Archives for April 2014

How to Become a Better Writer: Quit Writing

April 30, 2014 By Erin Beasley

Before you throw a tizzy fit, please listen: you are not going to become a better writer simply by continuing to write. It just isn’t going to happen. It’s like hoping you’re going to be chosen for the all-star basketball team even though your aim is all wrong and you refuse to listen to the coaches and other players who could help you improve your game. If you don’t listen to those people, it doesn’t matter how many times you shoot the basketball. You’re never going to make more than a few baskets.

The Germination Period

April 29, 2014 By Erin Beasley

Some words aren’t ready to be published once they’re set on the page. They’re half-cocked, half-baked, half-***ed. They need a bit more sun, a little water, and a lot of weeding before they’re ready to be shared with the world.

National Poem in Your Pocket Day

April 24, 2014 By Erin Beasley

Departure by Erin Feldman — “Departure,” by Erin Feldman, c. 2009.

A tweet is an incredibly appropriate size for a poem. – Not Dead Yet: How Technology is Saving Poetry

Poets seem almost inevitably drawn toward Twitter. The challenge of communicating something, anything, within 140 characters is irresistible. It’s a space that requires sparseness of language and clarity of thought. It is, in some ways, akin to the traditionally known haiku with its five-seven-five syllable scheme. It is a place with a strict form – how to manipulate the content to fit within it?

Mind Your Metaphors

April 23, 2014 By Erin Beasley

Metaphors have a great ability to convey complex ideas in a form that’s easier to understand. They even can enliven a potentially boring subject matter. They’re also easily abused and confused.

[Read more…] about Mind Your Metaphors

Conversing with Contemporaries

April 22, 2014 By Erin Beasley

I’d like to do a little more wrong. – Eva Hesse

An artist’s work can be attributed to a few things, three of them being training, personal inclination and experiences, and conversations with one’s contemporaries. Eva Hesse, a fine artist in the sixties, exemplifies all three traits. She studied art; she had a personal inclination to make art; her personal experiences and personality informed her art; and she conversed with her contemporaries.

Of Perfectionists and Making Mistakes

April 17, 2014 By Erin Beasley

If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. – Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”

Mistakes are good things. They’re also incredibly hard for the perfectionist to make. The perfectionist desires and loves control. She wants to know the outcomes before the outcomes arrive. She wants to tread safely.

Archives for April 2014

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