Back from a short holiday
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, South Australia
My wife and I have just arrived back from a short holiday on Yorke Peninsula here in South Australia. We stayed in a holiday unit in the coastal town of Edithburgh. Despite the weather being wild with gale force winds and heavy showers of rain, we managed to get out and about and have a good time. While I’ve done quite a deal of reading recently, I have not had the chance to do a great deal of writing.
On the positive side, the short break has recharged the batteries and I’ve taken lots of interesting photos, some of which I will be sharing on my other sites. You are welcome to have a look at what we saw here:
- Trevor’s Birding – about Australian birds
- Trevor’s Travels – stories about our travels with plenty of photos.
The recent reading I’ve been doing will result in some interesting reviews coming up soon in this site, and the magnificent and rugged scenery of the peninsula has inspired me to get back into writing some poetry.
Stay tuned.
Good writing.
Where will your writing end up?
I find it fascinating where my writing ends up.
Let me explain. Most writers, myself included, desire for our words to be read by others. Sure, some people write only for themselves and that’s fine. I would contend though that the majority of writers dream of having an audience for their words, preferably a large one. I like to know from my readers that I have written something that has intrigued, challenged, entertained, inspired or instructed them – not all at the same time , of course, though that would be great.
It always amazes me where my writing ends up being published. Sure, I’ve have had some small publishing successes. My stories, poems and articles have appeared in books, anthologies, magazines, newspapers and I’ve performed some of my poems in public too. One of my plays was featured on a national television programme. Last year one of my poems was set to music and performed at the ANZAC Day ceremonies in Belgium. Cool.
My latest publication success is intriguing. It’s always nice to be invited to submit something and that is what happened earlier this week. A simple little haiku I wrote some years ago has been published on the Ocean Portal site of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Why not head over there and have a look. They are celebrating National Poetry Week by inviting readers to submit their own poems celebrating their love of the ocean.
Links:
- Ocean Portal site – Your Ode to the Big Blue
- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
- National Poetry Month
And if you are interested in reading some of my poetry, click here.
Good writing.
Hand me a (poetic) pencil
I love pencils.
I always have a good supply of 2B pencils on my desk, and a back up supply in the drawer of my desk. I love the feel of a pencil in my hand as I write. This is especially so when writing poetry.
I almost always use a 2B pencil when composing poems. The sensuality of holding a pencil generates a creativity I rarely get using a pen or a keyboard. After the poem is crafted and has morphed through several drafts, a final copy is then typed up on my computer. Very little changes once I’ve typed it, perhaps only a little formatting and minimal changes to punctuation.
For most of other writing I now use the computer keyboard exclusively. This includes stories, novels, essays, articles and blog posts. I just do not have the time (or the patience) to compose in pencil or pen first. I may occasionally jot down notes or an outline in pen or pencil, but I’ve also done that on the computer. It’s a necessary part of being productive.
What do my readers use when writing?
I’d be interested in hearing your comments.
Good writing.