Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Day 114 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis
 

A Quick Reminder:

I am a believer in the never ending process of learning. In that cause I would like to put out an invitation to poets living in the Ventura, California area. Wednesday nights, for the next nine weeks, at 7 PM in Ventura at the Vita Art Center, 432 North Ventura Avenue, there will be an ongoing poetry workshop. This is a great opportunity to sharpen your craft and gather with other writers in the pursuit of excellence.
 
 
 

SHOULD YOU BE A PURIST?

(Do You Really Want To Bore Your Audience To Tears?)

When it comes to language usage, form, and structure in writing I tend to stick pretty close to the more or less accepted rules. Strunk and White's, ELEMENTS OF STYLE, Margaret Schertzer's, ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR, dictionaries, thesaurus's, and about ten other works are all within arms reach as I'm posting this. Does this mean I am constantly pouring over them for the absolute perfect examples? No. It only means I like to be somewhere in the ballpark when writing fiction. It is the easiest way to produce something that is appealing and readable for my audience.
 
Do I always write like that?  Again, the answer is no. I have sat down with ideas that begged anything but a "normal" approach. (Whatever that is?) I have virtually thrown out the book with some pieces, simply because it was a hell of a lot of fun! I have used dialogue sequences that used no pronouns for identification, I have juxtaposed words to trick up semantic registration, verbs used as nouns and vice versa. Stripped stories down to as few words as possible and then built fast paced sequences of stream of consciousness full of holes to suck in readers.
 
The point to all this is, LEARN THE RULES, LEARN TO WRITE BY THE RULES, AND, WHEN YOU HAVE A GRASP OF THE RULES, THROW THEM OUT! That's right, toss all the stuff you learned up to that point in the waste basket and get a little (Or friggin' TOTALLY) crazy. Why? Because, if you expect to stretch yourself and your medium, there's no other way.
 
Isn't that kind of risky? You bet your ass it is. First off, if you've already developed a following for a particular style and voice, your readers may be completely put off by any change. Hey, they're the ones shelling out green for the black and white and they don't like it if you seem to forget they're, nominally, in charge. Not only that, editors and publishers can be really paranoid about a paycheck. If they feel you straying too far they'll definitely let you know.
 
Solution? There's always the pen name game. You can approach your usual or another outlet and suggest they give it a try under another name. All else fails, the world of self-publishing grows daily.
 
The whole gist to this is the art won't grow without the daredevils. Michelangelo didn't believe he was a painter. Hemingway took out the hearts and flowers. Kerouac fought a stream of consciousness battle with his editors that never seemed to end. But look at what they gave us. So what the hell, set fire to your references once in a while and re-invent the novel. Never know, you might be the next Vonnegut.
 
 
In the meantime...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author.
 
  


Monday, April 29, 2013

Day 113 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE YOU'LL HAVE TO GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD!

Sir, Put Down The Notebook And Writing Implement, Put Your Hands On Your Head, And Walk Towards My Voice.

Yes, I know, you're a writer! Maybe you've gone it one better, rolled the dice and someone has actually published your stuff and you've been cloaked with the sobriquet, "Author". (Don't let it get away from you...Look to the left...See the caption...It can happen to anybody.) Whether it has or hasn't, isn't the point. The fact you've chosen one of the most emotionally taxing followings I can think of is either cause for celebration or booking a room in a secluded sanitarium. You want to believe there will be moments when you'll be ready for the second.
 
This is usually brought on by writer's block or having fought your way to a deal and launched your first baby. The realization is... that was just the kickoff and the rest of the game's charging down the field, straight at your nose, and there's no one to take a hand off. This whole game involves a solitary player, except for the opposition, which is every other S.O.B. with a keyboard. If you don't occasionally feel overwhelmed, I suggest you send out for the tights with the big red "S" on the chest.
 
So, you look at the picture above for inspiration...Just kidding! (Even my ego has certain boundaries.) In reality, you look at that pile of notes, first draft interruptus, empty burger wrappers and pizza boxes and PANIC! Nope, not kidding that time.
 
It is going to happen. So what's the cure? Here's the magic part...Stand up...Go to the front door...And step outside. Take a walk. Go to a movie. Go fishing...that nice young man waiting by the car...That's your kid...Yup, you've been in there that long.
 
