by Carolee Sherwood
I always wanted to be a poll dancer, and it’s appropriate that this poet’s first foray into the field is figurative. I’ll be “poll dancing” – launching a discussion about our sidebar polls – every couple of weeks here at Read Write Poem.
The current poll asks, “How often do you organize your poetry-related life?” and the overwhelming majority of RWP poets makes an effort to establish some sort of order.
I am among them. Although I’ve only recently started to submit my work to journals, I’ve always used folders and binders to keep it in one place. For years and years, I sorted into only two categories: ideas and first drafts. I rarely revised, and I never called something “finished” or “complete.”
Then I went to another extreme. I created detailed spreadsheets with information about journals. I spent hours researching when I could have been writing, which wouldn’t have been bad if I’d actually followed through and sent something out. But I didn’t.
When I first decided to give my work the level of attention I’d given the research, I was disappointed to see the incredibly small number of finished pieces I could claim. I’d always been a writer, and I thought I’d been more focused.
But it was a beginning. I made a list of what I had and watched the list grow. Then I made lists in a few categories: ideas, first drafts, complete drafts, submitted work and published work. It became cumbersome and time-consuming to maintain up-to-date lists, and since I use organization as a distraction and as a tool for procrastination, I needed a new way.
Now, I have turned my categories into cover sheets, and I use binder clips (with which I have a secret love affair) to attach paper copies of the work. It gives me a great visual because I can see the size of each stack, but it doesn’t generate a schedule for checking on submissions and finding new opportunities. I’d like a good plan for those activities.
There are many ideas out there about how to organize your writing life. Here are a few:
“The Organized Writer” by Misti Sandefur at Absolute Write.
“Get it together: Tips to Get Organized and Write More by Cheryl Malandrinos at writer2writer.
“Tracking your submissions” by Greg Knollenberg at Writers Write
I’m wondering if all poets who organize their work intend to publish or if they find order simply helps them appreciate and see the results of their efforts. I’m also curious about those who don’t sort and plan at all. I assume that they are engrossed in the joy of the work. Unadulterated. “Art for art’s sake?” I’d like to hear more about that place.
Join me on this stage! Use the comments section to talk about your own efforts (or lack thereof), quirky habits (for example, I keep every single version of a piece), make suggestions or point out resources.
Here’s how the poll dance works: We post a poll and let it ride for a week and a half, and then I’ll talk a little bit about the topic and the results. The poll will stand for a few days after that to allow additional participation. The rotation gives each poll two weeks in the white-hot spotlight.
Carolee,
Just wanted to thank you for linking to my article at Absolute Write. I hope your readers find it helpful.
Blessings,
Misti Sandefur
Useful article and links – thanks! I try to be organised about my writing. Ihave a big box full of ideas, thisis chaotic but deliberately so, I can rummage around for ideas when I’m feelign a bit stuck. Once I’m working on a piece it moves to a folder and when its getting towards being polished it goes onto the computer (though poems for prompts have a much shorter working period than other poems, which I often spend weeks working on). In terms of submissions, I try to regularly consult the websites and listings that highlight submission dates and requirements. I’m starting to prefer calls for submissions that have themes, because it focusses my mind better. I have a reasonable listing method of what I send out but it could be improved and Ishould actually set up a spreadsheet for my submissions.
This is a great topic for discussion, Carolee. I’m going to check those links. Thanks.
I have file folders in my documents file on the computer titled Fertile Work, Enigmatic Orphans (a borrowed term that fits perfectly) Collaborations, Revision Ready and Ready to Go.
Fertile Work–early drafts, free writes
Enigmatic Orphans– lone lines or images
Revision Ready– poems that are thisclose to being ready to go
Collaborations– exactly that
The poems that I consider complete, or as finished/polished as possible I put in the Ready to Go folder.
The poems that have been accepted or published go into a folder with the journal’s /zine’s name, along with other correspondence specific to that journal.
The poems that I have included in my poetry manuscript, Garbage Woman are all in one folder the GW POEMS folder and the actual manuscript and related documents are in their own folder.
There’s “My Documents” file pretty much.
I am in dire need of reviewing all of my files. There are so many pieces floating about in the wrong categories, I think. I’ve been putting it off but reorganizing the files was a goal for this month to get my year going. I’m running low on ink but I plan to do a massive print out to get the visual of my work and re-organize.
I also have a “writing resume” that I update whenever a piece is accepted or if I do something writing-related like persent a workshop, give a public reading, etc.
I have been published a few times over the years. I’ve submitted primarily to peers’ publications since in my former life, I was a small press publisher and online admin. While I say I’ve been published, I do not mean vanity press. I majored in English and my ego couldn’t take stooping to that. I’m referring to college presses and small publications both print and online.
I have never been aggressive about pursuing publication. I wrote throughout college, and I’ve been in and out of college longer than some of your children are old. I write because it’s a part of who I am. If I write something that’s good enough to share with others outside of lovers and family, I submit. In fact, I am very interested in participating at Cave Canem this summer and that means seriously putting a portfolio together.
