Happy Holiday Weekend, Shock Treatment, Intro to Time Travel, and Not Having All the Answers

I am wishing everyone a wonderful holiday weekend. We here in the NW are having record-breaking heat, which means I have to avoid being outside because I am easily scorched. In the last three days, I’ve been repeatedly shocked (nerve tests at a neurologist, this time for numbness in my arm and hands – it’s a standard carpal tunnel test, but it was miserable) and had three episodes of anaphylaxis at 2 AM (maybe related to the sun? Even my allergist is stumped.) Yes, so I am looking forward to a few days with less trauma and maybe less sun and way more antihistamines. And let me tell you, I do not think that the old-fashioned shock-therapy was a good cure for anything, after my experience yesterday! It left me with little “echo-zaps” in my arms and legs for hours – super disconcerting – and I can’t imagine someone thinking this might be good for state of mind! No thank you! Poor Zelda and Sylvia!

Thanks for all the positive feedback from my last post, but I wanted to say, I don’t really even want to pretend to have all the answers. I’m definitely still stumped by the same problems everyone else has – how do you find a good teaching job/job for a writer that pays the rent/student loans? How do you find a good publisher? Which journals do you send your work to? I still ask myself all these questions, plus more! All I can do here is entertain our thoughts and arguments about obstacles, problems, and tricky riddles – basically you’re watching my own struggles to figure out, yes, what to do next. So, you’ve published three books. What do you do with your next book? So, you’ve been Poet Laureate of a city. What do you do next? In the last few days, I’ve made some next steps – hopefully forward – and will see how they turn out. I’ve tried to make positive movements, and not only that, but tried to work with some friends to also help them make positive steps forward, because, I guess, I feel best not just when I succeed, but when I can help someone else succeed at the same time. I consider myself a fighter for sure, but I also have that weird female trait, which is, not just to conquer, but to nurture and conquer (kind of like Daenerys, the only character you can really root for in Game of Thrones. Plus, dragons! Except, so far, for me, very few dragons. I’m still hoping though! At least for some fire lizards! Oh, addendum, my friend Felicity reminds me that we also root for Arya. Of course. My apologies.)

Speaking of sci-fi references , you’re interested in my new poems, or in time travel theory, then check out this new poem, “Introduction to Time Travel Theory,” in Apex and Abyss. The poem is supposed to be in couplets, but I think it didn’t come through in the online version. Just mentally read it in couplets, then. And nerd alert: if you can catch all the pop culture references in the poem and name them, I’ll send you a mystery prize! http://www.abyssapexzine.com/2013/06/introduction-to-time-travel-theory/

Secret to Writing Success #43: Don’t Get in Your Own Way

I’ve been talking about success as a writer lately, and today I want to talk about what can sometimes be your biggest tripping point on the path to success – yourself.
I’ve been teaching and mentoring writers for a few years now and have recently been alarmed by an increase, especially in women writers, of a certain crisis in confidence, a kind of self-sabotage, that causes them to be the biggest obstacle in their paths to writing success. I don’t want to give away any secrets, but let’s look at some things female writers have said and done lately that made me just want to get up and shout: Don’t be the thing that keeps you from succeeding!
–A young student confessed after a reading that she was in tears every night after her old-white-dude adviser at her MFA program (which shall not be named, but it wasn’t Pacific U) said some mean things in his critiques, and that therefore, she didn’t want to write anymore. (Full disclosure: my MFA advisers were so kind this literally never happened to me. I think maybe one of them criticized my use of commas, which was probably well-deserved, but they were all to a person so supportive and encouraging that, much like this example girl writer might think if her adviser was encouraging instead of critical, I feared they were lying to me. That’s right, when they criticize you, you cry, but when they praise you, you worry they’re lying. Sigh. Because I also lacked confidence in my own writing for many years. Well, I still sort of do, but I just grit my teeth and get on with it now.) Um, your adviser is there to help you, he is not a father figure you need to impress. Really. Take the comments that help you and ignore the rest. This goes for mean people in writing groups, workshops, and editors, too.
–A woman writes a terrific book that gets published with a really good press, but is afraid to do anything to promote it, not wanting to appear too self-promoting or selfish or proud or whatever. Therefore, no one hears about her terrific book, while dozens of mediocre books are lauded far and wide. This is part of what motivates me to write book reviews, but really, if you have a great book, you have to do the work to get it some attention.
This is also a self-prescription. Go ahead, what are you afraid of, a little success?
–A publisher asks for someone’s book manuscript, which almost NEVER HAPPENS, and that person doesn’t send it because they’re worried “it’s not good enough…” For years. That’s not your decision, it’s the publisher’s. Books that do not get sent out are impossible to publish. If a publisher asks for your work, send the work without any questioning.
–Bright young writers who feel that their work, which has been praised by workshop leaders and friends alike, isn’t good enough to send out to publish, so they never send it. So it never gets published.
–Or, bright young writers send out a few individual poems, but don’t feel like their work deserves/is good enough/is well-organized enough fo a chapbook or full-length collection, so they never spend the time crafting a chapbook or full-length collection. It’s really hard to get a chapbook or book published if you never put one together. Plus, putting one together is an eye-opening journey into your own psyche – what are you protecting yourself from? Put the book together! Then send it out!
–Bright young writer gets a really specific and mean-spirited rejection, and stops writing because of it. Bright young writer gets mean workshop criticism, and stops writing because of it. Bright young writer thinks, what’ the point of publishing anyway, nobody reads poetry, what’s the point? And stops writing because of it. Writers who stop writing? Don’t magically find success. Writers who keep writing no matter what? Yes, you guessed it.

