Bird By Bird

Everyone in this community is invited to submit work to the literary/artistic/cultural/nature and travel writing/scientific webzine Synchronized Chaos. (http://www.synchchaos.com) This includes novel excerpts - we encourage novelists to provide some description of the project along with the excerpt and a link where the whole piece may be purchased. We also do book reviews for fiction and nonfiction.

Information on the zine and how to submit, from the Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20763137372&ref=mf :

We have four local Bay Area spinoff writers' and artists' groups, free open to the public to drop by and share work for professional critique and marketing advice. Please email me at cedeptula@sbcglobal.net for info, the groups are selected weeknights twice a month in San Jose, San Rafael, San Francisco, and Castro Valley.

The brainchild of some of my friends and colleagues, along with myself, the publication provides thoughtful art/cultural/literary/scientific/social commentary/essay material. Our title comes from the mathematical concept of chaos theory - the study of whether we can find order in systems which seem to be random at first glance, whether anything in nature can be proved to be truly random or whether some systems just seem that way because we don't know enough about the initial conditions. This is a social experiment and a fun way to stay coherent without limiting our contributors' creativity or having to turn away excellent work because it isn't a fit.

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I'd like some advice on this piece, so please feel free to jump in with your thoughts.

"What they say "there are no words for"--that's what poetry is for."

Marvin Bell: Thirty-two Statements About Writing Poetry

Issue 14 of eloquent with rage is now available. Due to increased costs of materials and printing, I can't really afford to give them out for free any longer, unfortunately. This issue is $2, and is 38 pages of poetry, written by me over the summer. It's good stuff, I promise you. ewr14 is also available for trade! Got a zine to trade? Got a bad horror movie DVD you're looking to get rid of? How about a book of poetry you've read and is collecting dust? Let's talk, then trade. For real! Bartering rocks.

I have currently completed eloquent with rage number 14, and it's off to the printer today! I expect to have it Wednesday for my reading at a local coffee shop on Thursday. Otherwise, I'm taking a break after my summer poetry challenge. I am ambivalent about doing NaNo (or even NaPo) this year, but I haven't decided either way yet.

this year's NaNoWriMo calendar

hey so, I still have about half a novel and I need to finish it. So I'm definitely planning on some version of NaNoWriMo again this year. Anyone else in?

I just uploaded four more poems to eloquent with rage, my Blogger account. Nothing brand new, but good stuff. Take a look.

Here's the original version of the poem - notice the underlined section:


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Chaos Theory now welcomes submissions for its Summer 2008 inaugural issue - poetry (formal, free verse, or any combination of both), narrative nonfiction, personal experience and slice of life essays, scientific and travel and journalistic nonfiction, short fiction, profiles of and interviews with local or international 'interesting people' or worthwhile projects, graphic art, photography, scanned or photographic images of any kind of visual art, etc.

We are honored to accept work of varying kinds and styles and generally will not turn down submissions unless the content is obscene or hateful and without accompanying artistic or intellectual worth.

For now please send submissions to my email (Cristina Deptula at cedeptula@sbcglobal.net) or comment here with a short description of and a link to your work. We hope to soon designate a team of editors to review various types of material but for now I would be happy to disseminate the information.

Please pass on the word to anyone else who needs a soapbox for his/her cause and can speak coherently about the matter, to anyone else with some unique artistic endeavor, to anyone else who's creating something interesting or elegant or informative and whom you believe should have a larger audience.

You may find us on LiveJournal at 👁 Image
chaos_zine or here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20763137372&ref=mf

From Ira Glass: ( Do a huge volume of work.Collapse )

I posted this in my own blog (eloquentwthrage) last week, but then I remember, "Hey, there's this thing called Bird by Bird that recently became a virtual workshop!" So here's a sonnet I wrote a while back and didn't think too much of at the time. But now, I think it's got some good bits. Please take a look:

The faces at the window do not stare
into a void or place of purpose, no.
They're longing to ignore the fabric tear
behind them, countries broken, battered so
much, they no longer hemorrhage blood, but souls.
A joker smile won't make them go away
or even veer off course. You can't cajole
them into moving on, offer them pay
or other wages. It's as if they're glued
in front of you, reminders of yourself
before you trusted everything they know
you'd swallow, television on a shelf.
I don't believe your lies. I don't believe
your truth. I don't believe your disbelief.

