The Next 100 Days

Today, the nation will watch as our first African-American president is sworn into office. No matter how incredible the occasion, many of us will watch with high hopes and held breaths as to what President Obama will do to solve our nation’s myriad problems and issues — much of them very, very serious.

Traditionally, incoming presidents make a list of the key policies, initiatives or decisions they’d like to enact in their first 100 days in office. These lists are packed, and involve a level of focus and intent well beyond the normal daily output. If successful, they also set the tone for the policy and philosophy that follow.

One hundred days … just shy of 3 1/2 months. The time stretches between today and April 30.

I’d like to invite everyone to bring the “Next 100 Day” mentality to your writing. What can you accomplish in the next 100 days? What would you like to accomplish? Sweep yourselves up in the spirit of the land, and write down three to five articles, books, pieces of research, stories or other writing-related matters you’d like to accomplish in the next 100 days. Make your goals ambitious and lasting. Maybe you want to create the perfect writing office that feeds your creativity while serving your business. Perhaps you want to get your next book off the ground, and write much of it — or all of it. Or, you may sign up for that online course or writer’s conference that provides you the material and information to grow as a writer. There’s even a big conference in the middle of the 100-day window — The Write Time Teens ‘N Twenties Conference in Bloomington, IN on April 11.

Make your checklist of writing-related achievements for the next 100 days. After each item, write in your journal what the work will entail, but also what you envision after the work is completed. Is there another book behind this one? Will you write more articles? Will your progress require you to move? Or switch genres? Be sure to lay eyes on your envisioned outcome before starting the journey, and work toward that milestone every day. Then set out a plan of action whereby you can complete your work — and launch yourself into the next 100 days.

Check back with us after April 30. We’d love to hear what you created during these auspicious 100 days.

Reading Is On The Rise!

I’ve spent much of the past 25 years fighting the downward trend in literacy, first as an adult literacy tutor, then as the coordinator of summer library writing projects for students in California, New Mexico and Kentucky. Most recently, I’ve been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Capitol City Young Writers, a non-profit organization founded by literary agent Verna Dreisbach that focuses on developing higher literacy through the practice of writing—and helping talented young authors get published.

So, after fighting this difficult fight in various ways, imagine my joy when the National Endowment of the Arts issued a report last week stating that, for the first time in a quarter-century, adult fiction reading is on the rise. Perhaps it is because of the economy; more people are staying home and reading for entertainment. Perhaps it is because of, well, the economy; times are so tough that people are escaping through the favorite portal of their younger years – good stories. Perhaps it is because baby boomers are waxing nostalgic over their favorite authors, or younger adults are growing burned out from a life defined by technology and looking for something deep and real. What’s more essential and real than a novel in which the author touches deeply into the human condition?

According to the NEA report, from 1992 to 2002, the percentage of adult literary readers in the U.S. dropped precipitously, from 54% to 46.7%. In the early 1970s, at the height of young intellectualism in America, the rate was more than 60%. However, from 2002 to 2008, the rate rose to 50.2% — the first time since 1983 that it had climbed.

What does this mean? More people are reading. Most importantly, more adults are reading. This creates a more intelligent and reasoned society, one that seeks more information from deep sources (ostensibly, book authors), but also one that asks smarter questions and uses intelligent actions to solve problems. Which will be a major objective for years to come in all aspects of our society and lives.

When adults reconnect with the joy and educational value of reading, they also pass it to their children and grandchildren. Nights numbing out in front of the TV start to be replaced by family reading. Their children and grandchildren grow up with a love for words and books. When that happens, the youth literacy rate rises—and the school dropout rate falls.

Finally, the NEA report is great news for working writers. With a President coming into office who is committed to learning and education, I see an upsurge in reading interest. Because of the aforementioned technology, we can now read in several ways—through books, e-books, readers like Amazon.com’s Kindle, online in chapter excerpts, and more.

If this trend continues, we may well emerge from the recession with a new reading boom in the midst — the greatest news of all.

