Browning wrote, “Oh to be in England, now that April’s here.”  T.S. Eliot, less than a century later, penned: “April is the cruelest month.”  April is a fit month for a poetry issue because it holds all the promise of Spring and all the remembrance of Winter.  In honor of April’s poetic past, this month’s Paw Prints focuses on poetry.  We also have an uplifting article on handling rejection letters, and another feature by Ann Huguenin.
     It’s not too late to register for the OWFI conference in May.  Deadline is the 15th for early enrollment.  After that, it will cost you $20.00 more.
     This month’s issue was going to include an article on critiquing.  However, I’ve found an article that gives an in-depth discussion of critiquing.  Because it is long, I will make copies and hand them out at the meeting instead of taking up space in Paw Prints.  Deadline for May articles is May 4th.  Send them to kellimcb@chickasaw.com.

(Editor’s note:  The following article is a compilation of John Hewitt’s articles:“Poetry Writing Tips” and “Son of Poetry Tips.”)
    (These are my personal guidelines. I don't guarantee they will work for everybody, and even I will break the rules whenever I feel like it. There are even some contradictions. Take what you like and forget the rest.)
     1. A poem with Love in the title (Or Destiny, Hate, or other HUGE themes) already has two strikes against it. (And I like Love poems.)
     2. The bigger your point, the more important the details are.
 
 

     Poetry is the oldest form of western writing.  Born from the religious rituals of the ancient Greeks, Poetry became an important part of festivals and gatherings.  At first, it served a purely religious function - as psalms and prayers do today.  Soon, people were applying it to other celebrations.  Great deeds and legends were honored through poetry.  Bards like Homer would sing the stories accompanied by a lyre.  This evolved into drama when two or more people took on roles in the story.  Today, we have novels, short stories, articles, teleplays, opera, musical theatre...all descendants of poetry.
     Often, when people discover that I’m a poet, they ask me, “How do you do it?”  I’m sure they’re frustrated when I honestly answer, “I just do it.”  For some reason, many people think that writing poetry involves mysterious rituals, invocations to ancient Muses, and twice as much work as writing prose.  Now, I can only answer for myself, but writing poetry involves the same skills that writing prose does:  dedication, discipline, depth, determination, and development, to name a few.
     Curiously, though, many beginners and dabblers turn to poetry instead of prose.  Why?  Perhaps because poetry can be extremely short.  Finishing a poem can give one a sense of accomplishment; whereas, writing twenty pages of a novel still leaves one with at least 190 to go.  I also think that people have a misconception about what poetry is.  They think that anything that rhymes is poetry.
    NOT SO!!!  A more proper classification is Verse.  Poetry is verse; doggerel is verse.  Just being able to compose lines in a regular rhyme and meter does not make one a poet.  Poetry is more.  One writer said that poetry must be “significant.”  I would say that poetry, as opposed to other verse, is writing significantly about subjects.  The difference in the two definitions is one of perspective.  The young child who composes a nonsense verse about his puppy is writing something significant to him.  Is it poetry?  Perhaps.  The question lies in how does he express those emotions about the puppy?  Of course, poetry, like prose, is too complicated to define succinctly or completely.  There are as many types of poetry as colors in the rainbow.
     Here are some of my tips on poetry writing:

 1.  Everything you write in a poem should have meaning.  Every comma, article, verb, line break...should be placed there for a purpose.
 2.  Take out anything that isn’t necessary.
 3.  Experiment with poetic forms.  All the great poets have worked in the forms (sonnet, canzone, villanelle...).  Working in forms helps you master the craft of poetry.  It makes you a better wielder of the language.
 4.  Discover what kind of poetry you like to read and then read lots of it.  Practice re-writing one of your favorite poems - put it in your words.  Pin up copies of your favorite poems where you write.  I even have a picture of Lord Byron above my computer.  Anything to inspire or get you in the mood.
 5.  Edit ruthlessly, but never lose that first copy.  Poetry involves arranging and rearranging words on the page.  Sometimes, you need to go back to the first version and compare; so don’t lose your drafts.
 6.  Acquaint yourself with poetic vocabulary.  Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, synecdoche, and iambic pentameter are just a few terms.  A good literary handbook can be beneficial - especially if you want to write academic/literary poetry.  It isn’t necessary to know all these terms to write poetry, but it won’t hurt either.  Knowing the language of the craft will help you explore different avenues of poetry.

