Year of Poetry Update Week 2

Find out about my Year of Poetry here

So today brings me to the end of week 2 of the Year of Poetry program I have devised for myself.  It does appear to be getting easier and I am able to schedule important cultural events (watching the new Star Wars) so that they don't interrupt my plan.

The big challenge as alluded to in my last update will be the inconsistent nature of may paid work starting in February. Hopefully by then the habit will have stuck.

I have been working off prompts, mostly from Sue Bell's 52: Write a Poem a Week. Start Now. Keep Going which has been easy than I thought, but then the prompts in this book are well thought out, if at times confronting (week 3 especially).

As to the numbers here are this weeks with the total in parenthesis:

Total time: 19 (37) hrs

• poem writing = 6(12) hrs
• close reading = 6(12) hrs
• technique/theory = 5(9) hrs
• reflection = 2(4) hrs

Poetry written:

• 3 poems completed
• 1 poem at 3rd draft stage

I haven't sent any of the completed poems out yet.  I have sent them to beta readers and rewritten some after their suggestions.  I'd like to leave at least a week before I complete a final pass. The plan is to send completed poems out at the end of each month.  Which assuming that half of the poems will be suitable could be around 3-4 poems.

General thoughts:


Very happy with the pace at the moment.  I have to keep reminding myself as I get more practiced, more into the groove, that each poem still deserves the time.  Writing in conjunction with the studying means that I am finding myself incorporating the learning on the fly.

I am loving the close reading, especially going back over collections I read last year.  

The weight's break is still ongoing to  and I have increased repetition and weights.  

NB don't try writing with a dip pen after bench pressing.


Concerns:

As mentioned above eagerness to get poems out there and the looming threat of inconsistent interruption.