To order Bob Yehling’s books:
Writes of Life: Using Personal Experiences in Everything You Write
The River-Fed Stone: Poetry & Essays
Coyotes in Broad Daylight: Poetry & Essays
Shades of Green: Collected Poetry & Essays
Freedom of Vision: Writing From Within Prison Walls (co-edited with Stephen B. Gladish)

To pre-order Bob Yehling’s forthcoming book:
The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life

2009: The Write Time!

A few quick comments and links with which to start the New Year…

First of all, the book on which I’ve been working throughout the fall, The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life, is now finished. It will be released by Pen & Publish on July 1. I’ve spent 10 years developing exercises for my writing workshops, so some of the exercises have already been tested and utilized. There are exercises to suit every genre and level of writing; many are used by professional writers throughout the country, some well-published.

The Write Time is being targeted to colleges and universities, high schools, writing organizations, conferences and groups, and professional, recreational and aspiring writers. It will be available in chain and independent bookstores, as well as all major online booksellers. You can check out some of the exercises that appear in The Write Time by going to our companion blog, 366writing.wordpress.com, or visiting my website.

On April 25, we’re previewing The Write Time in a big way. Pen & Publish is presenting the first annual Write Time Teens and Twenties Writers Conference in Bloomington, IN. Mystery novelist Michael Koryta will be the keynote speaker. There will be several featured presenters, among them literary agent Verna Dreisbach, who heads the Capitol City Young Writers organization. I will be conducting a pair of workshops, as well as hosting a book signing following the conference. I will also preview The Write Time in early May with a series of workshops in Denver and Montrose, CO.

Pre-ordering will be available beginning in February by visiting Pen & Publish’s website.

Look for much more on The Write Time — and for the March 15 launch of The Write Time’s official website — where you can post and publish your writings from the exercises!

‘Meet Me In The Bar’: Working A Writer’s Conference (III)

(Blogger’s note: Summer is on its way — which means, for many, the season of writer’s conferences and retreats. In this three-part series, I share the many things I’ve learned during 20 years of attending writer’s conferences and 10 years of teaching and presenting at them.)

For information on the Society of Southwestern Authors’ Wrangling With Writing Conference, which takes place Sept. 27-28 in Tucson, Ariz.

Part Three: Back to the Bar

I met with the agent in the bar. After a relaxed two-hour conversation that bore no resemblance to the 15 minutes of speed-talking in the pit, she invited me to send sample chapters and a proposal. Three months later, I received a contract.

From this, I learned two vital unwritten rules about writer’s conferences:

1)   Make your interview count. You’ve got one minute to seize the agent or editor’s initial interest, and five to seven minutes to develop your initial pitch and describe your project while the agent/editor sprints through your material. This is marketing, not creative brainstorming. You’re in the meeting to sell. The remaining half of the interview works best if you answer questions, produce additional material requested, and absorb the input you’re given; and

2)   Much conference dealing takes place away from the interview area, in the bar, hallways, hotel rooms, Jacuzzi, or across the dinner table.

In my years of presenting, I’ve seen countless arrangements develop after conference hours end, when agents and editors can relax and think through a promising prospect while getting to know the potential author. It is a good conference indeed when you’re “invited to the bar.” As a magazine editor who has purchased pieces or assigned articles to authors in that literal and metaphorical bar, and as a proposal consultant and freelance book editor who has connected authors and agents in the bar, I can assure you that the side meetings produce new author-agent or author-editor relationships.

Which leads to the next unwritten rule about writer’s conferences:

3)   Do not leave the building the second your appointment or workshop is finished.  Stick around. Rub elbows.

Chat with fellow authors, agents, publishers, editors and consultants on the premises. You never know who will like your idea or see the marketing potential of your hard work—or your potential in the writing business. You might have a book idea you didn’t originally pitch that they like. Or, they might have a lucrative ghostwriting project involving a well-known client who doesn’t write. You don’t know—nor will you, if you don’t ask and remain open to new possibility.

Let me give you two examples. An editor from a major publishing house saw the sample chapter for a book I was pitching years ago. “Who book doctored this for you?” he asked.

“I did.”

