Allyson Whipple

Category: accomplishments

  • The Artist’s Way, Weeks 4-5

    The last Artist’s Way entry was illustrated with a marginally-relevant yet absolutely adorable dog photo. It would be wrong of me to favor Max and not let Simon have his internet glory.

    So I survived the week of no reading. It was tougher than an entire month of unprocessed food. I need reading way more than I need artificial preservatives and white flour. It was a pretty frustrating week, because my primary method of relaxation was just gone. I realize the point of the week was to focus on trying new things and different forms of relaxation, but I basically felt on edge the entire time. It was such a relief to read again.

    Week Five was a lot of fun. Most of the exercises involved visualization as a component, as well as collecting images of what we want and what inspires us. As a result, I ended up joining Pinterest, and creating a board for images I collect related to The Artist’s Way.

    Halfway through Week Six, I’m noticing that I love the odd-numbered weeks, and having less fun with the even-numbered weeks. The even-numbered challenges are frustrating, or they seem harder to balance with work, writing, kung fu, and my social life. But I take it one week at a time. I’m still enjoying the overall process.

  • A Blackbird Sings now available!

    Back in January, I took up the challenge of  writing one small stone every day for the entire month. Two of those pieces were selected for A Blackbird Sings, which is now available on Kindle in both the US and the UK. (UK readers can also preorder the paperback here; US paperback coming soon.) I love the little poems in this anthology, and I’m honored to be a part of this book. In addition, editors Fiona and Kaspa have declared November 1st Mindful Writing Day (in addition to being the first day of NaNoWriMo, for those of you keeping track…), and the Kindle edition will be free that day (plus, you have the chance to win a copy by participating in the event).

    Older readers might remember that I lost one of my closest friends to cancer on January 12th. I submitted five small stones for the anthology; two of them were written within days of that event. My two grief stones were the ones selected to be published. Despite the fact that ten months have passed and I have come a long way in the process, I admittedly felt vulnerable when I checked the proof copy. Both of my pieces are only three lines each, and yet they bring back the memories of those first few weeks of knowing Reesa was gone from my life.

    I’m glad these small stones are out in the world. I hope they’re able to give someone else insight and hope.

  • August Accomplishments

    August was one of my slower months for writing. Well, that’s not entirely true. It was a very good month for poetry; I just didn’t do much with other projects.

    • Drafted 40 poems
    • Submitted 21 poems
    • Submitted chapbook
    • Wrote and submitted a piece of creative nonfiction
    • Began planning the First Annual Austin Feminist Poetry Festival

    A couple of things in August did not go as planned:

    • While doing research for my horror novel, I realized my initial idea was just not going to work. I scrapped my plans to mull things over. And while thinking things over, I ultimately decided that I don’t really enjoy the process of trying to write novels. Stories and essays and poems are enjoyable; there’s something about writing and revising novels that, ultimately, I don’t really love. So I’ve decided to scrap long projects and focus on shorter works. As a result, I’ve decided to start the horror project over again from scratch, as a series of linked short stories. The main concept will still be there, but this will be radically different from what I had intended.
    • I did not apply for the fellowship I wanted, because I found out my friend’s wedding would conflict with the conferences. Maybe next year.

    With these shakeups, here’s how the rest of the year is shaking up:

    • Poetry every day.
    • Put plans into motion for the poetry festival. (So much to do. So little time. This is intimidating. But fun.)
    • September-October: Research and sketches for horror project.
    • September/October: Apply for the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship.
    • October/November: apply for a grant from AROHO.
    • November: Draft the horror project for NaNoWriMo, even though I won’t be writing an actual novel. (This is what’s known as a “NaNo Rebel.”)
    • December: revisions on horror project.

  • New poem at Big River Poetry Review

    At the Blue Willow reading last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting John Lambremont, Sr., editor of Big River Poetry Review. He drove all the way out from Baton Rouge to hear us read, and his presence was very much appreciated.

    Big River Poetry Review is a new publication; it debuted online this past spring. In addition, it will run an annual print anthology. Rather than publishing once every few weeks or months, John Lambremont’s aim is to update daily, sharing poetry on an ongoing basis.

    I submitted some poems soon after returning to Austin, and I’m happy to share that one of my poems, entitled “What is dust?,” appeared on the site earlier this week. I’m very happy to be a part of this new publication, and look forward to watching its growth over the coming year.

  • Level Up!

    Early in May, Jon and I walked into Master Gohring’s Tai Chi and Kung Fu somewhat on a whim. Jon wanted to get more exercise and had always wanted to try martial arts. And as much as I love to dance, after twenty years of that being my primary physical activity, I was looking to shake things up a bit. So we signed up for a new student special, and after the first 30-minute class, I turned to Jon and said, “Let’s do that again!” A week later, we formally enrolled.

    Master Gohring’s school is a family-oriented place, so there are children in most of the classes — most of whom are higher ranked than we are. It’s been pretty humbling to have at least 15 years on some of my classmates, and have them be far more skilled than I am. No matter how much I’ve accomplished in life, I’m always going to be a beginner at something.

