Creativity in a Stressful Time

This past month, I have found it difficult to concentrate on my creative writing. I have spent hours listening to talk shows and pundits. I finally resorted to watching all the available versions of Matlock with Kathy Bates in one sitting. The writing, acting, and filming of that series are remarkably good. Kathy Bates’ performance is phenomenal. I was entranced by a TV show for the first time in years.

Creative writing requires a mind that is rested and not distracted and, in particular, a train of thought that is not interrupted with “What if?” I managed to eke out one short poem in the last few weeks. However, I have not yet written the pages for my November critique group next week. On November 5, I simply sat at my computer and read various weak and unsatisfactory commentaries by various news outlets.

I keep asking myself: what has gone wrong with education in the USA? Whose voices and whose writing can a wise person follow to understand current affairs? When and where can an everyday citizen be involved in stabilizing our struggling democracy? What can writers do to have an impact? Which kinds of stories can we tell that expand readers’ ability to recognize facts, identify lies, and interpret what they read? How can we help regular readers select reliable sources of information? How can we assure readers that all issues are not divided into “two sides”? How do we prevent division and separation among family members, former friends, and former colleagues? What is the common good that might unite?

At the moment I have no answers—only questions.

My Writing Goals for 2024

Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:

In October, I attended the excellent Colorado Poetry Center poetry presentation by Kathryn Winograd at the Boulder Bookstore.

I also participated in a poetry reading with Larry LaVerdure’s group in Lafayette and read one of my recent poems.

I attended Bardic Trails, a program on the Western Slope, on Zoom. This month it featured two readers from the Navajo Nation: Zoey McKenzie of Las Cruces, New Mexico whose work can be viewed at: https://saaniidotcom.blogspot.com, and Milton Bluehouse, Jr., who is the son of a former Navajo leader and Tribal Chair, a hunter, rancher, and poet. He has worked in tribal, federal, and state inter-governmental relations, including facilitating and mediating multiple Indian Country issues. He has also provided relations training for federal and state agencies, private corporations, and non-governmental organizations.

Additionally, I invited Bobby Parrot who has published hundreds of poems to read for the BWA Poetry Circle. Bobby’s work can be viewed in various online journals including: https://www.exactingclam.com/contributors/bobby-parrott/

Finish my first novel and query agents:

I drafted new pages for my critique group.

Continue to work on my second novel:

I talked to another writer about this book.

Continue to work on my third novel:

Even though I really liked the new BWA literary critique group, I decided that I could not manage another meeting, nor could I read more manuscripts at this point. So, with regret, I dropped out.

Continue to develop a network of kindred spirits in the world of writing and publishing:

Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended the BWA Happy Hour in October and Gary Allen McBride’s group this week in which we had an energetic conversation about Stephen King’s Holly.

Denver Woman’s Press Club: Our 100th-year celebration was held in October.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:  I read the newsletter and chatted with folks who had attended the conference.

Women Writing the West: I could not attend the conference because I was sick. It was a big disappointment.

Document my writing progress through my blog and post it on the seventh day of each month, one blog per month in 2024:

Today is November 7, 2024. I am posting my eleventh blog of 2024. October was unseasonably warm—I continued to harvest beans and corn from my garden until October 18th. My flower garden lasted until Halloween when we had our first freeze. Our first feathery snowfall covered my garden with snow flowers this week.

Writers who were born in November that I particularly enjoy:

Margaret Atwood, Roland Barthes, Fyodor Dostoevsky, André Gide, Nadine Gordimer, Margaret Mitchell, Helen Hooven Santmyer, Mark Twain, Voltaire, and Kurt Vonnegut

Poets that I admire who were born in November:

William Blake, Marianne Moore, and Anne Sexton