I am aware the final couplet is not a strict rhyme. Other than that, any and all other thoughts are welcome.

The challenge of Filibuster poetry is to write thirty poems in thirty days. As April is National Poetry Month, this is the perfect opportunity to dust off your inspiration and put your money where your mouth is. (I'm using all my cliches up now so I won't put them in any of the poems I'll write this month.)

Here are a few challenges to those of us who are not inclined to just sit down on "autopoem" and spit some out...

• Pick up an anthology of all different poets. Each day, after reading one of the poems (or those of one poet), write a response to that poem (or poet).
• Been wanting to get to know a poet better? Pick up that volume you've been eying for a few months. Each day, read one poem and write an immediate response.
• Do you get the newspaper daily, or check news on "teh Intrawebs"? Grab the first headline that jumps out at you to jot down, if you're first waking up or at work, and use it as a springboard later in the day to write a poem.
• Just before you're ready to sit down with pen(cil) and paper, turn on the radio and listen for a snippet of lyrics. Use that as your prompt.
• Visit "Random Quotes - the Quotation Page" and use the quotes as springboards or prompts.
• Visit "WritingFix: Random Writing Prompts" each day and get one of over 500 prompts.

I hope this gives everyone ample inspiration to begin their month of Filibuster Poetry. Find your muse and have a blast!

How do you DECIDE about line breaks? I am used to reading this stuff out loud and I just can't seem to get a sense of where I should use enjambment and where I shouldn't. How do you go about rearranging the work on the page?

Hints, tips, links, quotes, discussion welcome...

http://www.raybradbury.com/inhiswords02.html

I just stumbled upon this Ray Bradbury piece and had to share it.

The Bird By Bird user info has changed. I have also made it so that new members have to be approved. This is an experiment! It's been very quiet here, and several of us could use some feedback, so I've decided to make this a place where we CAN post our writing and invite critique. The rules are, use an LJ-cut and be specific about what kind of feedback you are looking for.

I'll post some writing soon, but feel free to start without me if you want!

From unclutterer.com - self-imposed limitations such as retro software can help writers focus.

(I am intrigued by the Neo. I usually write in an actual paper notebook for the same reason, but then I have to type everything in later!)

Reposted from my journal:

Inviting everyone to check out and consider volunteering creative talent for 👁 Image
strike_support to benefit writers and non-union creative techs out of work due to the WGA strike. How it works is that people offer to make icons or sketches or write short fiction or poetry as a gift for someone in exchange for that person's donating to a fund to provide emergency help with rent, food, healthcare, etc for unemployed workers in the television industry.

I know many of you are incredibly talented with writing, poetry, music, graphic design, etc - and it's a good cause. Many people in the writing industry are not wealthy - they're 'starving artists' looking for a chance to survive while following their dream and working one or more dayjobs between gigs. And this is a creative, democratic, (discordian!) response to the whole situation.

Here's the community's information:

Everyone knows that the writers are out of jobs because they're on strike. It's what being on strike means, and it's a risk they decided to take.

But hundreds of other people are also out of jobs: actors, technicians, staff, crew. These people had no say in whether the writers went on strike or not. They didn't choose to lose their jobs.

Fans have done a lot to support the strike, so that it ends as quickly as possible. But that end is still far out of sight.

But there's a way that you can help now the people who need help the most. strike_support is a general fandom community dedicated to helping those affected by the strike, who don't have their union's funds to fall back on. We're doing this through two charities: The Actors' Fund, based in NYC, and The Motion Picture & Television Fund, based in LA. If you know another charity that supports "below the line" people, please contact 👁 Image
esotaria

Hey, folks...

Many of us (if you can define about twelve as many) in the southern New Jersey Poetry community, in support of National Novel Writing Month (better known as NaNoWriMo) are having our own thing called National Poetry Writing Month - NaPoWriMo. There are two ways you may take this: 1) Thirty poems in thirty days, or 2) Writing poetry every day for thirty days. I prefer the latter myself, as anyone who aims to write thirty poems in thirty days is just asking for lots of bad poems. Last year, when I aimed for writing poetry every day for thirty days, I did, and in fact I got eight or nine strong pieces from that month. But whatever floats your boat.