    This past week, we took our first sash test, and promoted up to Gold. Next week, we start a new unit. I’m looking forward to learning new forms, and also honing what I’ve already picked up. There is a long road ahead to Black Sash, and I’m looking forward to it.

  • July Accomplishments

    As I mentioned yesterday, July was a pretty wild ride, at least for my writing. Here’s a rundown of what I accomplished.

    • Drafted 39 poems
    • Sent out my chapbook manuscript
    • Submitted 10 poems (and admittedly did not send out work the last week of July, but will make up for it with a double submission this week)
    • Finished a short story
    • Began making mindful writing (specifically small stones) as a part of my daily work. As you might remember, I did the River of Stones challenge in January. Well, the practice lapsed through the rest of the winter and spring. But this month, the desire to have moments of quiet observation and reflection became very strong, so I returned.
    • Finished the rough draft of Cutting Teeth. It’s just over 43,000 words, making it a novella rather than a novel. But, as I mentioned in an email to a friend, I’m okay with that. I feel at home with short poems rather than epics, with short stories over long ones, and with novellas rather than novels. I like condensed forms. I like creating works that can be absorbed and digested in the span of a rainy afternoon. Plus, the most recent issue of Poets & Writers noted that the novella is on the rise thanks to epublishing. I don’t plan to touch the draft for several more months because there are some other books I want to write as well, but I look forward to revisiting it soon.
    • Attended the Body Bliss poetry workshop at Gemini Ink. It was taught by the amazing Celeste Guzman Mendoza and combined yoga, creative movement, reading and writing. I wrote two poems that made me very happy, and realized that I have to start reading Erica Jong. (I meant to blog about this more extensively, but drafting Cutting Teeth really ate into my time and energy.)

    I’ve made some slight adjustments to the writing plan I set up at the beginning of June, if only because the original arrangement would not allow me to actually draft a book during NaNoWriMo, and it doesn’t feel right to have a November go by without giving it a shot. So my intentions for the rest of the year are as follows:

    • Poetry every day
    • August: do all research, plotting, and planning for my yet-untitled historical horror novel(la)
    • Also in August: apply for the USPiM Merida Fellowship Award
    • September: write first draft of historical horror novel(la)
    • October: do all research, plotting, and planning for my yet-untitled fantasy novel(la)
    • November: write first draft of fantasy novel(la)
    • December: revisions to Cutting Teeth

  • June Accomplishments

    My month without concrete goals yielded quite a bit of productivity! Not only was I consistent with my poetry efforts, but I actually made a lot of progress on the fiction front, more than I have during any other month this year.

    With my poetry, I:

    • Drafted 41 poems
    • Submitted 10 poems. This is the smallest submission month I had in 2012, but I’m in a bit of a limbo period. I try to avoid simultaneous submissions whenever possible, even when journal editors are okay with it. Sometimes I make exceptions, but in general, I prefer not to have the same poem out at multiple places. In June, most of my best work has been out and waiting for responses, meaning I had less to send.
    • Submitted my chapbook.
    • Applied for a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund to facilitate the completion of my first full-length poetry collection.

    On the fiction side, I accomplished two major things:

    • I researched and created a comprehensive outline for my novel (possibly novella) Cutting Teeth, which I began writing on July 1st.
    • I started a fiction critique group. It’s been nearly a year since I had a regular fiction circle; that part of my writing life fell apart when Reesa, who hosted my previous group, became too ill. But early last month, I realized how much I missed having a fiction group, and how much I needed one if I was going to make any progress on my prose. So I drew together a group of friends, and we had our second meeting yesterday. I already love our dynamic, and I think we’re going to accomplish a lot together.

    I currently have three major fiction projects to work on. First and most important is Cutting Teeth. After that I have an historical horror novel. Finally, the epic poem I have tried and failed to write several times this year is going to be turned into a novel. I’m currently referring to that one as a fantasy novel, because that’s the closest possible genre classification, but I’m not planning on keeping it in that box forever.

    My tentative writing plan for the rest of the year is as follows:

    • Continue my poetry practice. Though that hardly needs to be mentioned at this point. It will happen whether I write it or not.
    • Have a beta-reader-ready draft of Cutting Teeth by July 31st.
    • Spend August and September researching, outlining, and drafting the historical horror piece.
    • Spend October revising Cutting Teeth based on beta reader feedback.
    • Spend November and December researching, outlining, and drafting the fantasy novel.

    If all goes according to plan, I’ll spend the early months of 2013 finishing the revisions for Cutting Teeth, and then can focus on revisions for the historical and fantasy novels. I like the way this plan is going, and I’m looking forward to making my fiction life as rich as my poetry life.

