CREATIVITY FOR THE LOVE OF IT, PART 1: POETRY by Max Jason Peterson

Edgar Allan Poe

Today I want to begin talking about a particular passion of mine—art for art’s sake. In this series, I’ll delve into two forms of creativity that I deeply love, which provide great joy, meaning, and value for their creators and audience (and in my own life): poetry and fanworks. Though some creatives involved in these art forms may well be professional writers, I’m classifying these particular types of creations as art for art’s sake because they are typically not associated with providing a living wage by themselves. They can indeed lead to other opportunities, help the writer develop necessary skills or experience the pleasure of interacting with an audience, or help to spark creativity in other areas that do lead to income. But fanworks are not compensated monetarily, by their very nature; and poetry most frequently pays relatively small amounts or in copies. Thus, those who invest their time and talents in creating poetry and fanworks—while these can sometimes be part of the career of a professional writer, artist, or teacher—are generally making these works for the love of them. The pleasure of creating these works and sharing them with the audience is in fact the primary reward.  

STRENGTHEN YOUR SUBMISSIONS STRATEGY, Part 7 by Max Jason Peterson

Delbert R. Gardner.
Photo by Adele Gardner

This series is dedicated to my loving father and mentor, Delbert R. Gardner, a beautifully lyrical and insightful poet and writer, who taught me how to submit my work when I was fourteen and gave me a postage allowance to do so at a time when we could ill afford it.

So far in this series, I’ve focused on using spreadsheets to track submissions as well as accomplishments. But I started using statistics to motivate me long before I switched to the spreadsheet format. If you find that spreadsheets are daunting, too much work, or just a greater level of detail than you need, this installment will share how I tracked my basic statistics in a word processing document.

While previous installments in this series do focus on spreadsheets, I hope that some of the advice about sticking with it and motivating oneself by the number of works sent out, rather than focusing on individual rejections, will still be helpful. 

THE REAL VALUE OF A WRITING CONFERENCE by Guest Blogger Penny Hutson

Whether you’ve attended many conferences in the past or none, if you’re on the fence about going to one this year, let me reveal a little secret to you. Although individual writers may have specific reasons for participating, such as searching for an agent or publisher, networking with other writers, learning more about craft or marketing, having their work critiqued or even entering a writing contest; the truth is that the real value of any kind of conference is its power to motivate and inspire us.

SURRENDER, DOROTHY by Guest Blogger Judy Fowler

Intimidating words. Plucky Dorothy Gale—the protagonist in Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz—isn’t scared off for long. Eventually, she’ll confront her fear of witches because she wants to go home.      

In parts of my life, I’m like Dorothy. When my own “Over the Rainbow” dreams of singing on Broadway and writing books met with setbacks, I threw my support behind my husband’s acting career. All I asked for—if he made it—was a house in Beverly Hills where I could write. This never materialized. I went back to school and bought myself a house in Virginia Beach.

I could have done that earlier, but—like Dorothy—I had to learn it for myself.