaf, 1927

One of my list poems last week started with the line if only I had _______ than ________.

Write at least one page of lines that start with this prompt. Try for two pages. Don't try to think too much, you might be surprised with what comes up.

Do any of these ideas make a good starting point for a short story or another poem? Now get back to work!



Congrats to Colorado Springs artist, photographer, and writer/editor, Rhonda S. Van Pelt for getting her Artella site online, it looks great! Stunning nature and travel photographs, vintage inspired cards and original greeting cards made with vintage materials and more!

Creative writing resources from Artella

I'm Not a Famous Blogger

I hope you stop by and read my interview this morning. Thanks Drew aka Ben Spark. I'll be back this evening with a creative writing post. Now get back to work!

Win One of Five Blu Prizes!

I love posting about contests and this one has some great prizes.

Blu Frog, a new healthy energy drink alternative is quickly becoming one of the most popular and requested energy drinks since its debut.With no artificial colors and flavors Blu Frog is lower in calories, sugars and carbs than the other energy drinks and has developed a large following thanks to Twitter, Facebook and the web.




BluFrog is giving away five super "Blu prizes" including these exciting trips:

The four amazing trips include round trip air fare, luxurious hotels, ground transport and much more! check out what's included on the website:

• Extreme Blu- 14th Annual Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado
• Happy Blu-Year Times Square, New York City for December 31st Blu Year Celebration
• Blullapalooza-Lollapalooza at Grants Park, Chicago, this August
• Blu-Streak Richard Petty Driving Experience in Orlando, Florida

and the fifth prize Blugamer- a ultimate gaming package that includes Xbox 360 Elite System and much more.

I'm going to try for both the Happy Blu-Year prize and the Blullapalooza prize. Spending New Year's Eve in Times Square would be a great way to start 2010!
How do you enter?
Check all the details here... and tweet about the contest, post or comment on the Blu Frog blog for your chance to win!

It's All in the Details

I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. ~Jorge Luis Borges

You walk the same way every time but do you notice the details? It's the ability to write the details that makes for an interesting character, scene, essay or poem. Today spend at least 15 minutes running an errand or walking your normal route but this time when you get back to your notebook or computer try to write down at least 20 details you never noticed before. This is just an example from my journal.

• 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes underneath a silver Subaru on Wasatch Street
• the bald mailman wears purple latex gloves to deliver the mail
• honeysuckle and lilacs and the smell of the sun burning into the concrete
• a mass of poppy buds that look like fly heads surround a pile of garbage, a bag of Oreo's, a sandwich and broken green bottles
• a blue heron nest on the pinon tree

Next take your list of details and work them into a short story, short essay or poem. Now get back to work!


Food Inc. opens today!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

Making Money with YouData

About a month ago I joined YouData, I said I'd report back after a month with my review.

How it works:

1. When you log into the site you do a series of quick, easy surveys. No personal information is given and you choose which surveys you want to do. Based on your surveys you are shown a set of ads. You can choose to click on them if you're interested. For example it might say home and garden. You could be paid .05 to look at the impression of the ad. Then if you're interested more money to click through to the website. .15 Of course the amount varies for each ad.

2. The first time you log in and do your surveys there are usually quite a few ads. Approximately $4.50-$7.00 worth.

3. After the first week the ads have been fewer as the company has expanded and is still building their ad network. Through this site I've found some interesting new companies/websites and they pay promptly every Friday to your Paypal account.

• YouData pays every Friday through Paypal.
• They have very high quality advertisers.
• They have an affiliate program.
• It's not very much money so you have to decide if it's worth your time.
• I check once a week for ads more than that and its a time waster.
• The affiliate program doesn't pay very well.
• You need to have a Paypal account and a cell phone to accept a text message to sign up

If you do decide to sign up please use my link. Thanks!

Poems for Kathleen

Just a couple of Billy Collins poems while I'm reading his book, Ballistics.

Can you Learn How to Write?

"It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way." Ernest Hemingway

In April I won a subscription to Writer's Digest so yesterday I received two issues the May/June issue which includes the 101 Best Websites for Writers and the July/August issue issue which features one of my favorite novelists, Anne Tyler. The July/August issue also features a link to an expanded Q & A for the winner of Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Award. Congrats to Marcy Kennedy!

Here's the interview with the website promising the story and other winners stories soon.

This question of learning how to write is one that never seems to get answered.I think you can learn how to write in a specific genre by reading and studying what others who have gone before you have written and I think great writer's are born just like any other great artist. But I know from personal experience that like anything else you have to do the hard work, and practice, practice, practice for me this means daily. When I first started writing poetry approximately five years ago I naively went to a poetry workshop without even knowing what a line break was. Since that day I have written more than 100 poems, studied craft, read hundreds of poems, critiqued poetry, wrote essays on poets, wrote in almost every form and experimented with collaborative writing. I still feel like a beginner. And I am.

For all those writers out there who say they would write if they "only had the time." My question is what would you give up for writing? You would make the time if it was your passion. You'd get up earlier or go to bed later, you'd give up TV or your weekly movie date. You would study, read, practice, practice, practice if this is your goal/dream to write or be a writer. Writer and artist Caroline Joy Adams writes in her forward to The Power to Write "writers are not born, they are self made. Driven by the need to transform personal experience and perception into meaningful and moving stories, they master the alchemy of expression through the power of words."
Mastering expression takes a commitment to the craft of writing. What steps have you taken this year to master craft? What steps could you take this month? Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Pausing for Peonies

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
William Wordsworth

The first peony bloomed yesterday, I read that there is now a resurgence for this old-fashioned flower. I don't remember the name of this one but I love the dark magenta that is only on a few of the petals as if they were daubed with paint.

