Changing form and trusting the process

As my dedicated readers will note, since the start of working full time, the poetry writing has taken a substantial hit.  The drop from 8-9 hours dedicated writing/drafting per week, to less than 3, has significantly dented the writing mojo.

Not that I am complaining. As was pointed out by fellow poets, a 50% acceptance rate for poetry this year is not something to be worried about. No, it's more how I am feeling in relation to the writing on the whole.

I have observed over the year so far that generally speaking, there are peaks and troughs, some proto-poems work, some don't. The act of writing is more important than any individual poem. Much easier to let go of your attachment when another proto-poem comes along for you to work on.

Previously a poem that didn't work or one that I felt wasn't up to standard would have been done and dusted, moved on from or promoted to draft status within 3 days/ 6 hours at most.

The poem I have been writing and have just completed today began 3 weeks ago. It has been difficult to maintain a positive attitude to the act of writing when the long troughs stretch out over weeks and the peaks never seem to do the same.

Yesterday I was sure that after today's session I would be moving on. Yet as the process has shown, time and again, what may look/sound bad in one session can change in another.

This is a lesson I keep coming across, though it doesn't seem to stick.

So what changed between now and yesterday?  A good night's sleep, writing early? I think it was form; cutting lines in half.  Probably a combination. In any event, another lesson that I have learned and forgotten.

No doubt I will be able to copy and paste this post next month. So, in a note to myself:

• trust the process it has a phenomenal success rate
• if something's not working, try a good sleep, an early start and a change of approach or angle
• cultivate some patience