Saturday, August 06, 2005
Quiet, But Busy
A day of not very much really, apart from some work that contributed to both by GDR and the
Festival e-book.
I wrote umpteen poems about the festival; some about last night and others about the festival in general that have been mulling around in my mind. I finished a notebook and started a brand new one while the flow was in spate.
When you haven't written a poem for a while, the mind rusts up very quickly to that form of writing. It takes sheer determination to get the joints turning and then shift them into gear, but when it comes, it can sometimes be a great experience. The first couple were crap but eventually I found the flow and the words and ideas came through in the end.
I'm very pleased with three or four of them. I want the book to capture the feel of the city during Festival time but also to catch a glimpse of the things that happen on the street that you might not notice at first glance. 'Second thought' type poems with a strong sense of humour and irony running through them. That's the idea anyway.
Still no pictures for the book - but plenty of ideas and time to get them in. Because colour pictures cost so much to get published, I'm thinking of publishing two versions of the book. The electronic format would contain pictures whereas the print version just the poems. The poems would have to be strong enough to stand on their own, however, but it's a consideration I have to think about.
Another option would be to publish a companion to the book, which I would create solely myself. This would contain the pictures and refer back to the book of poetry. We shall see.
Something else I am thinking of taking on myself is the production of business cards. With the Festival being in town I have a rare opportunity to market myself in a big way. Should I be asked about my writing in a bar or an event, I have nothing with which to hand over and so I reckon even if I was to print off the designs I have already put together, it would at least be something.
I also have newly printed leaflets for Hunting Jack, which I will take round with me when I go about with my camera. It shouldn't be too hard to leave a few lying about in some public places where someone might just pick one up and get interested in my work. Maybe not, but if I don't try I'll only be kicking myself by the end of it. It's a world famous festival and it's in my town - best to grab the bull by the horns instead of waiting for something to simply happen. With thousands of artists in Edinburgh doing the same thing during August, I wouldn't want to miss out on what could be a huge chance.
I couldn't resist another tweak at my Robert Louis Stevenson article before I put together a query for the website I am very hopeful will accept it. I sent the email off with a taster of the article and hopefully they will want to see all of it and publish it. I spent a lot of time and effort into the article, mostly because I enjoyed researching his life so much, but I also want to see this one published. It would be my first proper non-fiction publication if I can nab it.
Fingers crossed.
Festival e-book.
I wrote umpteen poems about the festival; some about last night and others about the festival in general that have been mulling around in my mind. I finished a notebook and started a brand new one while the flow was in spate.
When you haven't written a poem for a while, the mind rusts up very quickly to that form of writing. It takes sheer determination to get the joints turning and then shift them into gear, but when it comes, it can sometimes be a great experience. The first couple were crap but eventually I found the flow and the words and ideas came through in the end.
I'm very pleased with three or four of them. I want the book to capture the feel of the city during Festival time but also to catch a glimpse of the things that happen on the street that you might not notice at first glance. 'Second thought' type poems with a strong sense of humour and irony running through them. That's the idea anyway.
Still no pictures for the book - but plenty of ideas and time to get them in. Because colour pictures cost so much to get published, I'm thinking of publishing two versions of the book. The electronic format would contain pictures whereas the print version just the poems. The poems would have to be strong enough to stand on their own, however, but it's a consideration I have to think about.
Another option would be to publish a companion to the book, which I would create solely myself. This would contain the pictures and refer back to the book of poetry. We shall see.
Something else I am thinking of taking on myself is the production of business cards. With the Festival being in town I have a rare opportunity to market myself in a big way. Should I be asked about my writing in a bar or an event, I have nothing with which to hand over and so I reckon even if I was to print off the designs I have already put together, it would at least be something.
I also have newly printed leaflets for Hunting Jack, which I will take round with me when I go about with my camera. It shouldn't be too hard to leave a few lying about in some public places where someone might just pick one up and get interested in my work. Maybe not, but if I don't try I'll only be kicking myself by the end of it. It's a world famous festival and it's in my town - best to grab the bull by the horns instead of waiting for something to simply happen. With thousands of artists in Edinburgh doing the same thing during August, I wouldn't want to miss out on what could be a huge chance.
I couldn't resist another tweak at my Robert Louis Stevenson article before I put together a query for the website I am very hopeful will accept it. I sent the email off with a taster of the article and hopefully they will want to see all of it and publish it. I spent a lot of time and effort into the article, mostly because I enjoyed researching his life so much, but I also want to see this one published. It would be my first proper non-fiction publication if I can nab it.
Fingers crossed.
Colin 7:19 pm
1 Comments:
That all sounds exciting. Good luck with the Robert Louis Stevenson article - sounds interesting.