Develop an interest other than...If I say the word we both have to attend a twelve step meeting. Get a hobby...JOIN a museum...After all, you're not the only art's program that needs support. Everything you're working on will not vanish if you take your eyes off it for an hour or two. Before you know it, you'll be able to manage a day. The good looking woman who keeps taking showers at your place...That's your wife. Say, "Hello, wife. Wanna go to lunch and a show?" Why, I can see you now, booking that world cruise...Don't even think about it until the first drafts done! Go for a walk and think about...nothing.
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author.



Sunday, April 28, 2013

Day 112 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis
 
Before I get going tonight, a plug...I am a believer in the never ending process of learning. In that cause I would like to put out an invitation to poets living in the Ventura, California area. Wednesday nights, for the next nine weeks, at 7 PM  in Ventura at the Vita Art Center, 432 North Ventura Avenue, there will be an ongoing poetry workshop. This is a great opportunity to sharpen your craft and gather with other writers in the pursuit of excellence.
That being said...
 
 
 
 

I DON'T OFTEN RANT...BUT

If It's Therapy You're After Then Step Away From  Mic

Everybody Needs A Moment, But Not Everyone Else Should Have To Share It.

One of those things that will just flat chap my ass  is having someone step up to an open mic in a poetry venue with a work that in no way, shape, or (in the most liberal sense of the form) manner even begins to resemble poetry. I have a fairly wide tolerance for experimentation, but there is just so far you're going to stretch the form before you slip out of it and into a totally different field.
 
Way too often what this becomes is somebodies need to purge their emotional waste lines in a public setting. Long, multi-page, PROSE  rants and  stream of consciousness word association sessions should be kept on the analysts couch. Come on...somebody has to take these souls aside and say..."You know, Albrecht, you might want to give some consideration to poetic construction and word usage."
 
I am not from the touchy-feely school, but I have had this conversation as delicately as I am capable of having it. Maybe it had some effect and maybe I was whistling into an emotive gale...But at least I felt better walking away. Honestly, I expect the same sort of straight-forward critiquing but rarely encounter it. There's always that hesitancy on the part of other poets...The, "We've all been there!", rap. But have we?
 
Sure, there's the possibility that one of these people could be the next e. e. cummings or Christian Wiman and I'm taking the chance at crushing a delicate soul...but the odds are? Really? Sorry, but having just listened to a session where over half of what was blurted at the audience was either prose tears and fears or free association without a frigging road map, I'm a touch PO'ed. At least limit the number of PAGES any single participant can unwad from their back pocket and smooth across the podium! Thanks for listening. Damn, I need another cup of coffee.
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author
 


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Day 111 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

(Now there's a question that could lead to a treatise on aberrant behavior but I'll answer it anyway!)

 
Unlike a number of other blogs you might encounter, I am not given over to the "Look at what I've done. Aren't I so clever." school. If that were the driving motivation behind starting this one, it would have closed out months ago. As my departed mother, one who was never given to sugar-coating things, would say, "You're not as clever as you think, numb nuts."
 
My first inspiration was, simply, whether or not I could actually find something semi-intelligent to say day in and day out. Heritage will out, being descended from Irish stock, I have the gift of gab seasoned with a dash of unadulterated bullshit. But let's face it, if that were all this was going to be I'd have bored the eyeteeth out of you, me, and the man-in-the-moon by now.
 
The decision was made early that substantive content had to be the basis, and opportunity for growth, the sustenance of these postings. So, even though writing about writing for an audience of writers might seem the most obvious thing that a...uh...writer?...could do, it was also one of the least confident decisions I've made. After all, just who the hell am I to hold forth on something in a community of so many talented and accomplished personalities?
 
And there's the rub, kiddies, because all of us are so busy doing that wonderful thing - imagining characters, settings, plots...or developing metaphor and language to its most symbolic stature, that we don't always have the time to consider the mechanics and minutiae of what we do. So often we just never have the time to visualize the how's and why's, or have rarely asked ourselves, "What makes me do this?". This was such a point of total fascination that it seemed only natural to set foot down that road and see where it would lead.
 
