A ROW80 Blitz Update

Man, oh man, how could I neglect the very first check-in?!

Ok, so checking in a day late, what have I done? Well, my graphic novel script continues to lie dormant for some reason. I think it’s on summer vacation. I have however been communicating fairly regularly with my artist partner on the project, and he has been sketching and doing rough layouts for the first 25 pages that I sent him a while back. He’s currently drawing the prologue to the story and my current WIP is to script Act 1. I think my hesitation to work on the script is some sort of defense mechanism. Like, I want to see what he produces before I move on or something. I dunno, weird. But when these things happen, writer’s block, etc., I find it’s best to just let it play itself out. Not gonna force the issue, just let your creative mind wonder and go where it needs to.

On that note, I did write another poem. Here’s my take on my own poetry, I’m fascinated by how much I love to write it, realize that it’s mostly crap, and somehow find that hilariously entertaining. When they say that you should do things because you love doing them, regardless of quality, what others may think, etc., that’s what poetry is to me.

I realized a while back that my inner poet is apparently a 7th grade girl who cries a lot, haha. She’s cynical and naive, a bit narcissistic, and I can’t control her. She reminds me of Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter series, haha. And as a 39 year old man with a wife, kids, etc., it’s fun to let this side of me out and just say whatever, know what I mean?

I’ve tried to write poetry in different styles of voice and phrases, but when verses pop into my head they always have this childish or immature spin on them that take me back to when I was in high school, it’s fun. I’ve stopped fighting it and learned to just go with it. So, get in touch with your inner “whoever,” and give them an outlet, let them say something. Don’t wait a year for them to be realized in your novel, let them do something now, like write a poem.

One simple poetic form is the Blitz Poem. It’s a 50-line poem of short phrases where you basically repeat words from previous phrases as you make your way down the lines. You can read more about it at the Poetic Asides blog on Writer’s Digest. So give it a shot. Write it as a character from one of your stories or maybe you have an inner poet who has something to get off their chest. Either way, have fun with it. Here’s mine:

Mind without Link

Pollute the life
Pollute the mind
Mind your head
Mind your child
Child of God
Child of War
War of one
War for none
None so cold
None to share
Share the whole
Share the air
Air to breathe
Air on fire
Fire for warmth
Fire to fry
Fry the sides
Fry to a sear
Sear through the skin
Sear to the core
Core out the pit
Core from the flesh
Flesh from the game
Flesh out a plan
Plan out the hunt
Plan to win
Win to move on
Win at all cost
Cost is the same
Cost is too much
Much like the rest
Much as I want
Want without fear
Want to be free
Free to exist
Free in peace
Peace as a myth
Peace out of reach
Reach for the stars
Reach for your hand
Hand with loose grip
Hand letting go
Go for it all
Go up the chain
Chain to the wall
Chain with one link
Link back to me
Link that is missing
Missing
Me