I hate to say this, but very few of the young men (literally, maybe only one or two) I’ve worked with have struggled with any of the above, regardless of the quality of their writing. Therefore, those guys have several books and a tenure-track teaching job now. Just think of that, ladies, and let it motivate you to not stand in the way of your own writing. Send it out, be proud, take the time to work on it and make it the best it can be but then for God’s sake send it out and when it gets published then promote it without feeling ashamed. Because I guarantee you the boys aren’t worrying about whether they seem selfish or whether some publisher will send them a mean note – they are sending out their work and thinking it is the best thing since the invention of the atom bomb. And guess what? That will make them successful a lot faster than if they were sitting fretting in their rooms about whether their work was even worth writing or not, or whether some group of writers or their teachers like them, or if their work deserves attention. So I prescribe a kind of exercise in reckless courage – write a poem you think everyone will hate and then send it out to the best journal you can think of. Write the book inside you, even if it scares you. The worst thing that might happen to you is not that bad, and the best is that you create some art that might even get noticed.

PS Please do not let this post be one more thing that makes you feel bad about yourself, either.

Notes on a visit to Pacific University’s MFA residency

Back from a trip down to Oregon to visit my MFA alma mater, Pacific University, to speak on a panel about “Life After the MFA.” I think the talk went well, and though I thought the audience would be 30-40 people, it was more like 150! My part of the talk included a lot of tips that I’ve been writing about here the last few weeks – but it was sort of overwhelming to try to sum up the last seven years of teaching, publishing, volunteering, and lately, working for the city of Redmond as Poet Laureate, plus tips I hoped would be useful to students about to graduate! Well, if you were there and have any questions, I’m here so shoot me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to answer them! I mean, I don’t have all the answers about life after the MFA – far from it – but I like discussing it!

I got to see a few old friends from my days in the program, catch up with almost all my former professors still working at the program, and meet a bunch of interesting, lively, intelligent students – some of whom I had e-mailed with or been Facebook or twitter friends but got to finally meet in person. During my visit I got to field questions about everything from how to find places to publish “geeky” poetry (I wrote a bit about speculative poetry markets in one of the Poet’s Markets from the last few years, in case you want to look it up) to how to put together a chapbook, how to deal with workshop criticism, how to volunteer for a literary magazine and how to plan for financial stability after graduation. I was impressed again with how much enthusiasm and energy everyone had.

