Revised: An Empty Love Letter

I just revised this poem. I revised it because after reading it with fresh eyes I realized that it needed something else, it needed a facelift, a poetic facelift. I am going to try and practice what I learned at The Martha's Vineyard Institute of CreativeWriting. I was fortunate enough to attend this program a…

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Writing Update

Five days until I head off to Martha's Vineyard for a week of creative writing. I am nervous and excited. I have never done anything like this but I know that it will be worth the experience. Lately, writing has been challenging and I am looking forward to breaking through this writer's block. I think…

Write—For Me

I set out to write a new collection of poetry and I am thinking about words more than I have in the past. The most difficult thing about writing is trying to find new words that mean the same thing while creating a different version of what I already wrote without repeating myself. Can you…

Releasing Writing Fears

I like writing but I am hesitant about sharing. Self-doubt, apprehension, and fear continuously rear their putrid heads over and over again.  The self-doubt and apprehension lead me to write. In part, I believe that this is an oxymoron because the fear and apprehension should make me run from the craft. The exploration of my…

Puerto Rico

I am writing today from within. I write from the roots of my being. I am an American, a Puerto Rican. I am the daughter of an island born on the mainland of a country in turmoil over identity. Today, I see inaction on behalf of other American citizens, on inhabitants of an island in…

Music Mondays: Changes

Change starts with you! Remember your history as a warning, learn from the lessons of the past. Changes start with people like us-it is up to us to make things all right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHgnOnI6uZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AV8lxGjdZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaGUr6wzyT8   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrY9eHkXTa4  

Dear Lady Liberty

Dear Lady Liberty, As you stand in the harbor watching over our nation, I imagine the tears falling down your face. I imagine your heart has been broken by the problems we have created. I imagine that as you are standing in the harbor you are watching how we systematically kill your children.  Today, you…

Music Mondays: Residente’s Rap

Residente is one of my favorite rappers. If you don't understand Spanish, then you may not understand my fascination with this artist, but regardless I am going to share. My children listen to everything I listen to because they are always with me. Usually, my oldest daughter does not like my music choices but when…

The Poet & Writer

I want to be a poet, so I say "I am a poet." I want to be a writer, so I say "I am a writer." I have these tales in my head I write them down. I have these poems I place in this dumping ground. They're rough draft versions that need much work.…

Let’s Share: What Stephen King Taught Me

K.D. Dowdall states: “I was a competent mimic.” Why does this particular line speak to me? Well, because it encomapsses everything that any artist needs in order to perfect their craft. The reason is because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For writers if you do not know how to imitate the style of those authors you love then you can’t write. You will not be able to take your reader on a journey and loose them within the creations of life you penned and you’ll loose them to the world in the first line.

I heard this at the writers conference critique, “The begining should be a promise to your reader.” That stuck with me, it is a powerful concept to think that as a writer I promise to guide my reader on a journey.

If you can’t keep that promise then how can you write?

 

 

 

Pen & Paper

Stephen King wrote a seminal work on fantasy fiction writing—a memoir of the craft on writing by the same name: Stephen King: A memoir of the Craft – On Writing.

When I decided to write fantasy fiction, instead of just dreaming about it, I decided the best place to start would be with Stephen King. Who better to learn from but a master fiction writer?  So, I purchased his book in the year 2005, read it several times, high-lighted tantalizing concepts, tabbed with sticky writable tabs until I had outlined the entire book.  I soon learned that reading about writing, tabbing every conceivable point of interest does not necessarily create a master fiction writer or even a mediocre fiction writer.

So, I stopped reading books on writing and just started reading books I loved: Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Edgar Allen Poe, Harry Potter, Hans Christian Anderson, and so many others.  I…

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