Tag: poetry

Writing in July

This past month I have continued working on revisions of the novel that takes place in the county where I live. One advantage of the month of July is that it is easier to drive up into the mountains and explore the area about which I am writing. It is fun to take photos of late 19th-century and early 20th-century homes, churches, and stores, and think about which ones match up best with my characters’ lives and activities. World-building for a time before my own lifetime is tricky because I must be accurate about the townspeople’s homes, modes of transportation, clothes, activities, jobs, and necessities. Because a sense of place is also important to me, I integrate accurate descriptions of plants and the seasons they bloom to add color and accuracy to the story. Thankfully, I have a friend who has spent years creating a log and website of, particularly, the flowering plants and their growing seasons in the elevations I am writing about. During July, I plan to spend more time in our local history library as well as take several drives up into the mountains for a photo shoot. My characters are starting to seem like old friends to me because I have been working on this project for several years. As I rewrite and revise, I notice things that I skipped over before so I am trying to fill in the gaps, smooth out the rough spots, and make sure that what I am writing is visualizable and of interest to the reader.

My Writing Goals for 2024

Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:

BWA Poetry Circle takes the summer season off. I do plan to attend several local poetry readings during the summer.

During June I attended several of the excellent faculty and student readings that are open to the public at the Naropa Summer Writing Program.

Finish my first novel and query agents:

I worked on scenery and flowers for the novel. I met with our critique group.

Continue to work on my second novel:

I attended several sessions on Zoom related to the main theme of this novel.

Continue to work on my third novel:

I reviewed old photos for reference for this story and took notes.

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

Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended our BWA Happy Hour and enjoyed the discussions with other writers. I also attended our Writers Who Read Summer Chat Fest and began reading the books for our group discussions this fall.

Denver Woman’s Press Club: I read the newsletter and plan to attend an event this month.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:  I read the newsletter and renewed my membership.

Women Writing the West: I prepared my pages for the June meeting and we worked on two members’ pages.

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 July 7, 2024. I am posting my seventh blog of 2024. Summer is wonderful. Life is easy. The sky is blue. I’m outdoors more often and it makes me cheerfully creative.

Writers who were born in July that I particularly enjoy:

Emily Bronte, Zelda Fitzgerald, Natalia Ginzberg, Lauren Groff, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Hesse, Bharati Mukherjee, Iris Murdoch, Marcel Proust, J. K. Rowling, George Sand, and George Bernard Shaw

Poets that I love who were born in July:

Tristan Corbière and Jean de la Fontaine whom I studied in graduate school. Pablo Neruda and Wislawa Szymborska are both evocative wordsmiths that I love to reread. And, Yevgeny Yevtushenko whose live performance I attended years ago was electrifying and makes my heart skip a beat when I think about it.

More on Revision

This month I worked on an introductory chapter that I had drafted a couple of years ago. It reminded me of how much I want to write this story and how committed I am to being a faithful portrayer of the setting and the characters. This reread reenergized my work. Then, because as I mentioned last month, I had to move my timeline back a bit, I looked up some historical data to make sure that I am correct about the details I am inserting into the manuscript. I was able to conceptualize a scene that would fit well, set the mood, and provide a good base for the novel. I added in some characters that I had developed before but who had only appeared occasionally in other chapters. So, despite a month full of activities and spring garden planting responsibilities, I made some progress on this book and feel good about what I am writing.

My Writing Goals for 2024

Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:

During May, I hosted a BWA Poetry Circle that featured Kathryn Winograd who discussed her methods, explained her experiences with publishing poetry, and read from her newest book, This Visible Speaking: Catching Light Through The Camera’s Eye.

I also submitted my recently published book, Moonglow, to a poetry competition. I attended a Colorado Poets Center reading which featured Nicky Beer, who has won multiple awards and fellowships for her poetry, at a local bookstore. Three poets, Larry LaVerdure, Dave Jilk, Mary Bridges, and I read at the Poetry Rodeo at the Mercury Café in June.

Finish my first novel and query agents:

I interviewed a young man who is a specialist in the field I am writing about. In one short hour, I learned a considerable amount, part of which required a revision of my timeline.

Continue to work on my second novel:

I took a workshop this month that will help me better depict the characters in this novel.

Continue to work on my third novel:

I reread what I have written and was pleasantly surprised.

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

Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended our BWA Happy Hour at the Hotel Boulderado. I also attended Gary Alan McBride’s Writers Who Read discussion of Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright which is an entertaining and educative read.

Denver Woman’s Press Club: I read the newsletter.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:  I read the newsletter.

Women Writing the West: I prepared my pages for the June meeting.

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

Today is June 7, 2024. I am posting my sixth blog of 2024. The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year and I intend to enjoy every new minute of daylight leading up to it! I am gratified that my flower garden is colorful and my tiny vegetable garden is productive. There is something about working in the garden that makes my brain more creative when I sit down later to write.

Writers who were born in June that I particularly enjoy:

Jean Anouilh, Pearl S. Buck, Octavia Butler, Thomas Mann, Salman Rushdie, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Poets that I love who were born in May:

Gwendolyn Brooks, Alan Ginsberg, Nikki Giovanni, and William Butler Yeats

Revision of a Novel in Progress

My Excel spreadsheet idea for revision is working. I love the fact that I can cut and paste the lines and columns to rearrange what I am doing. It has helped me revise my timeline and the age of some characters, and shift chapters into better positions. The spreadsheet also continues to show me where I need to add a scene or a chapter.

I also spent an hour interviewing a knowledgeable expert about an important aspect of the story that I wanted to portray accurately. For example, he clarified for me how many staff members the protagonist would need to have on board. He was familiar with one of the references I was using. We also discussed a particular kind of competition that I intend to include.

