Now back to your regularly scheduled cuteness.
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Done with the poem-a-day thing for August and I'm coming away with a knowledge of some habits and of the fact that I think I have a manuscript and a half between 2007 and this new 2008 material.
My habits/observations--when I'm in a rut, I fall back to cataloging lines or lists. Nothing wrong with this, but I know I get tired of what's going on and there's only so far I can take said catalog.
When I get stuck, I quit on a poem or I cannibalize it into another poem. Just an observation.
Writing in such a deliberate way became a chore and at many points, I hated the process--a community helps at this point, so I'm grateful for the five other poets who were doing this with me.
I only cheated once, otherwise thirty of the thirty-one days were filled with new work.
Mostly, I learned how hard but doable it is to create new work with an infant in the house. The bottom line--you need to have someone to support you, so thank you Meredith! You're a saint. Really really really.