Below, pics: a trio of redheaded poets (Mary Bond, Larissa Nash, and myself) – me with Joe Millar and Dorianne Laux – and posing with Twitter friend Killian Czuba…

And a final note to any of the young poets I have talked to recently – because I’ve been thinking about it ever since a young woman poet (not at Pacific) was telling me about crying all through her school semester because her advisor’s notes about her work were so rough: remember, the only person you need to please with your writing is really YOU. They (your workshop, your advisor, that guy who wrote that really mean rejection or review) are there for you, to use their advice to help you or to ignore as you choose, so are not worth your tears, not even one. Channel your inner cranky Margaret Atwood-poet-warrior-self. Curse if you want, but mostly, don’t worry about pleasing everyone. Remember so much of the writing life is getting back up after being smacked down, and going for the next round – it’s the only path to a sustainable life as an artist.

Life After the MFA and my poem “Elemental” up at Rattle

I’m on the road with a bad internet connection today but wanted to post two quick things!
My poem “Elemental” is up at Rattle today and you can hear me read it there. (PS This poem is up for a Rhysling Award, so if you’re part of the SFPA, vote 🙂
http://www.rattle.com/poetry/2013/06/elemental-by-jeannine-hall-gailey/

And I’ll be doing a talk tomorrow at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon on “Life After the MFA.” Wish me luck! And if you’re at the Pacific residency, come by and say hello!

Success as a Writer Part III: What You Have Control Over, and What You Can Do

I’ve been writing a lot lately about what defines success as a writer, as honestly and completely as I can, but I realized I might have left out a couple of really important things, chiefly, what can you, as a writer, do about it? In the end, it’s not really about fame or money or grants or fellowships or number of books sold, it’s about how you go about your daily life.
You can’t control critics, or mentors, or grant advising committees, or readers, sales numbers, or publishers…but you can control yourself and your own actions. So what are the activities that will make you, in your everyday life, a more successful (and probably happier) writer

1. Remember to keep writing. And try to write the best work you are capable of. Challenge yourself. And try some new things sometimes – whether it’s a new POV, a new subject, a new genre. The worst thing you can do is write a bunch of work, then end the “That’s it. I’ll just send out that work over and over, and waste a lot of energy worrying about it.” Or, after you, say publish a book, obsess about sales numbers and Amazon ranks and good/bad reviews. No, you start another book…or two. The best thing you can do for yourself and your career as a writer is “always be writing.” Even if you win the Pulitzer Prize, you won’t know if that’s the best work you were truly capable of. You have to keep writing.

2. Try to give something back, if it’s just listening to someone struggling with their first set of rejections, all the way to becoming a mentor to a younger writer. Teach something, because you’ll always be surprised at what you learn when you try to teach. Maybe help out with a local literary magazine, because you will gain crazy insights into the publishing world. Or work with high school kids or read to children at the library. Or start reviewing other people’s books, again, because you’ll gain a lot of insight about contemporary poetry – plus, you’ll realize you actually have strong opinions about different writers and styles that you might not ever have thought hard about if you weren’t reviewing a book for someone else.

3. Take a class in something you don’t know how to do yet. Try to paint, or program. If you’re not tremendously physical, try something outdoors that challenges you physically. It’s good to crash up against walls, to drive into mountains, to allow yourself to fail at new things. Go dancing. Listen to a new band your much younger/older friend recommends. If you’ve always killed your plants, try to garden. Cook. Research an obscure topic (I am currently researching CIA manipulation of the modern art scene in the 1950s. Why? Because I find it interesting!) I think all writers should have their hands in some weird other world all the time. If you become the world’s best classic-arcade-Galaga player, well, at least you’ll have something new to write about!

4. Build your own family, or, writers need to create their own small towns. The writing life, as I have written about it here, is challenging. Sometimes depressing. You’ll face a lot of negative messages. You need others of your own kind to connect with – and that can include not just writers, but musicians, visual artists, anyone who is out to create their own thing in this harsh world. Your spouse, best friend, and family may want to support you, but there’s a special thing that happens when like-minded creative types get together. You can gossip, learn about opportunities, give someone a boost when things get tough, let someone bring you brownies when you had a bad day. Here in the Northwest, the landscape is challenging and far-flung – some of my best writer friends live across mountains, or water…but we don’t let that stop us from getting together, even if it’s just online. You will someday need the support of others, so it’s best to start offering your support to others now. The good thing about being an adult is choosing your own company, your own ragtag band of misfits to go conquer the world with.