Good day everyone! Queen of Spades, back with another Throwback Tuesday. Today's selection comes from 2014 when I speak about my short story muse and how my poetry muse feels about it all.
Poetry's New Tenant
In some of my past interviews, I have been asked the following questions:
“Do I have a set location to do my writing?” “Do I have a set time when I write?”
The answers used to be simple, but as I’m transitioning into short story, novelette, and (eventually) novel, writing; they are not as cut and dried.
When writing poetry, I don’t have a “set location for inspiration.” When the inspiration strikes, I write. However, most of the time, I’m not even in front of a computer when it does happen. I have to pray that I have pen and paper on hand, and the moments I don’t possess both, I have to improvise.
One instance of my inventiveness occurred at a previous job. I was working as a cashier for secondary income and ideas for two poems popped up in my head. Yet, the receipt paper was low, and I didn’t have a spare at the register; the other cashier wasn’t arriving for another thirty minutes. Once she arrived, I opted to take a bathroom break and wrote both poems on sheets of two-ply toilet tissue. Although I transferred those works once I got home, I still saved the originals.
If wacky locations of inspiration aren’t enough, my poetry writes never happen at a “set time”. In the case of Reflections of Soul, every day for about three weeks straight, I wrote. The only exception was the last title in the collection, “Five Years.” With Eclectic, it was a bit more sporadic. The Epidermis section was written in two days, but the Dermis and Hypodermis sections spanned many months. There were moments when I would write for a couple of days, followed by small and large gaps of time before I would compose anything else.
I’m discovering my short story writing is an entirely different animal.
One fellow writer strongly suggested I set aside time and pick a defined location to do my short story writing. At first, I shrugged it off because set times and precise spots never worked for my poetry. But I did decide to give it a whirl.
The recommendation has worked amazingly well. I have been able to write a story (or parts of a story) without it feeling forced or drawing a complete blank. As of this date, utilizing set time frame and location (front of the computer); I have written three short stories and have added to one on-going work, which is just under 10,000 words.
I am excited because it shows that my writing transition responds well to structure and discipline. The next time I am asked about a location and set times, I will definitely have an array of adventures to discuss.
My poetry muse is not sharing the same excitement. Her lower lip is pooched out in disappointment and her arms are crossing her chest in undisguised agitation.
The only thing I have to say to Poetry is, “Maybe, You too will flow with the winds of change.”