Believe it or not, this has been as much a journey of self-discovery as it might be one of exposition. Every time I sit down to this desk and put together my daily post, I learn something, or rediscover something, about what I do as a writer. That so many of you have been nice enough to let me know when I have said something that resonated with you has been validation that I chose the right road. For this, and the opportunity to share and collaborate with so many of you, I am profoundly grateful and hope that, in the coming months, I can continue to offer some value to so many visitors and colleagues. I thank you for this opportunity to be part of your days and look forward to the tomorrows.
 
 

 Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author

Friday, April 26, 2013

Day 110 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

WHY SHOULD YOU WRITE EVERYDAY?

It's Sort Of Like Breathing...Once In A Great While Just Isn't Sufficient.

 
No one says you should write everyday. Except Anne Lamott, Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway or any number of other top shelf novelists and teachers. To be fair there are those who advocate NOT writing everyday, usually siting some arcane correlation between brain patterns and creativity. So, if you're in love with procrastinating, I've just provided you a way out!
 
What are my thoughts? No brainer time, my butt's in this chair everyday. I blog, work on short fiction, or poetry, am in the process of struggling through a novel, and write reviews and articles. So...why? Why put myself through this routine of making sure my ass is where it belongs, my fingers are on the keys (or wrapped around a writing implement...Look Ma! Opposable thumbs!), and my brain is engaged?
 
First, it's force of habit. Just like breaking a bad habit, you don't go cold turkey in the next ten seconds. Instead, you will yourself not to...this one time. If that works you aim for the next. Building a good habit is a lot like that. You don't sit down to write War and Peace. You try to get an opening paragraph. Then maybe a couple more. Maybe you shoot for a whole chapter eventually. The point is, build up to all this writing one paragraph or page at a time.
 
So what's the benefit? Production...That's it...All of it. Okay, maybe not ALL, but that's a big part of it. I produce a lot of pages in a day, even with a full time job and a wife who still somehow enjoys seeing my old mug. In all of that is some decent work. It's not finished, but is worth spending serious time refining. This output isn't hampered by lack of inspiration or blocks. I maintain constant contact with my subconscious and creative abilities and don't have to undergo long warming up periods. If I have to I'll doodle or stream a bit to get moving, but then we're off to the races.
 
Another advantage to this is having a supply of finished work in circulation to several publishers and competitions all at once. I'm not putting myself under added pressure wondering whether or not I can have something submitted this week. Instead, I have to keep track of everything I have out.
 
Believe me, this way, if you find yourself indecisive or lacking faith in your abilities, all you need do is open the drawer labeled SUBMISSIONS for a reminder you've survived worse. If you miss a deadline for a particular publication, so long as it's not something arranged with an editor for delivery, just aim for the next similar opportunity. Work is always in progress.
 
Finally, it's like driving a car or flying a plane. The more often you do it with focus and intent, the better you should become at it. Trite but true, practice makes perfect (so long as you're honest with yourself about what constitutes quality of craft and art). So why are you reading this? WRITE SOMETHING!
 
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Day 109 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A WORKSHOP

or

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your safety, please stow your egos in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you.

Before anyone asks...YES I still attend REGULAR workshops for both poetry and fiction. I also occasionally attend ones aimed at the business of publishing, copyright, book design...and I still write every single damned day. No exceptions! (I count this blog in that. Think it's easy? Try 365 straight days of being ON. Go on...)
 
What do I look for in workshops? Brutal honesty. I've been at this a while and realize there are times when I will produce something that just isn't up to snuff, but I refuse to let it go. An honest, critical voice, that speaks from craft and knowledge, can be just the thing. I've been exposed to the curt styling of rejection notices enough that, if somebody has a real suggestion (other than where I might consider filing that trash!), I'm thrilled to listen.
 
I would suggest that, before you dive right in there, attend a meeting or two as an observer. In my experience,the groups that have had the best track records and longevity were more than willing to allow you to try it before you bought into it. This also gives you some time to see how the group operates.
 
Are they a studious group that believes scholarship is the best path forward? If so, they may have weekly or bi-weekly assignments they expect their members to complete in addition to reading and reviewing each other's work. They may be dedicated to one (or a limited number) of genres or styles and not want to wander outside that zone. If it doesn't work, don't feel obligated to stay. (Though I've attended some and stayed just to stretch my literary vocabulary.)
 