    Bantam Doubleday Dell has confirmed that it will cease publishing its LOVESWEPT imprint in December, 1998.

     Our April meeting will focus on the upcoming OWFI conference. Those who have never been are invited to present their questions to those of us who are 'old-timers'. I have to say, if you've never been to a conference, you are missing a wonderful experience. If you can't make it this year, start making plans to attend next year's conference. Even the conferences which don't offer speakers who interest you will offer much in the way of networking and encouragement.
     After our discussion of the conference, we will have a critique session. Please remember to bring no more than five pages or about 1200 words. Any more than that takes up too much time, and some one is bound to be neglected. That is one reason we offer the manuscript
exchange program, where you can bring your manuscript in a manila envelope with your name, title, genre, and any special concerns you may have about your work written on the front. You may give it to someone specific at the PAWS meeting, or you may ask if anyone would please critique it for you. We are all pleased to help each other. That is also why we try to have critique sessions separate from our meetings. Those sessions are not taken up by a business meeting, but are strictly for critiquing.
     I look forward to hearing your work at our meeting on Monday, April 20.

    Welcome to our new members:  Ann Huguenin, David and Alicia Hynson,  Patti Marshall, and Barbara Sjoberg.
     Linda Goodnight is having trouble with her Juno address.  For the time being, address any e-mail for her to gnight@brightok.net.
     Kelli McBride won the Confession Contest held during last month’s meeting for “I Was Wet From The Moment We Met.”
     Elaine Wells has been asked to report the news for her branch of  the Oklahoma Blood Institute to the company newsletter, The Grapevine. The reports will focus on the technical changes and advances at the branch, with employee tidbits thrown in.

ByLine Magazine May deadlines:
LIST ARTICLE - Deadline May 5, 1998. Ten tips for beginning writers; five ideas for kids' crafts, etc. Nonfiction based on a list of items with adequate introduction and closing. Limit 1,500 words. Entry fee $4. Prizes: $40, $25, $15.
"STORMY OR BLUE" POEM - Deadline May 15, 1998. A poem in any style strongly tied to the weather--storms, rain, blue skies, etc. Entry fee $3. Prizes: $30, $20, $10.
NEW-TALENT SHORT STORY - Deadline May 20, 1998. Open to any writer who never has won a cash prize in any Byline fiction category. Maximum 5,000 words. Entry fee $5. Prizes: $50, $30, $20, $10.
HUMOROUS POEM - Deadline May 30, 1998. Any length or style, the funnier the better. Entry fee $3. Prizes: $40, $25, $15.

L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest
Deadline: Annual -- Four Times a Year.  Deadlines: December 31, 1997, March 31, 1998, June 30, 1998 and September 30, 1998.   Contest is for science fiction or fantasy short stories under 10,000 words or novellas under 17,000 words. Must be a previously unpublished fiction writer.
Quarterly prizes of $1,000, $750, and $500. Annual Prize of $4,000.  For contest rules send a SASE to:  L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of The Future Contest  P.O. Box 1630  Los Angeles, CA 90078.  Some background information on the contest can be found on L. Ron Hubbard's website at: http://www.lronhubbard.org/eng/shaping/page110.htm.

