Lessons Learned While Writing Life in Poetry – Worthy Writers Advice Blog 馃尰
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Today, I’m sharing an important lesson I learned while working on my upcoming poetry collection, Life in Poetry. If you have questions about my writing experiences for future posts, click the HERE link below.
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馃尰Lesson Learned While Writing Life in Poetry
Writing a book, whether it’s a 100,000 word fantasy novel or a 150 page poetry book, takes a lot of work. It takes patience and attention to detail. If you rush too quickly into publication, you might make mistakes that could have been fixed before, if you weren’t pressuring yourself to move faster.
I recently caught a mistake as I reviewed the first complete draft of my poetry book because I took the time to double check some details!
馃挍 Reviewing the Illustrations
In my upcoming poetry book, Life in Poetry, all the categories have floral illustrations. Each flower represents what the poem category is. One of my categories is titled Animals & Pets. When I was first deciding which flower to choose for this, I went with a tiger lily – purely because it has TIGER in the name. I thought I was being so clever!
When it came to review the full draft of the book from my illustrator/formatter, I made the very smart choice to double check what each flower represented! When I searched what a Tiger Lily represented, my search didn’t come up with anything related to animals or pets. I paused, wondering if this flower was actually the best choice for this category.
Then, a crucial thought hit me! I typed into my search “are tiger lilies poisonous to pets?” Turns out the answer is YES! Tiger lilies are 100% NOT the best choice to represent a category of pet poems! AAAHHHH!
I did some digging, and it turns out that forget-me-nots represent remembrance, loyalty, and an unbreakable bond between pets and their owners.
Phew! Glad I found a replacement so quickly.
馃挅Creating the Solution
So, now I’m faced with another dilemma. I get to ask my illustrator to create a whole new flower! Stacy is the best, and of course she’ll help me with anything I ask (within reason), but there’s always a small level of guilt when I ask her for more work than anticipated. I should have been more prepared in the first place!
Even still, I reached out to Stacy and let her know about the poisonous tiger lilies and how they should be replaced with forget-me-nots. Of course, Stacy had no problem creating the new flower, however she posed a very valid question – Will we have to change the book cover?
Oh no! The cover has three beautiful orange tiger lilies on them!
After some thought (and panic) I remembered I read that tiger lilies can represent creative inspiration. Aha! We don’t have to get rid of these flowers after all, but simply move them to the Creative category. Hooray!
What flowers were in the creative category you ask? Snap Dragons. These flowers will no longer be featured in a main category of the book, but you will see them on the cover and in a special place inside the front matter
Crisis everted! No changes to the cover needed, and no threat to pets in my book!
馃尰Learning is a Lifelong Process
The main lesson I hope you take away from this story is DO YOUR RESEARCH! Take your time to be 100% sure that these are the elements you want included inside your book and throughout the illustrations.
Now, this begs the question, if I’m being thorough and not rushing to publication, how will I know when I’m ready to move forward?
Unfortunately, there is no-one-size-fits all answer to that question. I can offer guidance, though, on how to spot your feelings of readiness as you work on your book.
Ask yourself 2 questions:
Question 1: Have I answered all my questions?
Make a list of specific questions you need answered to complete your book. Is it about flowers? Careers? Fantastical creatures? Think about what you want to know about them and ask yourself if you’re satisfied with the amount of information you’ve collected.
Remember: there is an endless amount of knowledge you can obtain on every subject. It’s impossible to become an expert on everything, so focus on what key things make the most sense for YOUR book and creating the experience you want for your reader.
Question 2: Am I stressed about reaching my release date?
If the answer is yes, move the date! As a self-published author, this is easy, as all deadlines are self-imposed. If you’re working with a publishing house, for example, that may be tougher, but when you’re in that position you may have more resources to lean on to help you reach your deadlines.
Either way, working to avoid as much stress as possible is an important part of the creative process. Everything will get done in time. Take a deep breath, and don’t forget to rest.
馃挍 Remember: Perfect Isn’t Real
Another important thing to remember is that you can do everything right and do everything to the best of your ability, and something still might go wrong. Something might get missed or need to get changed later, even if you did review it in the earlier stages.
Mistakes get made, changes happen as new ideas light up your creative process. You’re human. That’s life. It’s not worth getting stressed about.
The creative process is long and meant to be enjoyed. That’s not to say that there won’t be challenges! I encourage you to face your challenges head on and make it feel like a new adventure.
Perfection isn’t real. Creation rarely turns out exactly how you pictured when your idea first came to mind. Some things are simply out of your control. Welcome that chaos and be open to the path ahead.
馃挅 Never forget that you are worthy.
Once the book is released, I’ll be doing a draw for 1 lucky reader to win a paperback copy of the book! Click the button below to learn more.
馃尰 Try This Week’s Writing Prompts
Thank you for reading today’s post! Check out this week’s journal prompts below.
Write down your answers in a notebook or talk them through on a voice note. When you’re done, share them with a friend, on social media, or keep them to yourself for personal reflection.
WRITING PROMPTS – Lessons Learned While Writing Life in Poetry:
- What’s your process for doing research for a book?
- How do you help yourself remove stress when you’re working on a project?
- What resources do you have to help you reach your goals as you’re working to publish? 聽
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