It's kind of nerve-wracking. It reminds me of that Blink-182 song "First Date". I did it. I submitted a poem to Witness. It's the first time I've written a cover letter for a poem, and the first submission fee I've paid. (It's $2).
As I clumsily explained in my last post the theme of the issue will be Chaos. I also admitted that I was having a difficult time working on that poem. I went to the library and read the latest issue of Writer's Digest. One of the last articles talked about combining two poems to breath life into a few stanzas that didn't really fit anywhere.
What I ended up with after taking that advice was a poem where each stanza represented one of two alternating views. The narrator, possibly a cop at a crime scene, and a witness telling her side of the story. The juxtaposition of the cool, collected officer should have thrown the chaos of the crime into relief, but through the use of enjambment it's apparent that the officer is having a tough time distancing himself from the incident.
The witness is more calm about the whole thing, but she is in denial. Human nature, the tension inside ourselves, that's the real chaos in the world. A person has to deal with everything externally, but behind the facade there are several other conflicts vying for recognition and resolve. This is the real chaos of the story.
Wish me luck.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
How do you write a submission?
I'm asking you. How do you write a submission? How do you write to a theme? I try to think of something that goes with the theme of a writing contest, and other stories get in the way.
Maybe I'm trying to be clever like in apples to apples where you play a card opposite to what is asked and sometimes win.
The story I can't move aside is set in a Big Brother type future à la 1984 by George Orwell. The world is entirely orderly. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe if I actually write it down, it will turn into something chaotic. Will it? I'm asking you.
Maybe I should write it down to get it out of the way, and then I can concentrate on an on theme poem.
Does this happen to anyone else? How do you write a themed submission?
Maybe I'm trying to be clever like in apples to apples where you play a card opposite to what is asked and sometimes win.
The story I can't move aside is set in a Big Brother type future à la 1984 by George Orwell. The world is entirely orderly. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe if I actually write it down, it will turn into something chaotic. Will it? I'm asking you.
Maybe I should write it down to get it out of the way, and then I can concentrate on an on theme poem.
Does this happen to anyone else? How do you write a themed submission?
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