“This is clean. You should think about becoming a book editor when you’re between books.”

Ten years and more than 80 edited books later, I thank him for opening an avenue of vast enjoyment and revenue I never saw myself traveling.

Let’s revisit the agent in the bar. She asked for a book proposal.  I’d never written a full book proposal, but I’d read a few articles, including the invaluable front end of Writer’s Market (these 60 to 80 pages are required reading for all working writers, in my opinion.) As a former public relations executive with marketing experience, I already knew how to write sponsorship proposals. I also asked a couple of agents at the conference what they liked to see in proposals.

Within three days of receiving my proposal, the agent called. “Where did you learn to write this? This is excellent!”

Another light bulb flashed in my head. Out of nowhere came another service that keeps me out of the 9-to-5 punch-the-clock work cycle (every writer’s dream): consulting with authors on their book proposals, or completely writing them to be pitch- and sales-ready. Agents love it, because they’re getting market-ready proposals. Authors love it, because who really wants to write a book proposal, which is a business plan for the book, after months writing a whole or partial book? 

It all started at a writer’s conference, which brings me to the next unwritten (until now) rule:

 4)   Be sociable, conversational, and mindful of why you’re here—to learn, to network, and/or to sell your work. Use the salesman’s credo: If someone is within three feet of you, introduce yourself and shake his/her hand. Your future might be shaking back.

Sometimes, we feel intimidated or insecure around attending agents, authors, editors, keynote speakers and publishers—the faculty. That’s natural: They are living the dream we’ve carried for years or decades. They’ve made it, or so we think. We tend to be sheepish around the conference faculty, withholding questions “because they’re stupid,” refraining from sharing our wildest book ideas “because they’re too ‘out there’ for the mainstream” (as if we really know), pulling back sample pages we prepared for the editor interviews “because they’re not polished enough.”

For this, I offer two tips:

a)    Conference faculty has been urged by event organizers to be available. The faculty is there to impart knowledge and wisdom, engage in conversation, and expend energy for your benefit. They are at your service—not the other way around. Take advantage of this opportunity to visit with 35 or 40 knowledgeable professionals whose answers to your questions might ignite or even define your future; and

b)   Ask the “stupid” question. Show the sample pages. Share other book ideas if asked. Case in point: An agent told me about an author whose prepared material was well written, but the potential audience was too narrow. However, when the agent asked about the author’s other ideas, a dialogue began that, six months later, resulted in the author selling a trilogy.

Finally, think about this: You’re investing several hundred dollars to be at the conference. You’ve spent months, or even years, developing the material you plan to present. This could be your first best chance—or your last. No one knows. For a weekend, you will occupy the same space as several dozen respected book publishing professionals. To equal that experience, you’d have to fly to New York and stay for two weeks—if they took meetings with you. Not likely.

Work the conference and absorb the presentations as though your future and career are the prizes for your efforts. They often are.

Catching Up: New and Upcoming Releases

Time for a quick update on projects and a shout-out to some of my writing friends who have been very busy:

First of all, the anthology I co-edited with my good friend Stephen B. Gladish, Freedom of Vision: Voices From Behind Poetry Walls, will be featured on an ambitious summer promotional push. Published by Aisling Press, Freedom of Vision contains more than 130 poems, stories and essays from current and former inmates, as well as prison teachers, with contributions from award-winning writers such as Jimmy Santiago Baca, Ken Lamberton, Gordon Grilz and Dr. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. We looked at more than 800 submissions before making our final selections. The anthology is truly wonderful, a real testament to vision, hope and the magic of life—no matter where it’s being lived.

Speaking of Steve, he’s hard at work on Book 3 of his Beloved Sky Warriors series, Tornado Fever. The first book, Island Fever: Stranded in the Pacific (originally titled Moonlight, Missiles and Moana) was published in 2005, and the second book, Mustang Fever: Run Free With Wild Mustangs was published in 2007. He also has a collection of essays percolating, which I’ll tell you about at another time.

