I am a Poet?

by Kendal Privette

My first book, Pinky Poo, Here to Save the Day, never reached beyond its target audience – my family and Mrs. Perkins, my first grade teacher. After all, what kind of platform does a seven-year-old have? Fast forward thirty-four years, and I have a closet full of notebooks and a flash drive twenty-three percent full of documents that I have never shared with anyone. How, then, do I consider myself a writer? And a poet?

I began writing in earnest in 2006 when a friend gave me a medium-sized red, spiral notebook for my birthday. Her card read, Write it. She meant my journey. Write it. I was in the midst of battling anorexia and felt utterly hopeless. I scrawled out hateful messages to myself, notes for the doctors, grocery lists, and questions for God. And a story was born. It’s first shape? A novel. A fairly heinous attempt, I have to admit. I stalled out in the narrative and struggled to shape realistic dialogue. But I finished it. A novel. Enter the Western Carolina Literary Festival of 2007. Enter Thomas Lux and Gloria Vando, and my poet’s heart was born. Finally a form that fit my need for brevity and weightiness.

I began publishing poetry pieces on my Facebook page under Notes, and met with mild success (success being defined in quantity of comments). I covered what was on my heart – anecdotes about the children, family memories, thoughts on faith. In the background, I began writing my story, Full, in the same format. I relied on journal entries and memories to compile sixty-one poems that captured the three-year battle.  I entered the blog world in 2010, writing mostly poetry about my daily life – struggles with ED, mentoring, faith, church, family. I publicize on my Facebook account and link up with several memes on a regular basis.

I always tell my middle school students that neither writing nor reading poetry has to be scary, and then we read Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout and song lyrics just in case they don’t believe me. Do you believe it? Go ahead. Give it a try. Pull out that spiral or open a new document and write your heart.

·         Think about your goal. Mine is to write a brief piece, packed with meaning that captures the reader and moves her to think, laugh or recognize a truth.

·       Write about something real from your life. It should be authentic.

·       Word placement is important when writing poetry. If I want a particular one to have emphasis, I usually put it alone on a line or at the end of line.

·       Don’t let the number of words trip you up. I write until my thoughts are complete, whether I end up with seven words or seven pages. And then I pare it down!

·       Throw away preconceived notions about rhyming and meter. Not necessary. Of course, if it’s sonnets you enjoy, go for it!!!

·       Throw away preconceived notions about capital letters and punctuation.  At this season in my life, they have a crowding effect on my pieces, so I don’t generally use them. (And I’m a language arts teacher!!!)

·       Don’t stress over a title. At least not in the beginning. Mine come to me last, after the piece has taken shape. Since poems have a lot of meaning packed into a few words, make the title essential to your meaning.

·       Finally, and this is a hard one for me, if readers don’t interpret your piece the way you interpret it, get over it.

And as you write. And as you read. Remember the words of Paul Valery, “A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” Write with passion. Read with grace!

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Kendal lives in northwestern North Carolina where she teaches middle school and is raising two boys. She and her husband have a heart for missions and travel when they can. She loves reading and running in her spare time. She has published one book, Full, and blogs {mostly poetry} at a spacious place.

Living the Write Life

by Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief

Jo Coudert wrote in her book Advice from a Failure, “It is not an easy world to live in. It is not an easy world to be decent in. It is not an easy world to understand oneself in nor to like oneself in. But it must be lived in, and in the living there is one person you absolutely have to be with.”

One wonders how many of us enjoy being with ourselves. It isn’t easy to stay true to yourself every day. At the end of the day, we may find we traded a piece of ourselves for things that weren’t important. By nightfall we realize we don’t like ourselves very much due to our actions that day. The thing is, you can’t get away from you. We find we are being pulled along in life.

Many of us don’t really live– we exist. Living takes effort, you have to get up each day and live that day to its fullest to work toward doing your best–less than that steals from you the joys, blessings and opportunities that were made just for you.

You Are Here

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director


If you’ve ever gone into an unfamiliar shopping mall trying to find a particular store, you know the feeling.  An endless maze of shops and kiosks clamor for your attention and you hardly know where to begin.  But before you can say “Where am I?” you spot the friendly sight of the mall directory and search for the reassuring red arrow that tells you “You are here.”

It’s only common sense that the directory is always parked near the entrance door, so shoppers have an opportunity to get their bearing right away.

