Writing • Page 28

i feel like i’m writing every day. i’d prefer this over writer’s block any day tho.

fragments: wish you hell

 

-11/1-

I can’t make this anymore
The scales of effort are severely disproportioned
Fallen for you, still lying on the floor
Finding little comfort in this state, this contortion

Every bone has broken
Every promise spoken
Remains unfulfilled
Not just deceased, killed

I can’t fake this anymore
This smile, a republican border wall taking shape
Lacking the pillars of wisdom, four
Bucking under the force of a million breaking waves

This melting composure
Revealing my torture
Step into the light
Fading as the night

I can’t take this anymore
‘Twas an endless Halloween, today’s November first
Unidentifiable, reborn
A lifetime of lifelessness, now lifting this curse

Each scar is a bridge
Water floods beneath
Undoes every stitch
Submerging our cheeks
Coming up for air
These lungs ache for you
For me to be spared
Your fate, I can’t undo.


this was done within an hour of listening to random THRICE live and acoustic session on youtube. easily one of my better pieces.

before this rescue becomes a recovery

 

Woke up this morning to another publicist rejecting taking on my upcoming book as a project, despite it winning an award, despite being willing to pay for the publicist’s services. I usually try to post positive things in this thread but man it’s so tough pretending it doesn’t hurt when you pour your entire heart and soul into this work and it goes unnoticed or under-appreciated. No matter how much hustle you put into it, no matter how solid your output, it’s still so hard getting anyone to give a shit.

 

-Mascara Massacre-

 

hey friendo's. hope the writing is coming along. i haven't been too inspired lately, but i've been reading a shit ton. also promo and some prep for the upcoming novella, which i'm psyched about.

i was able to score a spot on this podcast, where i read two new poems, "Eyes the Color of Inside the Earth" (1:05) and "The Waiting Makes Me Curious" (2:25). they're from a recent chapbook i finished and have been submitting to contests and open calls. hopefully it finds a home soon. hope you guys dig these pieces.

personally can't stand my voice on record ha.

100Lit Season 2 Episode 2: 2 Poems ("Eyes The Color of Inside The Earth" & "The Waiting Makes Me Curious") Read by the author, Jonathan Koven by The 100Lit Podcast • A podcast on Anchor

also on youtube here at 0:32 and 1:52

 

work in progress: someone to believe in

 

-Who Killed Superman?-

 

eh, why not share my shit too

Ambrosia

 

damn that was good.

 

Thanks for reading and the kind words! It’s from an unpublished chapbook finished a few months ago that I’ve been submitting around, titled The Mystic Orchards. After all the writing I did this past year (for both fiction and poetry), it felt like my COVID poetry opus haha. Hope it finds a home soon

 

'it's my blood that makes this bouquet of roses so red
you might recognize this dinner by candlelight you're being fed
it's my severed head
slide it along whichever orifice you choose
you might not always get your way, but know i always lose
just tell me when you're through.'

random doodle on the drive home from work yesterday.
feel free to roam around here if you're interested in more:
before this rescue becomes a recovery

 

COVER REVEAL INCOMING

Classic move on my part revealing it on this website first, in a thread barely anyone visits. But I can't help myself and want you guys to see!

My first novel, Below Torrential Hill releases this December. A poetic coming-of-age tinged with magical realism, about a damaged family seeking absolution in their small suburban town. A winner of the Electric Eclectic Novella Prize and finalist for the Clay Reynolds Prize.

I poured my heart and eight years into this book. It would be a dream if some of you order a copy once it becomes available and read it (and you let me know what you think)!

 

Posting this again for those that need a reminder or a little push. THIS IS THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT TO TOHO JOURNAL (the journal I'm head fiction editor of). This issue's theme is "dreams and nightmares." $3 fee covers Submittable and printing costs. We want fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, and film. HELP ME PUBLISH YOU!

Toho Journal Submission Manager

 

-Weightless-

-Near Death Experience-

work in progress: sleeper

 

Okay, so Toho Journal submissions ACTUALLY close today 9/30 (after extending the deadline). We still need more NONFICTION, FICTION, and FILM submissions. Theme is dreams/nightmares; small $3 fee covers Submittable and printing fees. Send your work in now!

Toho Journal Submission Manager

 

i submitted one of my pieces. fingers crossed that it gets selected.

 

I hope so too, man. Thanks for submitting.

 

You ever read stuff you've written that you've worked really hard on and then sit back and realize that it's actually not that great?

And then you go to your bookshelf and flip through some of your favorite books to see how much better those writers are than you and wonder how the hell you'll ever get to that point, if at all

 

All the time. All the damn time. But you have to keep that fire going. It's the only way. The alternative would hurt too much.

 

work in progress: pushed away

 

I just read like, the third draft of a single chapter and all I could think when I was reading it and immediately after is "wow this is boring, who would care about this?" Lol

 

For what it’s worth, everyone gets imposter syndrome and it always feels that way. Of course the author themselves might think “who would want to read this?” …because, well, the author already knows what happens! The stakes aren’t as high for you, not being a reader.

Also, a third draft is not that deep into the process—or, at least, it isn’t for me. It usually takes MANY rounds of reading, rereading, revising until it feels right, and usually by then I’ve made myself sick of my own story.

I recommend getting some beta-readers. Maybe a fresh perspective to your work would help reel out the assurance and strategy you’re seeking to finish out.

It’s a long, hard road writing something that means something to you. If it matters to you, you won’t just churn it out and say “done.” If it matters to you, you have to push through this phase and get to the part where you feel confident again. And that takes a LOT of effort and attention-to-detail and open-mindedness.

 

This is what continues to stall my long form writing. I trip over myself, reread what I've written and realize it's no good, rewrite those sections, then stop and realize I'm where I began. Hang in there and keep pushing! Some pieces just take longer than others.

 

Thanks for this. Yeah I haven't even sent anything to anyone to be read but I've been thinking about it lately. Suppose that's the only way to get feedback, gotta have another set of eyes on it!

 

work in progress: cris