As we chatted, I realized that I needed to move the beginning of the story back several years to make it fit historically. This meant shifting part of my timeline and altering the ages of my characters. It will also require me to do additional reading about the period. I went back to my spreadsheet, moved my timeline backward, and tucked in ideas for the chapters that needed to be developed.

My Writing Goals for 2024
Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:

During April, I hosted a BWA Poetry Circle that featured a fascinating speaker— Peter Saint-Andre, a retired philosopher, technology expert, poet, and translator of Sapho, Horace, and Nietzsche’s poetry. His books, Ancient Fire: Poems and Translations and Songs of Zarathustra: Poetic Perspectives on Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Life are available on Amazon.

I also attended the monthly online Bardic Trails Poetry Night hosted by Joanna Yonder of the Wilkenson Library. Each month, Bardi Trails features a poet/speaker and offers a “talking gourd poetry circle” for attendees who want to read their own poems or a poem by another poet aloud to the group.

Additionally, I worked with Sandra Jonas Publishing to finish and publish my second book of poetry. Moonglow is now available in print and as an e-book on Amazon.

Finish my first novel and query agents:

Our critique group gave me feedback on about 2000 words of the novel I am currently revising. I also prepared another 2000 words for our meeting next week.

Continue to work on my second novel:

I made an Excel spreadsheet to see how many words I have in total for this novel. It is about right at 96,800 pages.

Continue to work on my third novel:

I spent some time going over my files for this novel and surprised myself. I have written more than I realized. I also looked over some of the reference material that had been recommended.

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

Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended our Happy Hour at the Hotel Boulderado. I also attended Gary Alan McBride’s Writers Who Read discussion of Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, a fast-moving novel about authors, authorship, and the publishing business. I also listened to an interview with the author and was intrigued by how she described her writing and her love for literature. Since one of BWA’s members has started “Write Together” sessions at a local venue, I decided to join the group for an afternoon. I was able to focus on my novel. It is the first time since the beginning of Covid 19 that I have gone to a café to write. It was relaxing and productive.

Denver Woman’s Press Club: I am preparing for our next committee meeting.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:  I read the newsletter and forwarded information about the Colorado Gold Conference 2024 to our Boulder Writers Alliance group.

Women Writing the West: Two of us from the critique group met and discussed each other’s pages. It was fun to see a complete rewrite of a chapter my colleague had rewritten since our last meeting. We also had an informative discussion about where our books fit genre-wise.

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 May 7, 2024, and I am posting my fifth blog of 2024. I am relieved that it is finally spring here. Flowers are blooming, rain is falling, and the grass is gloriously green. I feel the thrill of new energy coursing through my body. I hope that energy floods over into my writing.

Writers who were born in May that I particularly enjoy:

Mikhail Bulgakov, Honoré de Balzac, Daphne Du Maurier, and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poets that I love who were born in May:

Robert Browning, Adrienne Rich, and Walt Whitman

Figuring out the Scenes in My Second Novel

When I began this blog seven years ago, my plan was to write about the process of writing a novel from scratch. At the time, I had read several books on writing but my brain didn’t seem able to apply immediately what I had read. I have an analytical and reflective brain that loves to spin plans and ideas. I also learn by doing, that is, going through the process, learning as I go, revisiting what I am doing, and revising. Thus, I am a slow learner. It takes me time to accomplish what I really want to accomplish. I also have an inventive mind that derives pleasure from working on multiple projects, not necessarily all at the same time, but when I feel a need to work on one or the other.

Since my brain was not in a space for creative writing this month, I decided to apply my spreadsheet idea that I discussed in January and February to the draft of my second novel. It was an interesting exercise. I realized that I had completed a template that I could use for the current drafts of the three novels that I have been working on over the past years. Organization is a different type of work from creative work especially since I already have so many draft chapters written. As any reader can observe, I am not by nature an “outliner.” For me, organization follows creation rather than the opposite.

My Writing Goals for 2024


Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:

Over the past month, I attended the Colorado Poets Center reading by David M. Perkins who suggested that when reading one’s own poetry at a reading, one first read a poem by a poet who is a personal favorite. I enjoy the poetry readings which include an open mike. I met and talked with some brilliant poets after the session.

Finish my first novel and query agents:

Our critique group read about 2000 words of my novel.

Continue to work on my second novel:

I spent some time studying, figuring out, and organizing the five parts into which I will divide this novel using my spreadsheet.

Continue to work on my third novel:

No progress here.

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

Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended our Happy Hour and met some amazing writers. I organized the BWA Poetry Circle which featured the poet, Katherine Indermaur, who explained her process and read selections from her poetry books. Katherine beautifully integrates research with her writing of poetry.

Denver Woman’s Press Club: I participated in an online Membership Committee meeting and worked on the revision committee examining the bylaws.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:  I collaborated with the RMFW Conference Chair to advertise the 2024 Colorado Gold Conference. I also attended an excellent four-hour online conference with RMFW. The writer J. Kelly Byram presented on the importance of understanding cybersecurity issues as a writer. Debra Bokur presented on how to stop procrastinating. Carter Wilson discussed the psychology of writers. Terrie Wolf explained how agents and editors work and how to collaborate with them.

Women Writing the West: Our critique group met and critiqued each other’s pages. They were enthusiastic about my pages and gave me good advice.

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 March 7, 2024, and I am posting my third blog of 2024. The days are marching toward spring here thank goodness. Snow may be good for writing time but I am ready to be outdoors more!

Writers who were born in March that I particularly enjoy:

Ralph Ellison, Jeffrey Eugenides, Henrik Ibsen, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jack Kerouac, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Flannery O’Connor, Dr. Seuss, Tennessee Williams

Poets that  I love who were born in March:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost, Stéphane Mallarmé, Octavio Paz, Paul Verlaine