By the same token, consider the opening shot in any film you’ve seen.  From the very beginning, the first thing you see tells you where you are.  It can be as obvious as an airport terminal or as subtle as a closeup on a bathroom faucet.  Before you learn anything about “who,” “what,” or “when”, the first thing your mind goes searching for is “where”.  Once we know where we are, we’re no longer geographically disoriented.

Reading a book, we have no such visual cue to establish our whereabouts.  Thoughtfully, the classics of literature provide readers with that information very early on.  Consider these opening lines from famous novels:

“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice…”

—Mario Puzo, The Godfather

“Renowned curator Jacque Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.”

                                                —Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“At the beginning of July, during a spell of exceptionally hot weather, towards evening, a certain young man came down on the street from the little room he rented…”

                                                —Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

“He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream…”

                                                —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal…”

                                                —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he stayed up all night, was seated at the breakfast table.”

                                                —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

(Sir Arthur liked getting who, what, when and where out of the way very quickly.)

This is not to suggest that the first sentence always has to declare “where”.  “Call me Ishmael” (Moby Dick) and “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (A Tale of Two Cities) had other business to get out of the way. But within moments you do discover your whereabouts.

When we’re coming up with our own scenarios, we are intimately attuned to our characters, their actions and their dialogue. We have vivid images of all that. The location, however, can often seem merely incidental to us; almost a nuisance to have to include. But the reader needs that comforting sense of place very early on, and of course anytime the scene changes. All those establishing shots in movies answer what would otherwise be a continually nagging question. We never have to even think about where we are. But we sure would if we hadn’t been shown already.

Admittedly, coming up with something interesting to write acknowledging each changing scene isn’t nearly as fun as describing the characters’ personalities or penning their clever patter. But your readers will appreciate that nod of consideration. They will be right there in the scene with you if you give them the mile markers that say “You are here”.

In the words of George Burns, “It’s good to be here. At my age it’s good to be anywhere.”

The Habit of Five

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

Jack Canfield in his book The Success Principles stated that he made a habit of doing five things each day to move his plan forward toward his goal. He used examples of doing five radio interviews, contracting five speaking engagements or reaching out to five editors of newspapers and magazines. No matter what the day would bring he would make the habit of five endeavors and stick with it.

Jack Canfield’s success is no secret to us. We know him for his Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Secret and The Law of Attraction as much as anything he has done. What many do not realize is that Jack studied under the great business leader W. Clement Stone and declares Stone as his mentor. His studies under Stone led him to write The Success Principles which are a collection of 64 principles of success and the stories that go with them. I found the five a day principle to be a great one.

So what five will you do today? Will you not only do it today but again tomorrow? In future days will you continue with another five? I know we may not have such high expectations as five radio interviews tomorrow but we do have something we can do that one day may lead to those interviews. Touch on five each and every day and see how far you can move your plan forward in a week, month or year. I believe you will be surprised. If you are let me know. I want to hear how you have done. Make it a habit that you will not want to break.

Speak to Me

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

It is safe here behind the computer screen. Its' invisible shield guards me from taking a bigger risk. I can edit at length and often and linger as I pen prose to shape the sands around me.

Does this echo in your heart? I'd like to challenge you to step away from the computer screen and take center stage. Writing is the benefactor of speaking.

Think Fast

I used to belabor every verb selection and cringe over each -ly or -ing word. I meandered on the path to publication. Somedays I spent hours composing a single blog post. The world behind the microphone has trained my mind to think fast and not turn every moment of prose into a museum of anti-progress.

Think Big

The patch of ground under your La-Z-Boy is malnourished. Super size your thinking by blending speaking with writing. When you speak, you write in real time. You interpret the expressions and reactions of your audience as the words flow out. You make adjustments. You fill the stage. Your thoughts expand with the size of your platform.

Think Clear

Do you work from an orderly outline or allow words to flow from your heart at their own pace? An effective speaker is one who knows where they are going next. One illustration or anecdote flows into the next and weaves a tapestry of a story told one sentence at a time.

The same is true of an article, essay or novel. Speaking practices your mind in the art of knowing what comes next. A clear path prevents wasted thinking time and redeems it as writing time. Your clear thoughts lead to a early completion.

Think speaking isn't for you? Start small. Volunteer to read during story time at your local library. Raise your hand to introduce the speaker at your next function. Then dare to take center stage and have your thinking and writing transformed through speaking.

Your fast, big, clear thoughts translate to extra articles accepted for publication and additional book sales. You might even make a few extra dollars in speaking fees to fund your writing. So come on...and speak to me.

Let's Get Real

by Carey Scott

Do you write with transparency and authenticity?

Do you give your reader an “insiders” view of your world?