Summerfield G. Roberts Award
Deadline: January 15, 1998. Annual Contest.  Open to published or unpublished creative writing on the Republic of Texas (1836-1846).   Award of $2,500.   For contest rules and guidelines send a SASE to:  Sons of the Republic of Texas  1717 8th St.  Bay City, TX 77414

     There are train songs, train novels, and train movies.  Trains transported Mark Twain to the gold fields; trains carried adventurers across the Orient.  They chug through metaphor and simile alike.  With their steely construction and 30,000 horsepower engines, they are equipped to withstand a writer’s affection and misuse.
     I am thinking in particular of 1993, when I lived near a busy railroad.  One midnight I was awakened buy the rumble of two or three Santa Fe road engines.  The house trembled.  I listened, enchanted, picturing the great orange engines pulling a mile-long train.  I let their rhythm lull me back to sleep.  Several hours later, while the sky was still black and the town still slept, another train rumbled by.  That time, when I awoke, it seemed to my dreamy consciousness that the first train had never ended, that it would go on forever.
     Back then I despaired of ever having the time to write.  Over the years, several teachers had advised me to keep a journal.  Desperate, I did just that, writing in it every night.  Sometimes I only wrote a paragraph.  Sometimes only a phrase or snippet was captured before I fell asleep.  But I soon discovered that writing in a journal kept my hope alive and discouragement at bay.
     Today I no longer live beside a busy railroad or get awakened by trains.  Sometimes, though, while I am playing with words, I hear the eerie whistle of that midnight Santa Fe.  Then I know it is, indeed, a train that will never end.  I’m glad it does not find me where it left me.  You see “journaling,” (as some call it), affirmed my thoughts and feelings and kept alive my desire to write.  I am fortunate, now, to have a little more time for writing.  No wonder it is with gratitude to those teachers that I often stoke my engine with ideas stored in those very journals.

     I don’t know in which book Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave his famous detective those words.  I heard them at the Norman Galaxy Writer’s critique group this month.  I quickly scribbled them into my notebook, happily aware that I had found this month’s quote.
     How often have you been driving home from work or school and noticed a house that you’d never seen before?  I’m always amazed at how much I don’t see on the routine paths I take in my life.  Yet, writing is about seeing.  As writers, we’re supposed to view life, people, nature, religion, world events, cosmic happenings...with more clarity and understanding that non-writers.  After all, our self-imposed task is to recreate life on the page.  How can we re-create what we don’t know?
     Unfortunately, we often stop at seeing, falling short of observing.  We only perceive the superficial layer, not taking the time to delve into the richness lying underneath.
     The American Heritage Dictionary defines “observe” and “see” as follows:

    Do you observe or do you merely see?  To be a better writer, we must all strive to observe.  When we do, our writing will become uniquely ours because no one can interpret the world exactly as another person can.

     To paraphrase an old saying, Rejection Happens.  Many writers, including the now famous, have experienced the joy of having an agent request their manuscript, and then have hopes dashed when their work was returned with a note scrawled across the top,"Thanks, but no thanks."

     Have you brought anyone to a meeting?  Have you even shared with your friends that you are a member of a writers’ club?  Word of mouth is the best advertising for  PAWS.  If we want to continue to grow, then we need to constantly looking for new members.  They aren’t hard to find.
     Patti Marshall and I were talking Monday in the hall at Seminole State about this month’s meeting.  A girl close by politely interrupted and asked us about the group.  She’d been to meeting in Shawnee and didn’t like it, but she was eager to find a club to meet with.  We invited her, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her.
     Patti and I are both members today because someone asked us to come.  So ask a friend, put up a flyer at work, take some extra copies of the newsletter or a PAWS bookmark to your office.  You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at the response you get.
     Speaking of working on it, how are those submissions going?  What?  You haven’t submitted anything in months?  That’s not the way to get published!  Of course, I can’t be too snooty because I have THREE finished confessions that I haven’t sent out yet.  I’m so busy writing others that I forget to actually print out the finished stories and proof them for submission.  Shame on me!  Let’s keep working on sending those stories and queries out.  After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.