Setting the Sights

 Today is a celebration – 3 years of this blog, I spotted the WP Trophy icon on the site! I went for a wander around the data and was happy to see the growth in traffic, visitors and followers year on year. This wander down memory lane landed me in the New Year posts from 2015. After I read them and recalled how I felt this time last year in my writing skin, I decided to write this post.

Last year in this post Truth & Rainbows I wrote about goals/resolutions and I know I have said this year is all about my house (which it is), I still have a growing poetry/writing skin to fill. This blog was primarily started to keep tabs on my writing life. It has become so much more than that to me and hopefully to you, but from time to time I want to take it back to the original detail. This is me, starting a new life, I am a writer. (2013)

I have often said that what the world sees is the tip of the iceberg and actually they never see the part under the surface. We all know too well those internet lists of incredibly successful people who started with a series of failures, some lasting decades. I always wanted to mix the downs and ups, tell you about rejections and so on, equally I want to mark the successes.

So I have lifted this list from the review post Truth & Rainbows. It isn’t just about blowing my own trumpet, it’s to get you to think about yours and realise that if you keep on, you will get there.

Reviewing Resolutions 2015 – Reflecting on 2014

ARCHIVED NEW YEAR / GOAL SETTING LINKS

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/new-year-new-you-writing-resolutions/

It seems last year I did make resolutions, the best thing about this post  ^ is knowing the results 12 months later;

Here are my resolutions –

I am working towards a collection of poems for a pamphlet. I sent 2 manuscripts, both were rejected but one showed promise and I continue to make this my personal project of 2015. The process has opened up a whole new world. I had the wardrobe, now I have to find my way around Narnia!

I am starting work as an Assistant Writer with hope of having a position as a Lead Writer in 2015. I am coming up to 12 months as an Assistant Writer for WWM and have also been 1 of 3 writers picked as mentors for a term.

I am going to have a big presence on the Performance Circuit in the hope of being booked for guest spots by the end of the year. I managed 107 events, some were open mics, other were gallery openings, art projects, festivals, commissions, collaborations, everyone of them was a delight! I performed alongside many amazing people and have just had my 2nd Headline/ Main guest booking!

I will submit poetry for publication. I did! Some was published, others rejected, all were new writing fresh from my pen.

I will write some short stories for competitions. I did, I have shelved this as I was not particularly successful in this field although I corresponded with some incredible people and had a few close misses. However, posts I wrote back in 2013 about writing short stories are still top of the stats several years later.

2016 – Reflecting on 2015

I am working towards a collection of poems for a pamphlet. In August 2014 I submitted a manuscript and in January 2015 this was accepted for publication. It has been a long, hard year and somewhat disappointingly my work is not yet out in print. I am in the final editing stages and have learnt a lot from this process. I know that the final pamphlet will be stronger for the additional work that has gone into it and will mean so much when I finally get to hold a copy!

As I didn’t enter the poetry world until October 2013 I mark this acceptance almost within the first year of writing, 14 months after starting my poetry was accepted. Even if it will take a while longer to be read.

I am starting work as an Assistant Writer with hope of having a position as a Lead Writer in 2015. I was given the Lead Writer position in September 2015. I happily continue and have just planned our first session for 2016. There is also a new project I am hoping to be involved with for our groups this year.

I am going to have a big presence on the Performance Circuit in the hope of being booked for guest spots by the end of the year. In my first year I performed poetry at over 107 events, some were poetry festivals and commissioned events and collaborations. My biggest achievement was a poetry commission to write and perform at Birmingham Literature Festival 2014. In 2015 my headline slots started at the beginning of January and I was booked throughout the year at various venues. I hope to keep this up and of course having a book to sell will help!  