You may chose a group that's newer and less formal. Perhaps they're at the same approximate level that you are, offering a more pat on the head approach to critiquing. Beware the group with the, "Nobody can truly say something is or isn't art." bias. It's a load of crap. You may not be able to say whether a particular work will become "GREAT" art - that's, more or less, a function of time, but bad writing is bad writing. Better to settle in with a group that periodically has a small skirmish over style, content, form, or language. Whatever, so long as it doesn't go on too long and when it's done, IT'S DONE! This is a group that feels passionately about their craft!
 
Avoid a group where one individual holds court. Workshops are about everyone having the chance to speak their mind. It's also about listening, even when that bastard is Soooo WRONG! Somebody will inevitably spring a leak and disappear for a couple of sessions, but real writers are pretty thick-skinned, and after a while, return to the fold. Remember, you can shop around, but if you find a group that might be a little tough at times, consider that editors, publishers, and critics can be friggin' psychopathic!
 
 
Meantime...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow always comes,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author
 
 


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Day 108 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VOICES

An Homage To Enduring Talent

 

On this Wednesday last, April 17th, 2013, Ventura County, California adopted a custom of long standing in the nation of Japan. That custom is the recognition and honoring of artists whose careers span a remarkable period of time, and whose talent has had a significant and lasting effect as treasures of their community. The unusual aspect of this naming of treasures was that it was bequeathed on not one, but four outstanding women. In alphabetic order: Polly Bee, Elnora McNaughton, Joyce La Mers, and Doris Vernon were declared Literary Treasures of Ventura County, California.
 
These four women share a poetic and literary background that spans decades. Each is a very unique and talented person, with voices diverse and wonderful. They have been leaders in the Ventura, California writing community for so long that you would be very hard pressed to meet anyone who writes as vocation, avocation, or hobby anywhere in the county who does not recognize and admire their work.
 
In addition to several certificates awarded to them by local, state, and federal dignitaries, a limited edition press run of a collection of works by all four poets was produced by Tree Bernstein of Tree House Press. The book is entitled 'DEFYING GRAVITY'. Availability of this work can be determined by contacting Tree House Press, P.O. Box 1144, Ojai, California, or on-line at mixedmetaphorpress.com.
 
As a writer who has known two of these women for almost two decades, I can only say CHEERS!
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Day 107 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

WHERE CAN YOU FIND OUTLETS FOR YOUR POETRY?

or

I Didn't Know You Had To Plug Them In! Do They Come With An Adapter?

 
 
No, I won't be any less irreverent because I'm dealing with those products of your more serious side. If you've read a few of my previous posts you know I'm congenitally incapable of reverence for anything longer than thirty seconds. People, this is SERIOUS writing here...Try to have a little fun!
 
Perhaps the most difficult decision you're going to make is when to submit a poem. (Or an entire life's collection of them...PLEASE don't do that unless your last name is Frost, or Yeats, or something similarly weighty!) We have all gone through this. Yours truly (see the picture) sent in his first manuscript to Little, Brown and Co. at the age of seventeen. Hey, balls I had, the brain is the slower developing organ!
 
I received a reply, that was actually signed by an editor, that read, "Thank you for submitting to L,B and Co. After careful consideration we regret we have no place for your manuscript at this time. When you develop a voice and style authentically your own please try again." I was thrilled! They actually said I could try again. Haven't found the nerve yet, but they said I could.
 
 So, what would have been a more realistic approach? I hung in there and started discovering open readings and poetry workshops. These are places where you show up and either sign in or wait your turn to read a poem or two. Some of them offer that kind of encouragement you get when people don't want to say anything controversial and some of them offer real critiques. This second type can be a bit intimidating if you've never faced a room full of people who know what they're talking about and aren't afraid to let you hear it. Some writers get their nose out of joint over this atmosphere and input. Others realize that it's what they signed up for and listen with sincerity and the proverbial grain of salt.
 
I was lucky that one of the ones I discovered early on was well known in the Boston area and also published a monthly anthology, Stone Soup Poets, ed. Jack Powers. As my work improved, and my voice grew more mine, I was invited to submit. I sent them eight of my best and they chose the one that worked for them.
 
Since then I have published in weekly newspapers, literary journals, and annually produced anthologies that were of the 'take your best shot' school. I have been invited as a featured contributor to publications such as "TEN CALIFORNIA POETS", released by the Arcade Poetry Project in Ventura, California. I have also worked as an editor on some publications.
 
