By hook or by crook, I’ll create a chapbook

My dear blogging friend, Mike Allegra, made a particularly interesting comment after reading one of my blog posts. I had published a poem that day and he recommended that I get working on a chapbook. I was humbled by his comment and embarrassed that I had never heard of a chapbook. (Thank you to the kind people at Google for making me slightly more knowledgeable!)

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I rolled the thought around in my head for a while and then that thought, like all the other unrecorded ideas, escaped the confines of my brain. Much to my delight, the idea had not completely exited my cranium. The word chapbook popped up again on my radar and made me ponder the thought once again.

I began to go back through my previous posts to reacquaint myself with my poetic entries on this blog. I was actually surprised at how many poems I have published and I enjoyed reading some of the poems I had completely forgotten.

When I began my writing journey I was a slightly awkward sixth-grader who really knew nothing about stanzas or rhymes. Words just seemed to come from somewhere and I gravitated more to poetry than I did to storytelling. Thankfully I have since embraced both but there is always a draw to poetry when I feel the need to express more emotion.

Poetry allows me to tell tales of love and loss. It gives me permission to dream. It lets me hope that the world will be a better place. And it lets me believe in my desires. By clicking on those links, you’ll see how much I enjoy poetic expression.

I think a chapbook is just the project I need to begin 2016 on the right foot. Any thoughts or advice in the comments section would be very welcome.

Happy New Year to all and may 2016 bring you all the things you desire!

17 thoughts on “By hook or by crook, I’ll create a chapbook”

Are you going through self-publishing or traditional?

December 30, 2015 at 08:05 Polysyllabic Profundities says:

I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’m in the infancy stage. Any suggestions?

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- December 30, 2015 at 08:59 Carol J Forrester says:
  
  Well I self-published a collection a poetry a couple of years back and looking at it now I wished I’d gone down a more traditional route or made more use of editors. While some of the pieces still feel good to me I’ve found a lot of mistakes and had quite a few pointed out since publishing. Traditional publishing might be more tricky but you might end up with a better chapbook.
- December 30, 2015 at 09:40 Polysyllabic Profundities says:
  
  Thanks very much for the advice. I really appreciate it.
- December 30, 2015 at 09:42 Carol J Forrester says:
  
  You’re very welcome.

I’d never heard of a chapbook either, Susan. I think you should go for it. A new year is a great time to explore a new adventure.

December 30, 2015 at 12:42 Polysyllabic Profundities says:

Absolutely….I have some research to do, for sure, but I’m excited to see where it can lead. Happy New Year Jill. 🙂

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Wonderful idea! I am planning to submit to the Writers Digest PAD Chapbook Challenge–and then I want to work on another chapbook, with a plan to make it available in real paper. 🙂 I think it is fun/helpful to work with a theme or some other kind of frame for the collection. (I am thinking of collecting some of my “form-hacking” poems.) Keep us posted on your progress!

p.s. Here is a PDF chapbook I made last year, if you’re interested: https://gracefulpress.wordpress.com/castle-ruins/

December 30, 2015 at 13:13 Polysyllabic Profundities says:

Thank you…I will have a look. I just got an email for the WD Short Story Contest and I think I may have a go at that as well. Seems like 2016 will be the year of writing. Time to dust off the unfinished novel. 😉

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