I think I performed at about 92 events in 2015 (not much of a back seat was taken), including book launches in London, Poetry Festivals (a wider net was cast), commissioned performances and a finalist in Worcestershire Poet Laureate competition (3rd Place), my first ever Poetry Brothel Experience with Caged Arts and 5 other selected poets, I was also part of the Quiet Compere Tour 2015, Worcester – Stop 6, which was booked way back in April 2014 and had to be kept a secret!

I also completed some Poetry on Loan training and organised the best INKSPILL yet, our annual online writing retreat, this year marked 3 INKSPILL retreats and next year plans are afoot for some expansion.

I will submit poetry for publication. I did! Some was published, others rejected, all were new writing fresh from my pen. I got into publications that were on my ‘dream list’ too.

We have to put up with so much rejection in this field that I think it is essential for some positive reflection.

So have a think about your own writing desires, how far have you come? How close are you? What will be your next step?

© Copyright 2011 Leo Norrie

INKSPILL – Good Morning Come and Watch

Good morning – hope you are all looking forward to your 2nd day on retreat. Later on today we have posts from our Guest Writers Charlie Jordan and Heather Wastie. For now though – let’s greet the day gently and get your pens and everything ready!

This video has been compiled by miniscule film clips and is great! *Language Warning*

 

A Day of Writing, Submitting & Success

Today is my first full writing day after the long Easter weekend.  Last week – the first week in my writing skin, Mr G. took some half days and we celebrated the glorious weather together sitting in the garden and planting some more tubs up. Towards the end of the week I was performing at events and then came the Easter Weekend which ended with a marathon jungle/allotment expedition to get the next lot of crops in. All this activity resulted in a lack of writing.

I miraculously managed an early start today and was working away on To DO List tasks before 9a.m! My first mission this morning was to track back through my writing diary and drag up any websites I have neglected to take a look at. I had to make sure social media was OFF so I could get on with catching up with NaNoWriMo and NaPoWriMo challenges.

I also wanted to write and submit some farm poems to be displayed along the fence at Acton Scott Farm, Jean Atkin has recently taken up Poet in Residence there. A role she seems to be really enjoying.

I am also trying to arrange some collaborative performances (it was so fun the first time) – for events booked in May as well as editing a few poems for a friend.

This morning I have found a new collaborative art performance opportunity for November in Walsall (UK) and I have received news from Jean Atkin that she has accepted the poem about the pig I sent this morning for the Poetry Fence at Acton Scott Farm. I saw her post on social media yesterday showing a cute half and half hybrid pig. Jean links the fence poetry on her blog so I will post a link for you all soon.

I have also been looking at the Wenlock Poetry Festival site and trying to organise myself for next weekend. My poem is one of the ‘croft originals’ mentioned, displayed in Croft Design and published on the website.

Wenlock Poetry Trail

A Useful Article on Mentally Strong People (Shared Wisdom)

This evening I was surfing through Social Networks when I came across this article on Forbes website and it got me thinking.

 

2013 has been a real year of improvement

in health

in mental strength

in work

in writing

in life

It is the first time I have felt alive in about a decade and the difference? I am the driving force – this is my life and it is the only one I am getting and I have wasted enough of it already – and how have I wasted it? Well reading the list it all made sense. So here is a little expose in the hope that you don’t fall down the same rabbit holes and if you do at least you may be aware of it and how you can gain the strength and control back!

As with many people, I have experienced a year when my life took a 360 turn and I found it difficult to recover. These are the mistakes I made (and they are all things that MENTALLY STRONG PEOPLE wouldn’t do!);

1.    Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves.

2. Give Away Their Power.

3.    Shy Away from Change.

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control.

5. Worry About Pleasing Others.

6. Fear Taking Calculated Risks.

7. Dwell on the Past.

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over.

9. Resent Other People’s Success.

10. Give Up After Failure.

11. Fear Alone Time.

12. Feel the World Owes Them Anything.

13. Expect Immediate Results.

© 2013 Forbes.com LLC™ List by Amy Morin, a psychotherapist

Cheryl Snapp Conner is a frequent speaker and author on reputation and thought leadership.