Then there’s The Fool Is King, the debut poetry collection from Maggi DeRosa, which Aisling Press published in time for National Poetry Month. I first saw Maggi’s poetry online last summer; when we met, she told me she had many others that were just as good. Seven months later, and after a four-star performance that ended up on YouTube, The Fool Is King was released. Her poems are deeply emotional, full of honest appraisal, and built to read aloud—which she does, well. I had the pleasure of reading with Maggi in March at the Sunset Poets monthly meeting in Oceanside, Calif. Maggi’s going to be the guest poet at the North Park Arts Festival in San Diego in May — check her out, and get her book!

I’m really happy for one of my dear friends, Barbara Stahura, whose first book, What I Thought I Knew, will be published this summer by Wymac Publishing. While the essays in this collection date back to the mid-1990s, Barbara really found her impetus through the experience of helping her husband, Ken Willingham, recover (nearly 100%!) from a near-fatal motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. Since then, she has gone on to become a journaling teacher for TBI patients through HealthSouth in Tucson, Ariz. Her essays are lyrical, informative, connective and straight to the heart, with plenty for the mind to chew on as well. I was privileged to be among the editors on What I Thought I Knew.

Back on the Kentucky front…Heidi Howard, a regular participant in the Crittenden County Library Workshop Series I teach, has learned that Harlequin Books is interested in one of her romance novels. Heidi suffered through the usual spate of rejections when she first sent out the manuscript, one editor even telling her that her idea was good, but she didn’t have the ability to write the story. In that situation, most writers would hang it up. Heidi didn’t. She worked her tail off, and now, she’s about to benefit greatly from it.

For those of you into “can’t miss” real estate investments (It’s true! Even in these economic times!), check out the book I ghostwrote for Tonja Demoff, Investing in the GO Zone. Tonja, ReMax’s top agent in the United States in 2007, is developing thousands of lots along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Mississippi … and we’ve put together a book on how to really capitalize on an incredible real estate investment opportunity. Order it now!

And on the market, involving clients and friends I’ve assisted:

• Sharline Chiang is shopping her memoir, Beijing Blues, through agent Meredith Hays;

• Alben Barkley III is shopping a memoir-anthology of his late father, David, called Command Performance.David was the son of Alben W. Barkley, the Vice President of the United States from 1949-53.

• Mick Quinn’s book, The Uncommon Path, has been picked up by O-Book Publishing in London for English-language publication. In 2006, the book was published in Spanish by Corona Borealis Publishing. We assisted Mick with writing the book proposal.

• Carl Robinson is shopping his business advice book, Pathways to the Top;

• John Hudson is shopping his novel, Showdown at the Eventide Old Ladies Home;

• Jonathan Rosen is shopping a pair of books, Billy Buttles and the Gravesend Witch (young adult) andCustomer Disservice (non-fiction).

• Lance Avery Morgan and Mark Sullivan are shopping their fine children’s story, Passport Patrick, a potential series that features exquisite illustrations by Matt Choi.

• Ken Lancaster is shopping his novel, Crooked Branch.

 That’s the update from around. Next, I’ll let you know about the two major poetry projects that are about to hit the streets. 

For the latest on:

Workshops, Presentations, Classes

Writes of Life, 2007 Independent Publishers Book Award winner

Shades of Green: Poetry & Essays

Coyotes in Broad Daylight: Poetry & Essays

The River-Fed Stone: Poetry & Essays

The Write Time: Exercises for Writing and Healing

‘Meet Me In The Bar:’ Working A Writer’s Conference (II)

(Blogger’s note: Summer is on its way — which means, for many, the season of writer’s conferences and retreats. In this three-part series, I share the many things I’ve learned during 20 years of attending writer’s conferences and 10 years of teaching and presenting at them.)

For information on the Society of Southwestern Authors’ Wrangling With Writing Conference, which takes place Sept. 27-28 in Tucson, Ariz.

Part Two: Attending Presentations and Workshops

The staples of any good writer’s conference are dynamic presentations, or mini-workshops. Conference organizers spend months planning topics that cover the art, craft and business of writing. They negotiate with dozens of potential presenters to find the 40 or so that will not only offer informative presentations, but mesh well with other conference faculty and attendees.

