Well I have been working on a few poems, as mentioned in my previous post, and I wanted to post them on here but having done some more research I have decided against it. As is with all writers, I hope to one day be published, however I have found out that any work posted on a blog still counts as being previously published and could cause problems should I have a successful application with a literary journal or publisher. WELL. It’s a bit sad, because I really want to share my work but alas, I don’t want to hinder myself in the future. So with that in mind, I have constructed a plan for getting published.
- Finish at least 20 poems that work separately and as a collection. I need to get a proper collection together. And I’m forever reading my poems and thinking, no this is not finished. I also need to learn when enough has been done and to just leave it be. Which leads me onto my next point…
- Set up writers forum with writer friends. I have quite a few writer friends which is great! And we’ve long dreamed about setting up our own little forum. I tried, but getting it together is harder than it seems. But we must all try again, we want to get a private forum set up online so we can share our work and get feedback. Once I’ve got 20 poems I am relatively happy with I’d like to relinquish them to my writer friends for criticism. Then work on them and get them to a point where I think, hell yeah these should be published.
- Methodically send poems too literary journals. My plan is to start small, send out my work to the lesser known journals and magazines first. See what response I get, if any. And if do my plan is to rejoice! And tell you all about it on this blog. After I’ve been somewhat successful I will attempt to send work to the bigger journals and cross all my fingers and toes.
- During my time of sending out poems to journals I will be working on a second collection of poems, hopefully better developed and what not. This, I will try to send out as a complete collection to publishers. Hopefully by this point my name will have cropped up once or twice in a journal or magazine and this will work in my favour. I will keep going, and with every rejection I’ll send out 5 more applications. And if they all reject me, well then I guess I’ll just have to write better poems.
- Publish myself. This is always an option, though I’m not too sure at the moment how I would go about this. I would like to set up my own online literary journal or magazine, something with a twist, something grimy and dark. Something that breaks the rules and makes people feel uncomfortable when their reading it. Like a terrible accident you can’t look away from.
However it happens, I just want to write and write and write and push it out into the world with all the might and clamour possible. I want to make a noise and be heard and maybe make a difference. Ah, the dream of every writer. This is why I seriously want to organise a network, meet-ups in local Nottingham pubs with quiet corners. Share work and notes and put our heads together and help each other. There are a number of writing groups in the local area already. One in particular that does quite well for itself, but has the air of being somewhat elitist and ‘money grabbing’. I realise that things cost, but there is no need to charge ridiculous amounts for little bit of service you provide. My network will aim to be as free as possible, or where this is not possible, cheap and affordable. Art is about sharing not about making money. And by sharing I mean the original, honest true meaning of the word. Not something you do on social media accounts, something you do with people you actually interact with face-to-face, the touchy-feely kind of sharing that happens when you talk to someone and see the way the words take shape on their mouth before you hear them. See their expressions and share the experience. I want a real-life, honest art community, and I want it now.
lxylb 