The Big Picture- The Way You Write

As I am gearing up (three days and counting) for NaNoWriMo I have realized that I have no set structure to my writing. I don’t sit in one spot like my desk or at my laptop desk to write. I don’t write at a certain time or for a given amount of time. It seems that I have forsaken all of the training that I received while working towards my MFA. In light of my late success during NaNoWriMo last year, I’ve decided that I have to re-think my newest writing routine (or lack thereof).

I have been reading many Writer Unboxed, Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers articles in preparation for next month along with Rachel Aaron’s “2k to 10k: Writing Better, Writing Faster and Writing More of What You Love” which is so amazing and informative. I was reminded of the importance of structure not just in writing but also in your writing routine. I plan to carve out time in my teaching schedule and my everyday life to be more committed to writing. I have my daily reminders on my dry erase board and I plan for this November to be more successful than last year’s. Regardless of vacation, grading or anything else I will be committed to exceeding my minimum daily count and hopefully crafting a great story. I’ve already started plotting! Plotting is something that I normally don’t do; at least not all the way through the story but I feel that it might help with this story.

If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo then I wish you Happy Writing!

Cleansing Breaths

I am a cleaner.
In times of stress, grief, or frustration
I clean;
and bake.
The scents of Pledge, Pine-Sol, chocolate and cinnamon
Are soothing to my frazzled
emotions.
As I inhale them
I instantly feel relaxed and able to think again.

Promise

I will carry pieces of you
with me always.
Your absence is my greatest sorrow.
These memories, the joy of my heart.

Holding Back the Words

I am spending my days wading through the words of others
while forced to hold back the barrage of my own.
This must be the agony Angelou meant
when she wrote, “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you”
Although I have known many stronger, more painful agonies
This one hurts because writing is my healing therapy.

Brownies 4 Breakfast (or President)

I love to love you
In all your
Rich dark decadent thickness
I love the way you fill me with to
the brim with chocolate
Your tastiness knows no bounds
You are the
Mmh mmh goodness of
my universe.

Mini Love

You melt on my tongue
In bursts and layers
It seems that the silver
sign of my
lifelong addiction
has a Pavlovian effect.
The sight setting off
A series of emotions;
all severely olfactory
and all profoundly real.
Your dark shell
always gives me a rush.
Your mint relaxing me and
transforming me into a kid again

In the Mirror

Sometimes I look in my face and all I see is her
Not in skin tone but in the glares, grimaces, smiles and stares
Found there.
In my face, I see her mother, father, brothers and sister.
I see my past and my future.
Who I want to be and who I was.
I see an entire lifetime of joy, love and pride.

The Gift Giver

Yesterday, I was just hit by the realization that
so many years later,
I am still in awe of her.
This woman
who’s buried babies, sisters and her husband.

This woman,
the mother of my mother
is awesome, amazing, inspiring, endearing and outspoken
I hold her near like a much loved treasure.

Shaken and Stirred

This morning,
I dreamt a dream
of words unspoken.
Woke up with a lighter heart,
a brighter smile and the feeling
that I would be alright.
In spite of the turmoil
that is currently shaking
up the snow globe
of my world.