The most important quality of a presenter, which astute organizers seek, is an intangible: the ability to motivate and inspire participants. It doesn’t matter how esteemed the presenter is if he or she isn’t willing to (or cannot) light fires within writers and to impart everything they can squeeze into a one-hour presentation. One can be realistic about the difficulty of getting published—it is difficult—without flatly stating, “You’re not going to make it.” Which, believe it or not, I’ve heard presenters say to roomfuls of open-mouthed writers who thought they were spending $300 or more to receive tutelage and encouragement.

Presenters have two jobs at writers’ conferences: to share their direct experience with a particular subject; and to inspire and motivate writers who carry a dream, are willing to work for it, and are seeking tips and inspiration along the way.

When you attend a presentation, prepare to listen intently and jot notes at the same time. Many presenters will offer handouts; others will shoot straight from their wellspring of experience. I work it both ways, providing handouts for background but then breaking into an extemporaneous discussion, often spurred by comments or questions from participants. I stand before you for one reason above all: to give you an hour-long experience that fulfills as many of your writing needs and answers as many questions as possible.

When you select presentations, determine what you need most from the conference. Is it a creative burst? Information on writing proposals or pitch letters? Marketing and publicity tips? Background on a genre in which you haven’t written before? Editing secrets?  Tips on writing fiction, memoir or essays? Make those presentations your first choices. Follow up with a presentation taught by someone whose work or personality you admire; that’s always inspiring. Finally, if your plate isn’t already full, pick a subject—any subject—that interests or tugs at you for an (as yet) unknown reason. That might be the dawn of your next calling as a writer.

How many presentations should you attend? In a two-day conference, you can attend as many as 10 to 12. The “right” number is up to each person. If you miss a presentation because it conflicted with another desired presentation, ask the presenter for a handout and provide your e-mail address. Also, some conferences tape presenters and make those cassettes available for sale.

In any event, don’t oversaturate yourself. Create breaks in each day.

At the presentation, listen intently. Take notes, but not as you did in college. When you write the note, think of how the point works for your material or marketing needs. Brainstorm your next thought while in the enriched environment of the presentation. Or, write tickler comments—and get back to them the minute you leave the room. I can’t tell you how many essays, articles, marketing ideas, sales letter points or pieces of dialogue started in my notebooks during and immediately after presentations. You’re there to be studious, but you’re not a student. You’re a working writer, looking for specific information that will assist you. Begin integrating it during the presentation.

Ask specific questions. Most presenters offer room for questions; I make it a point to offer 10 to 15 minutes per hour for question-and-answer. You’re at the presentation for a reason; I want to make my entire experience available to give you what you’re seeking, if I can. The best presenters know that Q&A sessions with thoughtful questions turn into rich discussions that, sometimes, help the presenter as much as the participant. A lively forum is a valuable forum for everyone, for two reasons: a) the knowledge imparted from direct experience; and b) the energy moving in the room.

When the presentation ends, take another 15 to 30 minutes to dump all of what you immediately remember into your notebook or journal—if you’re not racing to an agent/editor interview or another presentation. If you have a burning question you didn’t ask, find the presenter and ask it. Don’t let the opportunity slide by. When you go home, spend a little more time with it. If you came up with a first line, or a story idea, write it out for an hour or two. If a book publicist rattled off five techniques that resonated with you, map out the ways you can apply those techniques to your book, in your marketplace, with your target media.  Act while it’s fresh and your fires are burning.

Expand the ten-hour, two-day format of the conference into a 24/7 weekend. The benefits you receive make the temporary lack of sleep well worth it.

For information or to register for the 2008 Wrangling With Writing Conference in Tucson, Ariz.

 

‘Meet Me In The Bar’:Working a Writer’s Conference

(Blogger’s note: Summer is on its way — which means, for many, the season of writer’s conferences and retreats. In this three-part series, I share the many things I’ve learned during 20 years of attending writer’s conferences and 10 years of teaching and presenting at them.)

