Writing...

[oasisfan35]

Original thread

Not about any specific work but where we are at or lost in the process.

Post holidays I plan on sitting down with a piece I began a while ago and finishing it, will truly necessitate a change in schedule but it'd be great to seal up.

[harmless]

I may as well put this in here, as I'm still pretty happy about it. I'm the first of the 5 poets mentioned on the Huff Post link.

http://markburnhope.blogspot.co.uk/2013 ... -2013.html

[griffinxi]

I may as well put this in here, as I'm still pretty happy about it. I'm the first of the 5 poets mentioned on the Huff Post link.

http://markburnhope.blogspot.co.uk/2013 ... -2013.html

Nice Harmless, congrats.

I've got a short coming out in this Winter's Pear Noir! (#9), a Pittsburgh journal. Got a few other subs out there in the world, and my sights are set on a couple of white whales I want to score this year.

[oasisfan35]

Indeed Mark, that is quite a nice sentiment; hope '13 treats you well word-wise.

[Harry Lime]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

[harmless]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

Sometimes I've tried to write in a coffee shop but always immediately thought 'No, this is stupid' and left.

[harmless]

Oh, and also thanks for the congrats guys. Congrats to you, griffinxi.

[washing machine]

That's awesome, Mark. It's getting cold enough now that I may need to pull The Snowboy back out and spend some time with it.

Griffin, let me know how I can get your stuff. Congrats.

[harmless]

That's awesome, Mark. It's getting cold enough now that I may need to pull The Snowboy back out and spend some time with it.

Griffin, let me know how I can get your stuff. Congrats.

The Snowboy loves a bit of snuggling.

[griffinxi]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

Sometimes I've tried to write in a coffee shop but always immediately thought 'No, this is stupid' and left.

I can barely even read in a coffee shop. Trying to write in a coffee shop feels like an intricate and sadistic form of procrastination.

But yes I've tried on occasion. It also makes me feel like a douche.

[harmless]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

Sometimes I've tried to write in a coffee shop but always immediately thought 'No, this is stupid' and left.

I can barely even read in a coffee shop. Trying to write in a coffee shop feels like an intricate and sadistic form of procrastination.

But yes I've tried on occasion. It also makes me feel like a douche.

There's just no real reason to perpetuate that myth. What's the payoff? I can have a cup of coffee at home.

[griffinxi]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

Sometimes I've tried to write in a coffee shop but always immediately thought 'No, this is stupid' and left.

I can barely even read in a coffee shop. Trying to write in a coffee shop feels like an intricate and sadistic form of procrastination.

But yes I've tried on occasion. It also makes me feel like a douche.

There's just no real reason to perpetuate that myth. What's the payoff? I can have a cup of coffee at home.

Maybe there are people somewhere that feel a spark of creativity in public. Habits and rituals are a big deal for a lot of people; getting your crap together and actually going to sit down somewhere specific with the intention of writing is maybe like going to the gym, even when you have a perfectly usable weight bench sitting in the basement. A declaration of intent, I guess.

Also, some people just like to make spectacles of themselves. I had a friend whose girlfriend was notorious for lugging unwieldy reading material to concert venues and reading on the floor. While the music was playing. Ugh.

[harmless]

I will not read anything by anyone who wrote it inside a coffee shop. I'm telling you that right now.

Sometimes I've tried to write in a coffee shop but always immediately thought 'No, this is stupid' and left.

I can barely even read in a coffee shop. Trying to write in a coffee shop feels like an intricate and sadistic form of procrastination.

But yes I've tried on occasion. It also makes me feel like a douche.

There's just no real reason to perpetuate that myth. What's the payoff? I can have a cup of coffee at home.

Maybe there are people somewhere that feel a spark of creativity in public. Habits and rituals are a big deal for a lot of people; getting your crap together and actually going to sit down somewhere specific with the intention of writing is maybe like going to the gym, even when you have a perfectly usable weight bench sitting in the basement. A declaration of intent, I guess.

Also, some people just like to make spectacles of themselves. I had a friend whose girlfriend was notorious for lugging unwieldy reading material to concert venues and reading on the floor. While the music was playing. Ugh.

[Dscans]

I'm taking a creative writing class for graduate credit, although I'm the only grad student in there. Anyway, for an assignment we had to write a sestina. I'm not into poetry and it was our first poetry assignment so I struggled a bit, but anyway, here it is.

The Collar and the Coin

Sun peeked through the curtains
and found the red collar
on the nightstand with the coin
from when her father went over sea.
She never let either out of her eyes.
Her pockets clinked when she walked.

Princess would lead whenever they walked,
Father observed from behind the kitchen curtain,
arousing memories and tearful eyes.
Princess’ untamed excitement tightened the collar
as Father’s thoughts drifted to his future at sea,
and a keepsake that would be the coin.

The yen is an aluminum coin.
Father thought of it whenever he walked,
and the woman he met when he was at sea.
They hid their love behind a hotel curtain.
He still thought of her, the coin, and the collar,
and would forget again, lost in his daughter’s sad eyes.

She haunted him with those innocent eyes.
She often fiddled with the coin,
stuffed in her pocket with the collar,
walking alone whenever she walked.
Neighbors watched behind bedroom curtains
as she vanished like a dorsal fin back into the sea.

She thought of when Father was at sea,
and Mother sat at home with red, puffy eyes.
Father closed the curtain
when saw her pull out the coin.
Away from the bay window he walked,
and began to choke, as if he wore the collar.

Daughter returned, holding the red collar.
Paternal forgiveness was lost at sea.
It was nine weeks since she last walked
with Princess and still had hope in her eyes.
She walked to the garbage and dropped in the coin,
noticing Father had closed the curtain.

Toward the bedroom she walked and averted her eyes,
holding the collar and wishing her father were still at sea.
Father fished out the coin and maniacally tore down the curtain.

[Simple Torture]

As I mentioned in the "What are you currently reading?" thread, I'm writing the longer portion of my PhD examinations this week. Seven days, 40-45 pages of material. I started around 10:00 this morning and I don't have any pages written, but I've got lots of notes, as I've been fleshing out which questions to answer and what texts to use in my answers. It's a unique writing experience!

[Dscans]

Good luck, bro.

[Simple Torture]

Good luck, bro.

Thanks! I'm already through the long exam; I wrote 53 pages of critical prose from Monday the 11th through Sunday the 17th. I'm working on my shorter exam right now; it's only gotta be between 10 and 15 pages, and I have until Saturday morning.

I promise to read your stuff when I'm done...I promise! If you've updated it recently, I'd love to see that, too.

[Dscans]

Good luck, bro.

Thanks! I'm already through the long exam; I wrote 53 pages of critical prose from Monday the 11th through Sunday the 17th. I'm working on my shorter exam right now; it's only gotta be between 10 and 15 pages, and I have until Saturday morning.

I promise to read your stuff when I'm done...I promise! If you've updated it recently, I'd love to see that, too.

Since I started taking grad courses, especially the creative writing course, I haven't touched it. It's still far from finished and rather unpolished.

[Malloy]

I'm taking a creative writing class for graduate credit, although I'm the only grad student in there.

i'm in the same position pardner. how's it going for you?

[griffinxi]

For anyone interested, I've got a new piece up on Hobart:

http://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/exits