I have been a featured reader in coffee shops, art centers, and colleges. Truth be known, I'll show up for the opening of a can of beer! The thing is, I have never turned down an opportunity. I still do open mic's just to gauge response to my current work.
 
So there's a world of opportunity to get your stuff heard. I haven't mentioned the Internet, (though I have posted on other sites besides this), only because I am a great believer that you improve far faster through connecting in the flesh. Those are the times when you can hear a crowd and know whether you have reached them or not.
 
There are an incredible number of college literary journals out there, and a really pleasing rebound in the number of small, independent presses. You can locate a huge number of these in the Writer's Market Publications, Poet's Market Guide available online or through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local library. There are also listings  in the Poet's Market Guide for larger, commercial, markets.
 
It's all about putting in the work and paying the dues. Along the way you will inevitably meet some terrific artists and some demonic egos but that's life. Right? What else are you writing about? If you'd like to take the risk, check out the opportunity below. No guarantees (or pay), but no one's handing out oil wells and diamond mines in the poetry world, gang.
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author 



Monday, April 22, 2013

Day 106 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

THE LEARNING SHOULD NEVER STOP!

A Little Zen Thing Here;

"As Water Adapts To The Container Adapt Your Thinking To The Form"

 
 You're probably looking at the heading thinking, "Where the hell's he going with this?" Hang with me...I said in yesterday's blog that I was going to be shifting gears to catch up with my poetry rewrites. As much as I've been talking up fiction writing on this page you might wonder if I've gone a little over the ever-present edge. (That would be one way to get an actual break...Sitting in a floor-to-ceiling, upholstered room...Wearing an "I love me" coat, giving myself a 24/7 hug...Counting my toes and the buttons on the wall!)
 
Poetry can be the perfect adjunct to prose. There are even times when they get together as prose poems. The genre forces the writer to step away from stultifying narrative and work the world of symbolism. It pushes you to become more familiar with your own language and the intricacy of linguistics. It can also open a world of possibilities as far as plot, character, setting, and structure is concerned.
 
As I have...Uh...let's say matured. I have been drawn back in time and across continents and oceans to hone my appreciation of poetry. I have written in sonnet form, both Elizabethan (Shakespearean) and Italian (Petrarchan). There are more modern language sonnets, such as the works of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Archibald MacLiesh. Of course there are the plays of the bard, or Bacon, or John Donne's longer works that are laid out in quatrain. Then there's sextain or sestine, which is not a dirty Limerick but a stanza of six lines and obsolete. Obsolete means it's fun to toss out at a workshop and listen to the groans. Travel to the east and check out Haiku or Tanka. The continent of India gave us Urdu, Doha and Mahl, among other forms.

In the modern world, there are the wonderful, terse rhymes of the New Yorker's early days, led by the esteemed Dorothy Parker. There has been Blank and Free verse and as I've mentioned before, the latest surge in prose poetry. And what the heck does all that have to do with the price of good Afghan Blonde? (Go ahead...Look it up...We'll wait.)

With every step out of your comfort zone you become a broader, better in formed reader. If you attempt to copy the forms and styles, you become a better informed writer. If you become better informed, you are more capable and adroit in your chosen genre, style and voice. Even that scion of the rough and abrupt, Charles Bukowski, was incredibly wide read and self-educated. If you don't believe me, try looking up some of the references in his works or some of the papers written by those who weren't put off by his shock value language.

It's like yoga for your brain and soul. Stretch the brain and let the soul breathe in the exotic, the unfamiliar, the strangely beautiful. You, in turn, will become a larger part of your own art, and a much more eloquent voice in a world too often drowning in the mundane or timid.


Meanwhile...live, love, write...(deep breaths).


Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.


Tomorrow,

Dane F. Baylis
Author. 
   



Sunday, April 21, 2013

Day 105 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

THE PURPOSE OF NOTEBOOKS

The Forensics of Creativity

or

Everything I know About Poetry I Learned From Mary Shelley

 
I know, "Why is this pertinent?" Simple. I am up to a point where I have to make a choice. Having spent about the last four months seriously buried in the land of short prose I've decided it's time to compile some submissions from a different side of my very multi-polar self.
 
I actually had my first success as a writer of poetry. Anthologies, literary journals, chaps, group readings and the coveted featured reader's spots. So that's where I'm heading for a bit. If you think that I sound a bit anal (I know that's an understatement) when it comes to the process of turning out prose, you really have seen nothing until I start editing my own poetry.
 
