1.) What are you working on?
Lately, I am working on getting back into writing poetry. I've written (mostly by hand, though sometimes on my phone) a few pieces lately, and I'm loving the weight of the pen in my hand. Most of my poems lately have been about getting the creep inside of me out into the open, so they're a little weird and creepy and stalkerish. I'm hoping they start to chill out a little in the revisions. I should also be working on sending out submissions and my book, but friends, I am being honest. That is not happening much. If you have any tips on motivating yourself, leave them in the comments. I can use any help I can get.
I also work on copywriting for my day job, audio-crafting for my side job, and writing a whole bunch over at Not Intent On Arriving. I'm taking the writing I do on the blog more seriously lately, and that feels good.
2.) How does your work differ from others of its genre?
Sometimes I'm a little afraid that my poetry is too much like other works in the genre, only not as good. I read Life of Mars and Blue Colonial and Kyrie, and was like, "Welp. No need for me to write any more. They said it first, they said it best." At it's core, I think poetry (and all art) is all about the same thing: the human condition. With that said, though, of course I do think I have something different to say. And the way that I get around and into what I have to say about the human condition is through history and objects and personal stories. I'm always looking for the tidbits of a thing, the things that are quiet and maybe overlooked, and trying to find a way into real emotion through them. I hope I'm succeeding at it, and that it differentiates me a bit!
3.) Why do you write what you write?
Oh, goodness, because I'm obsessed with it. I mean, honestly, I hardly write a thing if it doesn't feel absolutely 100% necessary that I write it down. Sometimes I get an idea in my head and churn it over and over until I just have to get it out of my system and onto paper. Also, especially with these creeper poems, it's kind of nice to put on my inner creeper and play it out on paper without actually, like, sitting outside someone's house with binoculars. Well, that makes me sound creepier than I am, but I hope you know what I mean. I like that poetry lets me inhabit parts of myself that I don't normally inhabit, and live the lives of people who are gone or who I may never meet. I guess that's the crux of it. I'm all about playing dress-up with words.
4.) How does your writing process work?
Some of the time, I just have an idea and spit it out onto paper, and then wait a few hours or a few days and revise it a bit and then it's done and it's beautiful! And the rest of the time, I force myself to write and it's crap and I revise for weeks and months until it's less crap, and that's also pretty good, though not as good as the if I have an idea and spit it out. I'm very slowly starting to wake up earlier to get work done, so I'm hoping that one day soon, I'll start using that morning time as time to write. I did Morning Pages for a few weeks, and found it to be quite good for me emotionally, though rather less generative than I'd hoped, creatively. Perhaps I'll get back into that soon. In the meantime, I write my favorite poems in transit, on the subway or a plane or a train.
-------------------------------
Many thanks to Lauren for tagging me in this fun game! You should check her out at Better in Real Life, where she writes about her life as a writer, adventurer, mother, wife, and new(ly renewed) Seattlite. (God, I love the word Seattlite.)
I know so many incredible writers that it's hard to tag just three, but I'll stick to writers with blogs I love. And, if you remain untagged, please answer in the comments! Obviously I am all about interviews, so don't be shy.
Emily X.R. Pan - Emily is a friend from NYU, and a great fiction writer to boot. She blogs a lot about her writing process (and helped inspire my morning pages!), so I can't wait to read her answers to these questions.
Anna Lowe Weber -When people ask me to recommend a blog for them, I almost always suggest Anna's, but in addition to being a fantastic food blogger, she's written some poems that speak directly to my heart.
Jennifer Hanks - Jennifer is another poet who speaks to my soul, and luckily, a good friend of mine from Sarah Lawrence. She has a beautiful tumblr, and I hope she'll answer these questions over there!
