Poetry TIps Burn-Out

Happy 4th of July! A couple of weeks ago I implored readers to contribute answers to questions regarding burn-out and I did get some responses. I have Talia Reed’s answers to each question, and also Tara Strahl’s take on burn-out posted at the end:

Talia Reed:
1. When/how do you know you are starting to feel burnt-out?
I don't want to read any more poetry. I belong to a writers group and borrow a lot of reading material, so I'm lucky that I have access to a lot of stuff, but I have to sort of cleanse the pallate after a while. That's when I switch to a novel or something.
2. How do you navigate around obstacles which crowd out your abilities to focus on poetry in the day-to day?
I'm a busy mom. The 3 year-old is demanding and when I prioritize, at this point in my life, the poetry isn't at the top. When I get really busy I try to find poetry time just once a week. I can do once a week, and if the muse is kind it will lead to more.
3. How do you combat poetic burn-out specifically?
Read something else. Write something I wouldn't normally write, post it to my blog.
4. Finally, how do you know when you’ve conquered burn-out?
I think it's an ongoing thing. Sort of like keeping the love alive in a marriage or something.

Tara Strahl:
Poetry Burn-out: A Combative Approach
Poetry thrives on contradictions, and the writer who can't write anything is the greatest contradiction of all. Therefore, I try to make use of my burned-out moments. I've noticed that the times in which I am unable to get anything done are actually the times from which my best ideas eventually come. Also, the small things I do manage to get done during these times end up having far greater impact than they normally would. So, Zen-like, one way to think about poetry burn-out is that it's like pulling an arrow back before it can shoot forward.


Thank you, ladies, for participating! Also, thanks to all who stop in and hopefully you found some new answers to burn-out. For myself, I finally started delegating more tasks in my everyday life to others who were perfectly capable of doing them. Now I have a little more time to devote to hobbies and feeling less stressed out, and therefore, less burn-out.

Please stop in again on Monday for another featured site!

Frog Pond Open Submissions

Open submissions for Fall Issue end August 1st so be sure to get your submissions in soon! This journal specializes in haiku, senryu, haibun, and similar.

You may click on the link below or read the entire submission guidelines directly pulled from the site provided after the link:

http://www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond.htm


1. Submissions from both members and non-members of HSA are welcome
2. Submissions must be original, unpublished work that is not being considered elsewhere
3. Submissions by e-mail are preferred:
(a) they must be in the body of the e-mail (no attachments) (b) they must have the following subject line: Frogpond Submission
4. Submissions by post will receive a reply only if included are either:
(a) a self-addressed stamped envelope (with a Canadian stamp), or(b) a self-addressed envelope with one International Reply Coupon (IRC) for up to 30 grams; two IRCs for over 30 and up to 50 grams
5. Only one submission per issue will be considered

The Submission May Include Any or All of the Following
1. Up to ten (10) haiku and/or senryu2. Up to three (3) haibun 3. Up to three (3) rengay or other short sequences4. One (1) renku or other long sequence5. One (1) essay6. One (1) book review

Submission Periods
1. February 15 to April 15 (Spring/Summer Issue)2. June 01 to August 01 (Fall Issue)3. September 15 to November 15 (Winter Issue)

Submission Addresses:
George Swede, Editor Box 279, Station PToronto, ON M5S 2S8Canada
Email: gswede@ryerson.ca

Good luck on your submissions, may the muse be with you. Thanks for dropping in, I won’t be posting tomorrow because I will be getting up very early to do more volunteer work before the craziness of the holiday begins. See you Monday!

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171248
“Cuba” by Ai

http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/rick_barot/echo.shtml
Rick Barot’s “Echo”

Thanks for reading, please stop by tomorrow…

Dancing Girl Press Blog

Sorry for the delay, my internet was down this morning and I just now got home to find it working again!

This site features available chapbooks, and announcements to open reading periods (best take a look at that and scroll through, if I were you) and they are also a subsidiary of Wicked Alice. Check it out at:

http://dancinggirlpress.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by Wednesday for Poems Found by Poet Hound. (I just returned from a wedding out of town and didn't have time to create a post for Tuesday, sorry every folks).