Comments on: Zoo Visit, Poetry Readings, PR for Poets in the News and Submission Fatigue

By: Poetry Blog Digest 2019: Week 10 – Via Negativa

Poetry Blog Digest 2019: Week 10 – Via Negativa — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 03:35:58 +0000

[…] Jeannine Hall Gailey, Zoo Visit, Poetry Readings, PR for Poets in the News and Submission Fatigue […]

By: Jeannine Gailey

Jeannine Gailey — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 15:58:51 +0000

Thank you Lesley and Lissa! Yes, I’ve taken a day or two off and was thinking about why I was feeling this subconscious aversion. I think there are so many “important” book deadlines early in the year that I may have gotten a big slug of rejections exactly when I needed to be sending out, which can be a bit of a downer. I’m taking off a few days and that seems to be helpful, too. Did I mention I’ve also been sick? So that affects my energy and enthusiasm, too, I think.
Anyway, yes, it’s a topic I wish I heard more writers talking about and more writers talk about antidotes to it…

By: Lissa Clouser

Lissa Clouser — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 22:22:22 +0000

I wish I knew how to combat submission fatigue. Submitting feels so overwhelming for me. I’m not (too) afraid of rejection, but the looking for journals, researching them, and putting together packets wipes me out mentally.

If you need to take a break, it’s okay to do so. I’m taking an extended break for my own mental sake. I’m trying to focus on writing this year and will try again in 2020 to pick myself up with the submitting game again. But even if you just need to take a week where you don’t look at your spreadsheet and don’t do any research or reading of journals, that’s okay! If it gives you the pick-me-up you need it’s more than worth it.

I’ll be watching to see if anyone else has suggestions for submission fatigue. It’s a topic I think we could all use some help with!

By: Lesley Wheeler

Lesley Wheeler — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 22:07:28 +0000

Submission fatigue: I absolutely get that, too. Sometimes I force myself to send anyway, especially if a deadline is near/ important, or I suspect I’m just down about work that’s really strong. But periods of hibernation, of avoiding judgment, feel artistically necessary, too. And sometimes it’s a signal that something isn’t quite right about the work yet, that I’m too tired or close to it still–and then I sleep on it for a day, or take a break for a week or two, reading someone else’s really good work to remind myself what I love and want to achieve. More than once, I’ve woken up with new clarity, or it all clicks a few days later in the shower! (Read, sleep: almost always the answer.)