Field Notes from a Great Writing Month So Far

I have done a lot more writing this week, and a wider variety of writing.  Is it because of my online journaling course?  Let me take a moment to capture this week of writing:

--I have continued to write a poem a day, my November goal.  Some of them really make me happy.  And even if they don't seem to have much potential, I'm still glad to be writing them.

--I've written in my offline journal more often this week.  Some of my e-mails during this week have seemed worth saving, so they have gone into my offline journal.

--I've continued to write at least one daily blog post.  But since I almost always do that, my inner guidance counselor doesn't want to give me credit for that--she insists that I'm not living up to my full potential.

--I sent out manuscripts:  some poetry packets, a short story, and my book-length poem collection.

--I also wrote Facebook posts which seemed a bit more creative than usual.  Here's an example:  It is 3 a.m., and I am eating baby carrots as I grade student work from my online class. Some of you will be worried that I am awake at 3 a.m. Some of you will wonder why I'm not eating a better snack in the middle of the night. Some of you will feel sad that I'm doing grading instead of tending to my inner life. A few of you will say, "Get that kitchen remodel done already. You used to bake pumpkin bread during times of insomnia."

--I saw a call for a special issue (which I wrote down on a scrap of paper that's in my office, so I can't link to it here) for work that explores the past decades of the LGBQTA movement, and I have just the short story.  But the word limit is 1200, and the story I had is roughly 3650 words.  So, in the spirit of experiment, I tried cutting it down.  I still have 150 words to go.  It's always an interesting experiment, seeing what can be cut. I almost always like the longer version, where I have the space to include symbolism and side notes.

--This list doesn't even count all the writing I've done for work:  the e-mails, the material to go with the photos that I sent to the social media coordinator, and all the various projects that require my writing skills.

--My online journaling class has also called forth some writing that wouldn't have happened otherwise:  the haiku to go with some of the sketches, the explanation of what I post to the group site, and some journaling that I'm keeping separate from my other journals.

November has been a GREAT writing month so far--I hope I can keep this up!