  • What Poets Do

    Via Drew Myron:

    It’s pretty well-known that writers are their own worst critics. I’m no exception. I might have just a touch of type-A personality traits. I might be just a smidge overambitious. I might have a slight tendency to set overly ambitious goals. And I might possibly be too hard on myself when I don’t meet them. Plus all that self-criticism that writers already have about their own work. (Certain members of my inner circle often hear me complain that not only did I not accomplish enough, but that what I did accomplish wasn’t done well enough. Certain members of my inner circle are very patient when listening to such complaints again and again.)

    So I was excited to see Drew’s link to Molly Spencer’s blog,  where she has an entry about this sort of negative thinking, and a list celebrating what poets actually do accomplish. I’m sharing the list, because I’m sure at least one reader here will find value in it.

    So here is what poets actually do:

    1. Read and study a wide variety of good writing, especially contemporary poetry
    2. Keep up with the news of the po-world
    3. Draft poems
    4. Do research, legwork, word-work, and notebook work to nourish the drafting process
    5. Revise poems
    6. Connect with other poets and readers and writers and artists
    7. Swap poems for critiques, and critique others’ poems
    8. Read Poets&Writers
    9. Attend readings
    10. Give readings
    11. Spread the poems
    12. Read a wide variety of literary journals
    13. Research places to submit work
    14. Submit work
    15. Attend arts events to support the local art scene and for cross-pollination purposes
    16. Read essays to learn more about specific craft elements; generally, study elements of craft
    17. Attend classes, workshops, retreats, etc.
    18. Get enough sleep, healthy food, exercise, and recreation (good self-care)
    19. Apply for mentorships and grants
    20. Errands in support of writing (office supplies, post office, etc.)
    21. Get editorial experience, if possible
    22. Set goals and track progress toward goals

    (Drew riffed on this list as well, designing it so it’s applicable to all writers, not just poets. I enjoyed both of them.)

    Yes, we are an accomplished bunch.

    On any given weekday, I work an 8-hour day, draft a poem (revision is for weekends), and go to dance/kung fu/both. Add to that the fact that I’m putting serious effort into a novel, write for two blogs, I attend a bimonthly poetry critique group, I run a bimonthly fiction critique group, I frequently take on editing projects to help friends with their manuscripts, I submit poetry every single week without fail, and the fact that things like laundry and bills won’t take care of themselves, and I sometimes am amazed at the fact that I sleep at all.

    So yes, I should be more appreciative about what I manage to accomplish, and focus less on what I don’t. I’ve been making a conscious effort to improve on that this year, but it’s a slow-going change. I think I’ll print this list and put it in my writing space, just as a reminder.

     

  • The new Texas Poetry Calendar is here!

    When I went to my poetry group on Monday, Scott Wiggerman handed me my contributor copy of the 2013 Texas Poetry Calendar. This is my second year appearing in the calendar, and I’m thrilled to be included again. My poem appears the last week of May this time around, sharing a page with the lovely “Crossing” by Elena Lelia Radulescu.

    “290 West, Top Down” was inspired, of course, by the highway mentioned in the title. It was written in mid-September, after a late-night drive back to Austin after spending a day in Houston participating in one of the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar readings, and then going dancing. I did a couple of late-night, post-dancing commutes last year, and it was thrilling to drive for several hours with the wind blowing around me and the stars bright above. Certainly a scene fit for inspiration. Perhaps I will have to make another drive like that soon, and see what transpires.

  • May Accomplishments

    Here’s what I did in May:

    • Wrote 32 poems
    • Submitted 24 poems
    • Submitted my manuscript
    • Finished and submitted three fiction pieces, one of which was accepted and published
    • Researched my NaNoWriMo 2012 project
    • Figured out the focus for my poetry collection

    I did not:

    • Finish my poetry table (still)
    • Work on my epic poem

    I’m noticing how fluid my goals are, not just over the course of the year, but over the course of the month. I intended to not work on fiction in May and instead focus on my epic poem, and yet in my free moments, my list of fiction-in-progress called to me.

    I’m noticing a trend here. Poetry is a habit that I can commit to, but it’s hard to tell at the beginning of the month which prose projects or long poetry projects I’ll want to work on as the month progresses. There are so many factors that influence my desire to work on prose/long pieces: work, energy, business on weekends, etc.

    It almost feels as though I don’t have to set poetry goals right now. The year isn’t quite halfway over yet, but I don’t even have to think about what I’m doing with poetry and having to check myself. I don’t have to stay on task with it. Writing, revision, and submission are like eating or sleeping — they’re what I do.

    Meanwhile, fiction isn’t a habit per se. I’m good at working on something, but what my brain thinks I should work on and what my heart wants to work on are two entirely different things.

    These accomplishment posts are starting to feel derivative to write, as well. I wrote  a lot of poems! I submitted a lot of poems! I did some stuff with prose, but not other stuff! Woo! Still, I enjoy having some way to track my progress on this blog. So I think I’m going to avoid setting the same old goals for June. I’m going to see where the month takes me, and decide how I want to summarize it on the 30th. We’ll see what happens.