Are you willing to be honest about your life…stumbles, fumbles and all?

You should be.

Why? Because when we are willing to be open about the struggles we face, it deeply encourages others. Something connects our hearts to the hearts of those who have overcome a difficult situation we are currently walking through. 

It gives us hope. And we all need a dose of that.

The late actor Christopher Reeve said, “Once you choose hope, anything's possible.” 

As writers, we have the opportunity to offer hope to the hurting by simply being…authentic.

When a writer decides to give the reader a peek inside their situation or circumstance, the result is a renewed hope things will indeed work out.

The reader’s strength is renewed.

How many times have you read, with endearment, an article about someone overcoming great obstacles that went on to live a life of contentment and purpose? We’re all drawn to those kinds of stories.

Not only did you find yourself rooting for their victory, you were able to see your situation in their story. And because they were able to stand through the storm, you were inspired to do the same.

Their life experience is powerful. And you know what? Your story is powerful, too.

It gives hope.

It encourages your readers to stand firm.

It proves that they can overcome. 

As writers, we can offer this to our readers. Our stories can give them the confidence freedom, restoration, change, forgiveness, etc. is possible. And when we openly share our lives with others, we become the poster-children for hope. 

So I wonder, what is your experience? What story in your life needs to be shared?

Have you overcome an addiction? Struggled with depression? Suffered the loss of a child? Faced a messy divorce? Survived a life of abuse? Beat the odds of an illness?

Friends, others need to hear your story.

When my family dealt with a difficult bully situation last year, I wrote a few very frank blogs about it. I shared details of what it looks like, the steps we took to rectify the situation, the emotional toll it took on all of us, and the results of our efforts.

The response I had was overwhelming.

I was awestruck by the number of people who were facing the same issue with one of their children. My heart broke hearing their stories. Countless people thanked me for my willingness to be real about what we were dealing with.

My authenticity gave others hope.

Yours will, too.

As a writer, are you looking to make an impact? Then purpose to write with honesty, transparency, candor and openness.

The world needs your words because they have the power to offer…hope. 
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An inspirational speaker and writer, Carey is honest about her life journey…stumbles, fumbles and all. Her goal is to challenge others to be real and authentic and she does this through her blog titled “Let’s Get Real”.  She’s a little in your face, always honest and relentless in prodding you to stop living a life of comfort and instead get on the battlefield.

Carey gets authentic with moms every Wednesday on Moms Together where she serves as a moderator and panelist. She also leads women through her position of speaker and writer for the LeadHer organization. You can connect with Carey online through Twitter and Facebook.  She is a happily married mom of two living in Colorado. 

Free to Good Home...

CONTEST: One of our SOUTHERN WRITERS has a contest for you. Enter the drawing of Jonna Turner author of Shiloh and the Cave.

Would you like a free copy of my latest novel, Shiloh and the Cave, or a free online copy of the September issue of Southern Writers Magazine--with tips, how-tos, and sound advice for budding authors as well as established authors? And, reviews of some of the latest Southern novel...s.

Here’s your chance to win! Just come up with a good Southern name for the female protagonist in my next Southern Mystery set in present day.

Tips: The character will be in her late twenties, beautiful, sassy, and Southern to the bone!

The top five names will be chosen (Use your own name if you’re adventurous!) and will appear as characters in my next mystery novel(s). The first-place winner will receive a copy of Shiloh and the Cave and a copy of Southern Writers Magazine. Four other names will be chosen. Winners will receive a copy of the September issue of Southern Writers Magazine.

Be creative and have fun! Post your entries on my Jonna Turner page. Winners will be chosen and notified on October 14th. Winners’ names will be posted on the Southern Writers Magazine’s Facebook page, my Jonna Turner page, and my website: www.jonnaturner.com. Have fun and good luck!

One Day Starts Today

by Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief

David J. Schwartz, PhD said, “The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that “progress is made one step at a time.”

We would all love to wake up this morning and be a successful bestselling, sought after author with people clamoring for our books, so much so the publisher can’t get them printed fast enough. Movie studios are knocking at our door with contracts.

The truth is that normally doesn’t happen to anyone…and if it should, there is a strong possibility that it will be just for that one book because they haven’t built their foundation. Long-term writing success requires a foundation and as Dr. Schwartz said, “foundations are built one brick at a time. Football games won a play at a time.” When you see someone hit it big, look close, you will see that person used the one-step at a time approach. One-step upon another until stardom was attained.