Many of these things happen subconsciously but you need to be aware of them to change them. I became aware of how much damage I was doing to myself through these mental attitudes, eventually (after many years). Also things I’d considered to be barriers keeping me from happiness, really weren’t. Other factors that I hadn’t focused on were a problem and did cause difficulties.

 There was a lot of rubbish things happening and my head was swimming in rubbish too!

(My photo of a bin!)

Everything which made me sad was to do with a life that was past and incorrect employment decisions. None of my unhappiness has come from my life with Mr G – which is the polar opposite!

1.    Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves.

EVERYDAY for years, I felt really sorry for myself for the cards life had played me and what my world had become. I blamed everyone else.

2. Give Away Their Power.

I stayed in an unhappy situation for 8 years, I fought against being pushed and victimised. I felt powerless, in the end I decided just to pretend I didn’t care because it never got any better. I tried to escape for 7 years.

3.    Shy Away from Change.

I hated change, fear it – knew it was guaranteed but hated it all the same. And refused to see the changes I needed to make for myself – in many aspects of my life.

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control.

EVERYDAY.

5. Worry About Pleasing Others.

Not consciously – not ‘pleasing’ but giving 110 % when less than 20% was deserved and 70% would have done. It made me very ill. I worried about what others thought, all the time.

6. Fear Taking Calculated Risks.

DEFINITELY – this plan to jump executed this year was in planning and development stages for 4 -7 years!

7. Dwell on the Past.

DEFINITELY – it owned me, controlled my future – owned my present and completely destroyed my life.

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over.

See above – and because I changed nothing – nothing changed!

9. Resent Other People’s Success.

DEFINITELY – and this is one of the biggest areas of change (and again a lot of this has been subconscious action) I couldn’t stand other people’s happy news, let alone success. Now I take part in celebrating it!

10. Give Up After Failure.

I NEVER GAVE UP – THIS IS WHY I AM STILL HERE!

11. Fear Alone Time.

I DIDN’T FEAR BEING ALONE – I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED IT AS MUCH AS CROWDS.

12. Feel the World Owes Them Anything.

I felt hard done by and expected the change and turn around to happen whilst I sat idly passive and disassociated!

13. Expect Immediate Results.

DEFINITELY and that was without taking any action! And when nothing changed I would crumple a little more and another bit of me would disappear.

10/12 – Weaker minded people don’t usually obtain almost a whole list – even failing has to be done at 83%

This list is something to bear in mind! Something to aim at – without being aware of the list – I have turned around a lot of my ways of thinking and am living a more positive life.

1.    I am happy with the life I lead – I have no reason to feel sorry for myself, I have discovered what makes me happy and I focus on the positive, things will go wrong, that’s life – but they will not be anywhere near as bad as what I have already experienced, and I have survived that!

2. Give Away Their Power – I own myself – including now in my work life – those I have to answer to think highly of me and so they should!

3.    Shy Away from Change – I don’t. Change is a constant and guaranteed. I embrace it. 

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control. – No point if it is out of my control then I am powerless to it and needn’t take action.

5. Worry About Pleasing Others – I do – by being myself.

6. Fear Taking Calculated Risks – I gave up my job and bought a house at the same time…. what do you mean calculated?!

7. Dwell on the Past- it is there, in the past. Move on. Walk forward.

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over. – Never more than twice at the most.

9. Resent Other People’s Success. – Nope, I celebrate it. One day – it will be me that has the news of success and I would want a party of people who were genuinely pleased for me!

10. Give Up After Failure. – Pick yourself up and carry on. Failure is a working success… a step to the road of triumph. 

11. Fear Alone Time.

12. Feel the World Owes Them Anything.

13. Expect Immediate Results. – I have given myself 4 Olympics – just like the Gold Medal finalists of the summer of 2012. I have one & 1/2 decades left!