TECH: 101 Tips (52)

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Original Posting 11 Nov 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Don't strain to be trendy. Don't submit without knowing the magazine well. At least read a few issues first." Linda Landrigan

Just to keep moving ahead on these. This one almost seems contradictory, with the first hint suggesting that you avoid trying to fit the trends. For one thing, what you're reading or seeing published today actually is fairly well out of date compared to what the publishers are seeing today -- and by the time you write and submit and it goes through the publication processes, it will be much later. So go ahead and write what's important to you, without paying much attention to the hottest new trend.

On the other hand, Linda reminds us to check out the magazine or other market that we're submitting to. You get at least some idea of what the editors and the readers are looking for, and you can decide how well your writing fits into that. The latest splatter punk horror piece may not be well received at Ladies Home Journal (is there still a Ladies Home Journal?) Yes, mix-and-match genres are somewhat popular right now, but mystery magazines still want a mystery, romance still wants romance, and so forth. So at least consider the market, dig out a few copies and read them.

I think the real message here is try to find your readers. And that's tricky...

TECH: Ekphrasis!

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Original Posting 13 Nov 2009

Ekphrasis! The poor man was suffering from it, what could be done?

No, this is our word from an article in Writers Digest, February 2005, pages 41 to 43. The title is "The Fine Art of Poetry" by Miriam Sagan. And that odd word ekphrasis (say it five times in a row and it starts to roll trippingly off your tongue, eh?) apparently is an old term for making poetry based on a work of visual art. Sculpture, paintings, I suppose even music videos and advertisements are all fair targets to help you spark your poetry. "It's a time-honored technique of poetry to draw inspiration from other art forms. Often the imagination of another artist can truly fire a poet's desire for expression."

Apparently the term originally referred to the part of a poem that showed us something -- that drew an image. A description of Achilles shield or something like that. However, today it simply means a poem drawn from a particular piece of art -- or about a particular piece of art. There are no fixed formal constraints, and it's up to you as to whether you go to the museum or simply contemplate a reproduction. Nowadays, you might even take a look at Google images or some such digital repository and see what catches your eye there.

Miriam suggests a field trip. Dedicate some time to a poetry field trip. A museum, a park, that funny public sculpture in front of a corporate headquarters or perhaps the art hanging in a shopping mall? Take some time, look around, see the pieces and their setting and the people. Relax, look, let yourself respond and feel. Make some notes.

Next, "enter the scene and describe it." Describe the piece and the setting. Think about the words you're using, the colors, the lighting, the sounds, the smells -- and pick out the parts that really need to be there.

Miriam suggests starting with objective description. Then let your imagination take sway. "What do you imagine about the piece or the artist? Can you place yourself in the scene?" Interlace objective bits, sketching what you see in words, with your own inward description. Spend some time at this -- 20 minutes or so. You may feel as if you reach a natural stopping point. Give yourself a minute or two to make sure.

This is a journey of exploration. Clearly, ekphrasis already has a theme -- the piece of art in front of you. But feel free to welcome unexpected twists. Your poem does not have to be just a word sketch of the painting -- it's a painting, plus you.

There's a sidebar, that gives 12 steps to writing an ekphrasis poem:

1. Select your piece of art.
2. Take plenty of time to be alone with it and absorb it.
3. Draft some notes.
4. Observe color, forms, materials.
5. Notice how it makes you feel.
6. Add some historical or biographical material about the artist if you like.
7. Start drafting the poem.
8. Allow yourself to move back and forth between subjective reactions and objective observations.
9. Step out of the frame of the art if you like and observe the passing scene or your own reaction.
10. If you haven't been writing in lines of poetry, break the prose where you'd naturally take breaths.
11. Let the poem sit and revise it after a few days (but don't edit out the freshness of your initial response).
12. Enjoy -- and remember you can do this whenever you need a little inspiration.

So there you have it. Ekphrasis really isn't something you suffer from, it's just another way of inciting you to poetry with a little dash of art. So go ahead and try it.

Write!