To become a bestselling author, many steps come into play. We have to write every day to finish our manuscript. Then we need to find an agent who will find the publisher or we need to find a self-publisher. Our work doesn’t stop there. Then comes the marketing phase of this foundation. Every day we have to make efforts to market our book. We have to Facebook, Twitter, and then we need to blog. There are many bricks needed to build our foundation. Remember in anything we undertake, to succeed we need to take one-step, one brick, and one day at a time.

When we have a project to work on, we should never look at the entire scope of the project, just the part that can be achieved that day. We have all heard the expression ‘One day at a time’. That is all we have. Take today; write what you can, market what you can; your one day starts today!

The Laugh Finder

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director

One of the greatest inventions of the 20^th century – or any century, in my opinion – was a piece of cardboard with a spinner dial and a bunch of stuff printed on it.  If you’re a creative person I think you’ll share my awe once I tell you about The Laugh Finder.

In younger years, my numerous pursuits included that of a correspondence course in cartooning.  When the big box of introductory materials arrived, it contained many books of lessons, an assortment of artist pencils, a posable wooden marionette and this curiosity:

(Thank you, Larry Rippee and Molly Rea, artists who made it possible to show this to you.)

The idea behind this gizmo is that it would help you create the idea for a cartoon. You’d spin it several times, and via an enormous list that corresponded to the numbers on the dial, you’d get your characters, props and basis of humor (situation).  Instant hilarity, right?

A typical session with The Laugh Finder might yield you these results:

“Vampire” … “Hearing aid” … “Weakness”.

What humorous cartoon could you come up with involving a vampire, a hearing aid and weakness? 

After some thought you might come up with something like this.  You see Dracula talking to an elderly Frankenstein who’s using an earhorn to hear.  Dracula says, “You think you’ve got problems?  How’d you like to have anemia and it’s not even yours?”

Let’s go for another spin.  “Old man” … “Waitress” …”Doing things the hard way”.

Hmm.  Okay, the cartoon shows an old couple eating at a restaurant table.  The old woman is chowing down while the man’s food is untouched.  Through puckered lips, he tells the waitress, “Yes, my food’s okay.  I’m just waiting for Maw to finish using the teeth.”

Groans aside (and, mind you, not every idea is as brilliant as those!), perhaps you can see the value of this concept.  The principle of taking disparate things and putting them together in a new framework (for humor or other purposes) has been a valuable tool that I continue to find useful almost every day.

Don’t know where to go with a character in your story?  You could pick a couple of words at random from a magazine or the dictionary.  “Inadequate” and “clean” are two I just found.  Maybe your protagonist isn’t a great housekeeper, a trait that can lend itself to some interesting and very human sidenotes in your tale.  Perhaps that earring they step on leads to a minor emergency room visit where they meet the doctor of their dreams.  Or a vampire with a hearing aid.

When we feel a little stuck creatively, we may not have Laugh Finders handy to spin and point us in a new direction, but if we think outside the box it’s very easy to come up with something unexpected we could add to the mix.  That could be all it takes to put a new spin on things. 

Market the Dream

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

Bruce Wilkinson in The Dream Giver told each of us we have been given a specific gift and a specific dream to fulfill. Wilkinson goes on to show us the challenges we must overcome on our journey to fulfillment. The Dream Giver was an eye opener for me. I read it from an advantage of having lived, struggled and achieved many of my dreams and could look back and see exactly what Bruce Wilkinson so accurately pointed out.

Writers are dreamers. They dream of a story to write, a career to follow and a glorious path to success. Very few of us dream of marketing our dream. Many of us feel uneasy with the thought of shamelessly taking our dream, which is such a personal thing, and exposing it to the world. We may experience the fear of rejection. This is common and I can assure you there will be rejection. It can stop many of us dead in our tracks.  You must overcome rejection and you can do so if you believe in your dream. My dear friend, author and speaker Byrd Baggett says, “Don’t quit before the blessing.”

When my writer's group needed an expert in rejection, I came to mind. I read agent’s rejection letters I had received. Having been in marketing for many years, you come to realize you can become callous to rejection. But you will find that rejection accompanied by constructive criticism is valuable. That was the route taken with the presentation. One agent had sent me a rejection letter then two days later he sent me a second letter. In it he said he had given some thought to my work and had referred me to an agent that would be interested. It turned out to be a valuable rejection indeed.