Anywhoo, back to organization, I’m a hopeless case. I try to file, try to organize but I’ve had only modest success. My writing partner on the other hand is brillant at it, and he’s been published far more than I.
In her book Writing Alone and with Others ( a wonderful resource), Pat Schneider tells a story of how Emily Dickinson had hand bound all her own books of poems in a final draft form, and then tied them in bundles with a black ribbon. Talk about completing your work!
I think your point is excellent- we need to finish the work, and send it off. Give birth, raise the kid, I mean poem, and then give it wings. Off to the next project.
I’m no where near as organized as you are, C, but I have “stickies” on my mac, like a post-it, where I record what I’ve sent off, and where, and the date. Sometimes I use real post-its, and stick them to the wall. If I’m rejected by someone, I cross the name off the list, until the piece is accepted, or if everyone said no. In that case, I take another look at the piece.
I’ve only been writing with an eye toward publishing for a short while. I’ve had a few pieces published online. Persistence is key. One e-zine that is helpful for emerging writers is Long Story Short.
Writing for publication is great, but forums like this one are also excellent for boosting confidence and gaining experience. Thanks for this great post!
Very interesting post. Thanks for the links too.
I am trying to be more organized about my work. I have not given much thought on publishing. Someday, I might do that. I do send to e-zines. THat too because one of my bloggers friends insisted I do so.
I try to set an order for my writing. Like, daily time or something like that. Like with most writers, somedays inspirarion does not come easy. Other days, it gushes out.
My mathematical brain gives me a logical way out most of the times..:D My majoring in English too lets me me beauty of the language…use of imagery, metaphors..
I do feel community interactions encourage our writing skills and push us to limits. A few writing forums like this truly tax our brains and help in developing skills to a goal for purposeful writing.
One of my biggest drawbacks is I seldom go back to editing unless done within a few days. However, looking through a critics’ eye, I do it much better.
Misti–thanks for stopping by! the resources you have pulled together are very helpful!
CGP—i love the “big box” idea. i love what works for people. i’m a person who panics when i can’t find something so i’d be frantically dumping out the big box.
clare—your categories are spectacular! the only creative one i have is “dead poem society.” those i’ve given up on. (i keep them b/c i believe in the poem afterlife). and i often think about a writer resume … maybe that’s a subject for a future column here for someone!
susan—it’s a rewarding place to be, i think, to be “in the work.” and if you decide to follow in your partner’s skillful steps, i believe the organization can come together quite quickly!
christine—what a beautiful ritual dickinson had! i didn’t know about that. (and shout out to mac stickies!)
gautami—your mention of daily writing time is so important. my poems are organized but my schedule is not and i wish i could commit to something more regularly, both in terms of writing time and in terms of keeping up on deadlines.
to stir the pot a little bit: so many of us agree that organization is a good thing, but how do we stop it from becoming overwhelming and taking time/energy away from the writing?
I took a course on Dickinson twice. Incredible poet. Not only did she bind her work, but she was a serious revisionist. She didn’t follow conventional grammar rules either. Editors later revised errors that were intentional.
Dickinson didn’t write with aspirations of being published either. She said that she read very little: Whitman, the Bible and one or two other poets of the time.
carolee – that’s an interesting question, I try to limit organisation to the essential (eg recording which poems i send where and what happens to them) and don’t spend ages procrastinating or obsessing over organisation. At the minute I’m finding it quite easy to write and come up with ideas, otherwise I would be tempted to spend more time organising and that could become a problem. I don’t have a top tip though for avoiding becoming overwhelmed with organisation…
What a great conversation.
I am in need of an organizational overhaul. But I also tend to quit half-way through those kinds of projects because they are so big, and then I am worse off when I started. I tend to be manic (okay, not quite that over-the-top, but close) about either being very tidy, or very sloppy. It happens in my poetry work, too. I think that doesn’t answer Carolee’s second question, but agrees that’s a tough question. How to go far enough to be helpful, but not spend all my time being organized.
My electronic folders are kind of organized, but I need to separate the most recent versions with drafts. And sometimes I will revise something in my blog and forget to save back into my electronic file. (That’s really bad if it’s a piece that shows some promise.)
I don’t have anything organized in any kind of a theme, or separate by how far along they are. I think that would be great.
I also don’t always have a hard copy. And I realize I must change this habit! (I work on a laptop and vary my working location from bedroom desk area to TV room. Sometimes I work from my work computer and that’s another hiding place. The printer is in my husband’s office, which won’t be my office until he retires in 3 years, since he works from home and needs it the most – our house is smallish.) I do write with pen and paper on the bus. But I usually transfer pretty quickly to computer.
My new poetry teacher prints his pieces out and puts them in a small cardboard box on his desk and riffles through them occasssionally. The are simply put one on top of the other chronologically. I don’t think that would work for me.
I do keep an electronic file of what I have sent to whom for consideration. I don’t think my stuff is all that great – it’s just that planning on sending it out makes me work harder at revision.
I have two face-to-face poetry groups I workshop with. When I look for something to go over with them I scan my computer files and my blogs for work that might be good to review with them and it is not easy to sort.
I must change my ways! You’ve inspired me, thanks!