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Reading to Write

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At this time of year, I like to reflect on my writing, the drafts that did and didn’t make it to finals, publishing, and what’s next. I plan my reading at this time. For some reason, many writers don’t make a habit of reading for their writing. If you plan to write poetry, you need to read poems, for instance.

I read closely whatever it is I’m in the process of writing. If I want to write haiku, I will read the Haiku Journal or Acorn, as both publish many haiku. If I’m writing fiction, I read novels. And I read with purpose as I want to study how other writers handle the problems I am having. So, I recently read a young adult narrative, The Poet X by ElizabethAcevedo, to study narrative poetry.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33294200-the-poet-x

I also read for pleasure and sometimes find mentor texts there as well. So, I recently read Kathryn Holzman’s, Real Estate https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore/Fiction-c18653063 for pleasure. This writer, who set her novel in the beginning of Silicon Valley, writes historical fiction. It helped me figure out how to write a historical poem.

I published a collection of poems earlier this year that encompasses a variety of forms and styles of poetry. Check it out at:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/

I will continue to blog announcements on Tuesday and my writer’s blog on Thursday.

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Journaling

A piece of writing begins with a germ of an idea, an inspiration, a straw dog. Some people use their journals to spark ideas.

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In addition to being a good starting point for a writer, journaling has other benefits. According to Leslie

Andrus-Hacia, a clinical psychiatrist Writing is a brain-based porthole leading to a balanced and calm

state of being … through writing, both right-and left-brain hemispheres communicate, synthesizing

information that ultimately results in greater mental coherence.”* Other benefits of journaling include memory support and increasing communication skills.

I like to journal on my IPhone. I always have it with me and I loaded Microsoft Word onto it so I can access the files from my IPad or MacBook. Whenever I get an idea or scrap of a thought, I enter it into my Phone Journal. I review my notes once a week to see if there is anything I want to flesh out into a poem. It’s a good system for collecting odd thoughts that otherwise would just escape you.

Sometimes those odd thoughts turn into your best work. I am publishing a new collection of poems at the beginning of the new year called Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet (Shanti Arts, 2026.) Many were from thoughts in my journal.

Check it out:

http://www.shantiarts.com

*Family Health and Wellness

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Time Commitment and Writing

The difference I have noticed between successful writers who publish and people who want to be writers is the time commitment. The successful writer takes his/her writing seriously and carves out time daily to write.

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The successful writer is disciplined about writing, if not daily, at regular intervals, and sticks to that schedule. We all go through periods of vacation, periods of time devoted to family and friends, but within those diversions, the writer has discipline about devoting time to the craft.

Never assume that something will get done because you’ve told yourself it will. Have a disciplined approach, and rely on writing groups, calendars, schedules, good word processing systems, in other words, the tools of the trade in good order. Then sit down and write.

It took me ten years to write my most recent collection, but I finished and published it. Take a look:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/

I will blog regularly on Thursdays. I will make announcements on Tuesdays.

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Getting Distracted While Writing

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It’s really easy to get distracted when you write, especially now that we’re all largely home working and there are phone calls, emails and housework all conspiring to take away the writing time.

The human brain takes around 17 minutes to refocus on a task after a distraction. Losing focus while in the middle of writing, can seriously damage the quality of your content. If you want your writing to be the best quality content possible, you need to get rid of distractions.

Disable all notification on your computer and put your phone on silent so that you do not get disturbed in the middle of a writing session.  Be disciplined enough to either do your housework  before you write, or better yet, delay it until after your writing session.

If you put your writing first, you get more accomplished and the quality of the content will be better.

During the pandemic I wrote a collection of poetry and had it published.  I did this by focusing.  Take a look at the book:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/

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Join Me and 11 Other Western Massachusetts Writers for a Straw Dog Showcase September 8, 6:30 pm

https://www.kathrynholzman.com/news/straw-dogs-author-showcase-2021

Join me and 11 other Western Massachusetts Writers for the 7th Annual Straw Dog Writers Showcase at 6:30 pm tomorrow. Follow the link to register

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What To Do About Writer’s Block

Writer’s block, or when an author is unable to produce new work, happens to all writers.

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Try writing something of special interest to you.  Write down all the primary ideas you’d like to write and then write the smaller ideas that make up the big ideas. Then write an outline of these ideas.

Now you have an outline that is a starting point.  Research your topic.  

Now you have an outline and some new thoughts to add to your outline.  When I wrote my most recent collection of poems, when I was blocked, I started reading other formal poetry forms.  I would take a concept I wanted to write a poem about, I’d choose a form and try to 

follow the form into the idea.  Either the form would work, like a narrative poem, a haiku, or a pantoum, or I would write outside of the form and wind up with a draft of a new poem.

Check out my new collection here:

Touch My Head Softly by Eileen P. Kennedy

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In This Together: A Virtual Event on Planetary and Human Health Tonight

Join me and many other artists and writers for the closing reception of this amazing visual art, poetry, prose and video exhibit by Western Massachusetts Authors and Artists on August 31 at 6:30 p.m. Go to the link below to get the link to the reading.


https://forbeslibrary.libcal.com/event/7842100

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