For information on the Society of Southwestern Authors’ Wrangling With Writing Conference, which takes place Sept. 27-28 in Tucson, Ariz.

 

Part One: Meet Me In The Bar, Take One

 

Like three hundred others, I carried my pitch letter, proposal introduction and sample book chapter into the interview area at the Society of Southwestern Authors’ Wrangling With Writing Conference in Tucson. I’d spent a solid month writing, polishing and tweaking the chapter and proposal intro. I’d also made sure the pitch letter stated everything I needed the agent to know about my book idea, writing style, professional background, ability to reach the market (platform), and knowledge of the subject.

I carried a piece of my life into what is affectionately called “the pit.”

A dozen literary agents and editors were sprinkled throughout the area. It was the afternoon of day one, and already, a glazed look started to reflect from their eyes. It better be good, Bob, I said to myself. The editors and agents heard fiction and non-fiction book pitches from writers who, like me, took their dreams of being published into the pit. In 15-minute bursts, writers presented their material, answered agents’ questions and either were told:

a) “We’re not looking for this particular genre;”

b) “This looks promising, but needs some more work;”

c) “I’ll keep you in mind, but we’re filled up in that area right now—do you have anything else?;” or the far preferable

d) “I’d like to see more chapters and a proposal—send as soon as you can. Here’s my card.”

My first experience was different. Let’s call it “e”. The agent asked me if I knew or talked with the subject of my proposed book; she wanted to know if my book was authorized. I ran to my hotel room, grabbed my cell phone, raced downstairs and called the subject in the agent’s presence. Her eyes lit up. Turned out she was a big fan. “Meet me in the bar tonight at five,” she said.  

 

Coming Up:

Attending Presentations

Back to the Bar

From Sharline Chiang: When An Anthology Calls

When I opened up my email this morning, I received great news from one of my former clients, Sharline Chiang, with whose memoir Beijing Blues I assisted in the early proposal phase. An excerpt from her memoir has just been published in a new anthology by Seal Press. The book is titled Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence.

The book features essays, poems and artwork by various writers and artists, including prominent writers such as Janice Mirikitani, Ishle Yi Park (one of the best spoken-word performers I have ever seen), and Aya de Leon, with a foreword by Chitra Lekha Divakaruni.

Sharline participates in the launch of the book tonight at Books Inc. in San Francisco (7 p.m. – 601 Van Ness, inside Opera Center). She will read her chapter, and then get back to the business of selling the memoir to a publisher. Beijing Blues is a gripping account of a journalist’s adaptation to a China caught between reform and communism – and the harrowing personal experiences she faced, including with her partner at the time, when the government cracked down as the 21st century arrived.

Say What? A Night of Voices in San Diego

Last night was a night of poetry, music and good news. I read a couple poems from my next collection, The River-Fed Stone, at the Say What? open mic in San Diego’s North Park. I also read from my most recently published collection, Coyotes in Broad Daylight, along with the Poetry Through The Ages exhibit that will be posted on www.webexhibits.org in March and from Freedom of Vision, the anthology of inmate poetry and stories that I co-edited with author/teacher Stephen Gladish. All of this in seven minutes of allotted time, in a whirling dervish of a mini-tour of promoting my publisher and my books.

It turned out to be fortuitious – the event was filmed by a two-man production team (both of whom are good poets) for YouTube. Starting on Saturday, click onto YouTube, and search for Pitchfork Halo. You’ll see clips from most of the readers.

For anyone who lives around San Diego and wants to stay out on Wednesday nights, the Say What? open mic is one of several excellent open mic nights in the city. It was started three years ago at the Other Side Café in North Park by Lisa B, who has put on numerous club events in the city. Rather than making it a poetry-only affair, Lisa opened it up to all performing arts. So last night, we heard poets such as the soon-to-be-published and increasingly popular Maggi DeRosa (her book, The Fool Is King, comes out at the end of February), along with an opera singer performing part of Mozart’s Requiem, short story writers, and musicians. Since Maggi and I are embarking on a mini-reading tour in March to promote and sign our new collections, we decided to test-sail new poems at Say What? It turned out to be a fun, fun night.

