Radio Silence - and the Lockdown Effect

Apologies for not keeping up this blog. So many things have got in the way, nothing too serious but just didn't get around to updating.

Last year, as mentioned, I completed an online poetry writing course. Grades were great and since then I've been subbing to magazines and competitions, so far without success. Set form, formal poetry has been a special interest - terza rimas, pantoums, sonnets and so on - but these rarely appear in lists or magazines. Successful poets seem currently to be writing lovely but rather ethereal poetry, so I'm wondering if I need to be more like that. 

Recently submitted to a single-poem comp and also one for poetry pamphlets - around twenty poems. Waiting and hoping.

Currently I'm studying with an online Art Appreciation course. Not strictly a writing-related thing, but I try to get all the main points in my assignments while giving them a literary sort of style. Really enjoyable but very time-consuming. I've a very long history of published articles and some short stories and flash fiction, but the tutor doesn't know that. He commented, 'Well you can certainly write'! Seven assignments in and marks average 9/10. Find myself watching loads of art programmes on TV and realise I have been watching them keenly for years. 

On the subject of our current lockdown, I have been noticing on social media that many of the writers I follow are struggling with moving their projects forward. It has taken them by surprise, as although most work from home and are used to being solitary, the atmosphere isn't now conducive to concentration. I've recently written a short piece on why this is, and how to manage it, and I believe it will be published online sometime soon. People report that it's more difficult to work with family members buzzing around, and concentration is difficult with all the awful media information pouring in. I'll write more on this soon, in case it might be helpful. In the meantime, the parting greeting 'Take care' has been replaced by 'Stay safe'.