Anyway, I put together a prompt calendar for November to make everyone's poetry writing a bit more interesting. Of course, having your own ideas are great, but we all know sometimes it's not easy to just sit and poetize. So perhaps the list of prompts can help. It is available in PDF form here:

NaPoWriMo Prompt Calendar

Best of all, it's free! So even if you're not doing NaPyDiaPer - er, NaPoWriMo, you may use the prompts whenever, for whatever purpose! So feel free to grab it. (Because of my bandwidth limits, I had to drag down the quality a bit. Everything is quite readable, though.)

Enjoy!

In support of NaNoWriMo novelists in November, we local South Jersey poets do NaPoWriMo. Last year, I collected a list of prompts and gave it out to several folks, and they reported terrific results. I had seven or eight strong pieces in that month as well, so I'm looking to do it again.

I have around ten so far but need more. If it pleases you, reply with a thought, quote, news blurb, something that's been on your mind recently. I will most likely use it toward this year's prompt list.

(A note for eager beavers: It's not necessary to post more than five prompt ideas, as I won't be able to use them all. The thought is appreciated.)

I recently sold my first book. In conjunction, I've established another LiveJournal to report on the project's progress, occasionally provide links about, and writings by, its subject, Paul Nelson, and share snippets of information or parts of interviews that may or may not be covered further in the final product.

The new journal shares the book's working title, Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson. Just follow the link.

Anybody interested in learning more about this brilliant critic, whose own life proved just as mysterious and fascinating as the artists' about whom he wrote, is welcome to join. As well, tracking the process of how a book goes from sale to publication should prove interesting. I'm rather curious about that part myself...

Stop Reading and Start Writing

WALTER MOSLEY: I think that most people use that time waiting in order to keep themselves from writing. Also, if you aren’t writing every day, you’re going to lose the thread of your novel and it’s never going to work.

It's the birthday of novelist and essayist Anne Lamott, born in San Francisco, California (1954). Her first big success was her memoir Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year (1993), which she wrote about her first year as a single mother. She's since written several other books of nonfiction: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (1994), Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith (1999), Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith (2005), and Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith.

I have a list of prompts for those of us who want to participate in Filibuster Poetry for April, which is National Poetry Month. In case you haven't heard, a group of southern New Jersey poets are writing 30 poems in 30 days (or in some cases, writing poetry every day for 30 days...) It should be quite a month.

If you need the list of prompts, let me know.

This comes from the Borders website. Not that I wish to promote Borders, but I thought this was amusing. . .

( So, what was the inspiration for your new novel, Boomsday?Collapse )

Hey, kids. Some of us in South Jersey are doing something called Filibuster Poetry in April, which is writing 30 poems in 30 days. (Or, like I do, writing poetry every day for 30 days, not actually expecting 30 poems, but when we did this in November as NaPoWriMo, I got at least seven good ones. Anyway...) I have a list of prompts I'll be using and I am sharing it with anyone who would like it. Please advise if you want to participate. We'll also be contacting each other via a Google Group, if you'd like to join up and keep in touch. (You can remove yourself once the months is over.)

Okay. I'll wait to hear from you, then.

Has anyone heard of a poetic form called an etherie? I was introduced to it last year by some folks in the local poetry group. Supposedly, it's a poem of ten lines and 55 syllables. The first line is one syllable, the second line two syllables, etc., until you get to ten syllables on the tenth line. Anyway, I know a couple people in the group have written them, and I wrote one the other day.

However, when I Google etherie, I get nothing but French websites that, as far as I can tell, have nothing to do with poetry. Has anyone else heard of this?

Edit, later in the day: Thanks to the lovely 👁 Image
peregrin8 for finding out it's spelled etheree!

April is National Poetry Month, and some of my local poets and me are doing "thirty in thirty" like back in November for NaPoWriMo. We're calling it Filibuster Poetry. How cool is that?

Anyway, we need prompts! Please send your snippets of dialogue, quotes, ideas, words, and whatever else to me so I can help create a list of prompts to make our month easier. Thanks!

A forward from a friend re: Kripalu. Natalie Goldberg is teaching a writing workshop this weekend (someone else cancelled). ( Read more...Collapse )

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open." -Martha Graham