Afterwards, I pulled out my newest poem, “Paths On A Face,” and read it to a small group of poets. Their response strongly suggested that I showcase it before The River-Fed Stone comes out, so check it out and let me know what you think:

PATHS ON A FACE

It comes to a point
when the smoothness of a face
doesn’t tell me so much
as the story of a line
that rolls from the corner of your mouth
to the side of your chin.

I want to know about the smiles
that, over time, created the line
much as tiny fissures in a cliffside
opened from ice, heat and time
to form the part of a canyon
visitors flock to photograph.

I want to know about the creases
honeycombing from the sides of your eyes,
a million tears of joy and woe
sliding across your silken skin
like a river riding bedrock and tumbling stones
in its melting current, its release.

I want to know about the furrows
lining your forehead like waves
birthed ten thousand miles away,
your thoughts riding a vision
that illuminates your eyes
as only a moment of revelation can do.

I want to know about the looks
you give me from eyes slowly receding
behind brows and sockets
sacred as grottoes of unspeakable grace,
portals of silence and secrets
calling me to join in your dance.

I want to know about the way
the lines on your face connect
when they measure a love
so deep within you
that the layers of your heart
burrow into the infinite to feed and rest.

It comes to a point
when the paths on your face
may affect your definition of spotless beauty,
but like rock formations and seascapes
of greatest composition and light,
no one can take their eyes off you.

Jump Starting The New Year

Jump Starting The New Year

(Update: Beginning Monday, January 8, I will be posting an additional blog: 366writing.wordpress.com. This is a continuous piece of work — sometimes poem, sometimes prose, whatever feels like coming out each day—to which I will add material every day. Feel free to download it and add to it yourself. Would love to see the lives these words form when you take them and build upon them.)

Like most people, I’ve been spending the past few days deciding how to best use the 366 days of 2008. Isn’t it strange how the flip of a calendar page can bring with it such a sense of renewed optimism, freshness and energy? In looking over the many projects and opportunities that lie in the present and future, I’ve decided to make this year a statement of creative expression, in as many forms as possible. It’s all about writing or sketching, then spreading the work out so that people will be drawn to the work and find it useful or entertaining in their lives. Call it grassroots audience building.

With that in mind, I’ve set goals for 2008 that call to mind everything that the writing lifestyle is supposed to be—a combination of production, experience, observation and listening, deeply. My list:

1) Finish my latest poetry collection, “The River-Fed Stone.” It will be published by Aisling Press in March. It will join my other books — “Writes of Life,” “Shades of Green,” “Coyotes in Broad Daylight,” and the anthology I co-edited, “Freedom of Vision.”
2) Complete the final bit of polishing on my novel, “The Voice.” It will be published in Spring 2009.
3) Begin a unique, multimedia online delivery of material from the writing workshops I have taught throughout the country for the past 10 years.
4) Ghostwrite three books — all of which are in progress.
5) Publish two or three young poets through the Word Journeys Poetry Series. The first, Maggi DeRosa, will release her premier collection, “The Fool Is King,” in March through Aisling Press.
6) Travel somewhere in the world I haven’t seen before.
7) Run Boston Marathon #3 in April as if it were my final race — with an e-book to soon follow.
Edit the works of a half-dozen authors whose voices you will not soon forget — including trilogy authors Stephen Gladish (“Tornado Alley”) and Bill Missett (“Awakening The Soul”).
9) Continually promote writing as a means of educating, healing, entertaining and informing ourselves and others through workshops, conferences, fairs, retreats, this blog and my website.
10) Deeply experience every breath and every moment of this year, with the ones I love, in the places I love.

I invite you to set your own writing goals for this year. When you do, be sure to avoid goals that keep you pinned to the desk 24/7. Half of the writing lifestyle is living a life rich with experience, emotion, feeling, observation, adventure, music, nature, a feeling of newness and a sense of presence. Find these qualities within everything you do, and consciously remove all possible aspects of your life that deaden or sadden you, that draw energy from you.

Then try to write every day—the hallmark of any true writer. Let me know how it goes.