We all have those pieces we are in love with. Well, for me those relationships can be a little dysfunctional. I am constantly tweaking and reshaping and honing. If this was a marriage it wouldn't be!  At least not for long. But what about the disappointing problem children? Those works that, no matter how you thought they should proceed, went their own damn way and became utter disappointments.
 
When you write as much as I do, these can amount to quite a collection. They all live in my notebooks, a sort of college ruled Bedlam for the societally impaired. What I have found though, like the author of Frankenstein, a visit to the graveyard of lost symbols can often produce enough parts to re-animate a corpse.
 
This is one of the reasons I harp about those notebooks I carry everywhere. There are more failures in them than triumphs, but they are also loaded with the raw material for better, more coherent projects. What am I driving at? Notebooks are no good if you don't study them.
 
Just like when you were in school. You could write down anything you wanted to, if you didn't go back and read that scribbling, that's all it was. (Woe to you on test day.) All those thoughts and prompts are lying there waiting so, as I contemplate the possibility of another chap or an independent press run, I don't have to panic. Well, almost. In my notes are the materials I need to fill gaps, to refine metaphor, to clarify form and process. Beats the living hell out of using them to even out that short leg on the writing desk.
 
So, yes, be assiduous about keeping journals, outlines, notebooks...Whatever! Be just as neurotic about going back and reviewing them. Otherwise it's the same as having a brain for the monster and no lightning. Helllooooo?
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
 
Dane F. Baylis
 
Author

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Day 104 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

FORMAT, FORMAT, FORMAT!

Does It Really Matter?

or

Read The Fine Print Baby!

It can be a hard learned lesson. You select one of Word's handy-dandy formatting templates, type blissfully away, and watch manuscripts disappear in the ozone. Some of these go out in hardcopy because there are still houses that haven't quite caught up with the digital thing. (I will probably pay for that quip.) Others are gone at the press of a key.
 
You wait, and wait, and...Then one day there it is. Crammed into a mailbox or as a simple dejection slip (No that wasn't a typo. Wait until you get enough of them!) in your e-mail. Somehow, they each give you the distinct impression that nobody has looked through them since your last loving gaze. How could that be?
 
Frequently this is because the recipient didn't take a look past the first page. Why? Formatting may be the problem to the answer. Despite their dominance in the world of computing, neither Microsoft nor Apple are the final arbiters of what form a publisher wants you to use.
 
Some publishers want all your author information on the left side, some on the right, and some want it in the middle. (God, that feels so good!) Others want your word count separate from your contact information, some want it all in one tidy pile. Some just want a common 12 point type, like this Arial, others, a standard Serif 12 point like Georgia. Some want double spacing between lines and double the double twixt paragraphs. Then there are those who want single space, only calling for double or three stars (***) between page breaks. Some will ask for biographical info, no more than a line, or one hundred words, or a paragraph. We haven't even touched on queries or submission letters!
 
Having worked in the editorial end I can attest to the fact that time is precious and first impressions can be the difference between a fair reading and sudden death! Why does an editor differentiate? Easy, one writer took the time to at least read the formatting guidelines the other didn't. That tells you immediately who took the process seriously and might be worth your time. Cold hearted? You try sitting at a desk hour after hour pouring through manuscript after manuscript and tell me if you don't look for a cut-off mechanism.
 
There are any number of good guides out in the world. One I use frequently is From The Editors of Writer's Digest Books: Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript. This covers an awful lot of ground and can save you untold headaches. It's written in tight, understandable language and is formatted really well. (Clever how I worked that in, no?)
 
The final part of the puzzle is simple. Read the guidelines for the particular outlet your approaching! Most publishers have them on their web pages, some still require you send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE for my newbies) requesting them. Yes it takes a while but what's that old saying, "You never have the time to do it right, but you always have the time to do it over." Sorry, I'm way to busy not to try for right the first time!
 
In the meantime, I haven't heard from many of you lately. Comments? Questions? I'm thinking of running a flash fiction or poetry contest. What do you think? What would be a good prize? (I have NO control over the Pulitzers. Don't even ask!) Also thinking about creating an e-book of some of these postings for a giveaway. Thoughts on that?
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always...Hmm, must be medication time,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author