One of America's most gifted athletes, Steve “Pre” Prefontaine said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Give your best to writing and marketing. Believe in your dream and enjoy the journey. As you will find in The Dream Giver, achieving that dream is just the first step to many others.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159052201X?ie=UTF8&tag=southwritemag-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=159052201Xhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159052201X?ie=UTF8&tag=southwritemag-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=159052201Xhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159052201X?ie=UTF8&tag=southwritemag-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=159052201X

Perseverance: The Foundation for Writing Success

Today I welcome my friend and Southern Writers contributor, Londa Hayden to Foundation Friday. Please give her a friendly Southern welcome to Suite T.
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by Londa Hayden, Southern Writers Contributor

Do you remember the old saying, "When at first you don't succeed, try, try again?" It is the one adage that has followed me throughout my life. When I didn't get my manuscript accepted by one agent, I tried another, and another, until I got a yes. When my agent told me my manuscript needed work, I found an editor, took online writing classes, learned writing techniques, and worked hard to improve my writing skills.

At first, the task seemed daunting and I grew discouraged. I questioned my capabilities as a writer. Who was I to think I could write anything of such magnitude as a novel? Sure, I could crank out a devotional or two, but an entire novel? That's when I realized that the only thing stopping me was me. Many authors, who possess little to no formal training, have penned excellent novels.

Alex Haley is a fine example of someone who persevered through many obstacles and much rejection. Did you know he was not college educated? Yet, he won a Pulitzer prize for his historical novel, Roots. Did you know it took him ten years to research the book? Ten years in which he had little to no income? Rejection comes with the territory. The two things one must have in order to write with excellence is passion and tenacity. Keep writing and by all means keep submitting your work.

The Sound of My Own Voice

by Kelli Wommack

About a month ago, I wrote a blog post about my twelve-year-old daughter, Bekah, desiring to be homeschooled. She told me she felt like God wanted her to be different and that it was extremely difficult to live that out with all the pressure from other kids at school. She asked me if I would take at least a year of homeschooling to not only teach her academics, but also boldness.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I have faced a similar struggle with writing. I feel like God has gifted me to have a unique writing voice, but it is extremely difficult to maintain that voice with all the pressures of the writing world.

I started actively blogging July 4 of this year. Yes, I am a newbie. I had started a blog two years ago and posted three times. Within 6 months. Major commitment problem. So this time, I was dedicated to write at least twice a week. I honestly wasn’t sure about a theme or a niche, so I just began writing about what God was teaching me on a daily basis. For inspiration, I started following many different blogs and reading the posts of many different writers. The more I read, the more I struggled with what I should write. I saw other writers’ successes as incentives to write like them.

I want to write beautiful prose that drips with imagery and movement. The kind that leaps off the page and makes you want to sing the words.

Or maybe I will write like her... she is lighthearted and makes me laugh out loud.

His writing is packed with leadership strategies and attracts lots of readers. Perhaps I will follow suit.

She shares stories through many photos, but few words. And yet, I am powerfully moved. Wow, I wish I had that gift.

My need for inspiration spiraled into a need to conform. Yes, I was plagued with the same struggle as my tweenage daughter. I knew that God had given me a distinctive writing voice, but it seemed much easier and attractive to follow the way of others I admired. I prayed that God would teach me how to be BOLD and communicate the message only I could write.

So, how did I discover my unique writing voice?

1. I prayed for God to reveal the message and/or method specific to me.
2. I asked readers and friends what value I give in my writing.
3. I read my own words...past articles, journal entries, and blog posts. What was a topic on which I passionately and consistently wrote? Or was there a common thread throughout my writing?

After putting these steps into action, I realized that my writing identity is somewhat like a cheerleader.  I motivate people to see their potential and purpose in life using Scripture and personal life illustrations. I offer prayer, encouragement, and even advice regularly to readers fighting the battles of life and help them see the power and presence of God through it all.
 
No, I probably will not ever write beautiful prose, or use magnificent photos to tell a story. I don’t think being a leadership guru or a comedian is in the master plan, either. But that’s okay. The different, unique writing voice God has given me includes pompoms and a megaphone. And who knows, one day you might just see me on your sideline. I’d like that.
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Once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader! Kelli is a motivational speaker, writer, and blogger and loves seeing people reach their full potential in Christ. In her role as Serve Minister at Christ Community Church in Georgia, she has the awesome privilege of rallying others to find their unique place of ministry. Her favorite home team includes her loving, funny, yet quiet husband, and her two loving, funny, and not so quiet children. 

Connect with Kelli Online:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/KelliWommack.MinistryPage

Twitter - https://twitter.com/KelliWommack

Blog - http://www.kelliwommack.blogspot.com