September 4, 2012

Good morning,

This issue of The Tuesday Writer addresses a strange motivational paradox, features a journal of both handwritten and typed poems, and offers a prompt inspired by Seamus Heaney.

Read on! And enjoy the first days of fall.

Elisabeth

PROCESS: NON-WRITING HOURS

This is reverse psychology at its best, and any new parent of child or dog can tell you how well it works. By having severe limitations set on your time, you see how fiercely the pent-up writing energy comes out when it is, finally, writing time.

This was one of the great revelations for me about being somebody’s mom. Instead of spending hours … days … wondering: “Should I write now? Or later? Or maybe tonight?” I now know exactly when my non-writing hours are. Whatever is left, I use.

Try this: For a week set non-writing hours, meaning “Hours during which you will not think about or try to do anything involved with writing.” See how delicious it feels to write, after or before that forbidden block.

FEATURED VENUE: LITTLE RED LEAVES

The editors of Little Red Leaves tell us that they are currently intrigued by totems, talismans, sincerity, slowness, unbecoming, and other intriguing things. This online poetry journal is collectively edited so that each issue shows the taste of a different editor. Send 4 poems max.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.littleredleaves.com/contact.html

PROMPT

“I drink to you, bitter and dependable…” (8min)