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

A new FREE e-book from Artella

A new FREE e-book from Artella.
Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Artist Profiles Assembled, a 100-page eBook featuring an inside look at the lives and art of 29 fascinating artists. Download your copy here!

It is the pen which dreams..

A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.

Gaston Bachelard

I picked up the current issue of Poets & Writers yesterday, drawn in by the cover article "22 Lit Mags That Do More For Your Work." There's a really interesting section on lit magazines that are specialized i.e. "a letterpress magazine printed with soy ink on recycled paper using wind power", lit magazines for women, established writers, new writers, lit magazines that fuel social change or environmental issues. With the large amount of lit magazines out there I think Poets & Writers did a fantastic job in highlighting these 22 markets. And well worth the $5.95- the price of the magazine.

Here's just a few of the 22 that were new to me journals.

Poems Against War

Wicked Alice

Raving Dove

There special section on lit mags was so well done I might just renew my subscription.

Misc. links that I noted this week from the web.

Scholarship Contest for mom's Can you creatively come up with a name for this firefly?
Winner wins a $10,000 scholarship for their child.

If you're a mommy blogger and have thought about joining Social Spark this post by Lisa really explains how it works. Join the SparkE Crew!

She-Tech offers laptop computer bags and other business accessories geared towards women.

Billionth Download at App Store wins $10,000 download from Apple.

Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Altered Books

I've been a fan of this blog for awhile so I thought you might enjoy it too. Art and words are so connected for me and while I have a hard time calling myself an artist I really enjoy "playing with art."

Altered Pages

Today, take a look at this fun, creative website and if it inspires you as much as it does me rip a page from an old book and just begin. I hope to have something to share by next week. If you want to share your work on Altered Pages blog, there are specific instructions found on the home page. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

What restaurants and blogs have in common

"Education is all a matter of building bridges"
Ralph Ellison

My husband referred me to a NY Times article on Sunday that said that blogs have a higher failure rate than restaurants. Writer Douglas Quenqua used a Technorati survey from 2008 that "translated to 95% of blogs being essentially abandoned." With the release of a movie this summer based on a popular blog, Julie & Julia, many people think that blogging is a quick way to make big money or get instant fame. Neither one of those things is true for most people, so they start a blog, lose interest pretty quickly and move on. My blogiversary is coming up in June so I've been posting for about 2 years pretty consistently. What started as a way for me to warm up for my goal to write every day and do creative writing exercises has become an online journal of my creative writing life. Going back to school last March meant a lot less time for blogging but I still find topics to write about, just maybe not as often. What I have even less time for is reading all my favorite blogs, I'm hoping they're still there when I get some more free time.

Now for a totally unrelated writing prompt.Today, freewrite on the word bridge for fifteen minutes. Here's some words to get you started. traverse, toll, trestle, span, overpass, aquaduct, connect, contract, way, viaduct, band, tie, truss, drawbridge, denture.

Then consider sending your work to Chicken Pinata (I just love this name for an online literary journal) their next theme for the July issue is bridges or an interpretation of bridges in poetry form. Deadline is the end of June. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

I found Chicken Pinata and many other literary journals on this wonderful website for writers appropriately named Every Writers Resource.

A new book from someone who has achieved "financial independence" very motivating!
Book on Financial Independence

The Changing Mountains

I posted this morning on Nature Walk Colorado. I'm not starting another blog just found it easy to post a nature essay this way. If you're interested in how Colorado looks this spring with all the rain you can walk with me here.

Today, consider taking your camera on a walk with you. Great Photography Articles Using poetic language walk the reader through your journey. How do you see things differently through the lens of the camera?  Now get back to your Sunday. 

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

Happy National Donut Day!

Free donut at Dunkin' Donuts with the purchase of a beverage. I think other donut chains are also joining in to celebrate National Donut Day!

Donut Day trivia

Attention photographers: Great Photography Articles

Note to Self

"I should detest the idea of setting myself up as an author give Wm. the Pleasure of it"

Dorothy Wordsworth

More than likely because I'm finishing up my 3rd packet for school I won't be posting much this week. The amount of time I put in in the final week before my packet is due seems daunting how do I pull together everything I studied in the last three weeks into one coherent packet. One thing I didn't do this last packet is journal and that was a mistake. Journaling keeps me on track and reminds me as I'm finishing up what I learned or what I was working on each day. Without that daily check in I feel like the weeks rush into each other and then I spend a lot of time staring at the computer screen and wondering how to begin.

Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Samara O'Shea is a new book written on one of my favorite topics, journaling. The more I study writing the more I find that throughout the ages poets and writers kept journals. There are the most famous ones, Anne Frank, Sylvia Plath, Louisa May Alcott and Anais Nin but right now I am studying about Dorothy Wordsworth, on a recommendation from my advisor. Dorothy Wordsworth, poet and journalist was the sister of the Romantic poet, William Wordsworth who "used" her words and her journals in many of his poems. As you can see from the quote at the top of the page she was very ok with it. There have been many books written about their close relationship and her role in the poetry of the times. A quick snapshot if you're interested.

Samara O'Shea is also a blogger for the Huffington Post and the author of For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing.

Now get back to work!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

Fun Trivia Site. Triviala.com

Writing Found Me...

Writers have it the worst of all the creative artists. All you do is sit on your backside and rearrange the 26 letters of the alphabet for 50 years.
Richard Price

I never got back to my computer last night to write a writing related post but a poem with the line poetry found me inspired this prompt.

Today, think about how you got started in writing and freewrite for fifteen minutes starting with the line writing found me... please share one line from the prompt in the comment section and I'll publish them all in a poem on Friday. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Just read about this tragic Air France flight...my heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims.