Day #242: The First Day of NaNoWriMo AKA Josh Gives Really Good Writing Advice

 Be aware: all blog posts during the month of November are being added to my NaNoWriMo word count because, well, all words are good words. I don't think it will change the content of the blog all that much...as I have mentioned in the past I'm not "doing" NaNoWriMo in the traditional way (I have in the past, although I've never created a novel that got past a second draft...yet...) but I am trying to focus more on writing and being a writer.

Also, be aware that today's post is probably fodder for a future Instagram post...you know, it's one of those things where you have to reuse content as much as humanly possible. 

So this story goes, as I've said we were in Port Townsend last weekend to visit Fort Wordon and generally Not Be at Home for awhile and one of the things we did was pop into an antique store up there that Josh really likes (having yet to have met an antique store that Josh does NOT like.) Shockingly, the only person in the family who bought anything at the store that day was me, and shockingly it was a book. (I kid.) I found a 2016 autobiography of a former Poet Laureate for half off the cover price, so I picked that up.

I read an autobiography of a poet earlier this year, Richard Blanco's story of his life and of serving as President Obama's inaugural poet in 2012.

The tradition of an inaugural poet actually isn't a tradition because it doesn't always happen. In 1961, Robert Frost read for the Kennedy inauguration and then both President Clinton and President Obama had inaugural poets read for both of their inaugurations.

Blanco describes the process in his book, which is called "For All of Us, One Today," the title of his poem being "One Today." It involved being selected through a competitive process and then writing several poems, one of which was selected by the inaugural committee (and all of which appear in the book.) It's a short book and it was super interesting. I kept it to revisit again, in fact I have it sitting next to me right now by coincidence. In looking at it now, he was selected on December 12 (the timeline for inauguration planning is short,) and then had to compose three poems in three weeks, one of which was chosen as the one he would present. And, by the way, it's impressive company to be in. The other inaugural poets in history: Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, and Elizabeth Alexander. At least two of those names should be VERY familiar to even non poetry reading audiences. Blanco is an immigrant, a Latino, and openly gay, so he was a barrier breaking choice.

Anyway, I read that book clear back in April for poetry month and I was telling Josh as I picked up this new book that I think I like to read about poets (I am the person obsessively reading "About the Contributors" sections of poetry anthologies) because I want to be a poet and since that's never going to happen maybe I can live vicariously through you.

He just kind of looked at me...after 10 years of marriage he's very good at listening to me and smiling at the right times, what happens when chatterboxes marry the strong silent types...and then he asked...um...does someone give you permission to be a poet? Is there a license? Can't you just...do it?

I laughed at him, of course, but what he said was actually quite profound and has stayed with me this week. I think my imposter syndrome is way bigger than I thought it was. What does it mean to Be A Poet? I mean, no one is rushing to publish my poetry and I'm unlikely to be elected Poet Laureate of anything except my basement any time soon but who cares? Is that what defines being a poet?

I'm a librarian, so I looked it up, and here's what Merriam-Webster had to say:

Definition of "poet":

1. one who writes poetry: a maker of verses

2. one (such as a creative artist) of great imagination and expressive capabilities and special sensitivity to the medium.

Yup. I can do that. Check and check. I need to start calling myself a poet.

Really, the list of people who have "jobs" that involve them being a poet is REALLY short. There are a few university level professorships and by a few I mean a FEW, it not being a high money field. There are some poet in residence and poet laureate positions for various levels of government (state, city,) but no one, except *maybe* the U.S. Poet Laureate (and I mean maybe) does it without also having a day job. 

The things you look up, man. I just spent a little bit of time learning about the Poet Laureate position. The Poet Laureate is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and receives $35,000 per year plus a $5,000 travel stipend. So yeah. Day job required. The current poet laureate is Joy Harjo, whose poetry I am a little bit familiar with. She lives in Tulsa, and she has a fellowship there and several other positions. So that's what pay is like for the most lauded poet in the country.

It's not, then, something you do for the money, nor is it something you do for the fame. (Had you heard of Joy Harjo or Richard Blanco?) It's just something you...do. Which is okay. And if you do it...I guess you should call yourself a poet. So there it is. I'm coming out of the closet. I am a poet. I make up poems and I write them down. It's nice to know you. Maybe someday someone will publish them. I'll have to start submitting them first. Submitting is exhausting and frustrating and a whole other thing. It's kind of like what people say about acting, I think...that the process of auditioning is only tangentially related and the people who are the best at it may not be the best actors. I think for writers submitting and querying fall into that category. 

But I am a poet. I've been working my way through my poetry prompt book and I have the rough draft of one novel in verse from last year's NaNo and ideas on another that I'd like to start working on at some point but don't feel I have the brain capacity to do now. I love novels in verse. This all makes me sound like a poet, doesn't it?

I wasn't always someone who loved poetry. Perhaps during one of these NaNo inspired blog posts I should tell you the story of how I became a poetry nerd (spoiler alert: it was FOR SURE a fake it 'til you make it situation) but that's not this story. Because this story is about Josh being wise and giving great writing advice and today he did it again.

I was telling him that James and I need to get started on our picture book, which is another thing I'm working on and counting words for and I was telling him about this cobbled together NaNoWriMo I am doing. Josh is familiar with NaNo, having lived through all my previous attempts, both successful and...not so much. I told him I'm not sure what my goal is for this year, since I know I won't get to 50,000 words. He said...what if your goal was to enjoy it?

Be a poet and enjoy it. It may not sound like it, but that is....really good...and really sage advice.

Okay...this is a blog post like normal so let's do media consumption. Finishing Ally McBeal. I REALLY need some kind of binge TV distraction to get through election week but haven't come up with it yet. I've done a TON of reading...I finished all my reading goals last week including the 1956 Newbery winner Miracles on Maple Hill plus the Emily Dickinson collection plus I even added one more graphic novel, Class Act, the sequel to last year's (this year's? Newberys are like inaugurations, they happen in January so I never know which year to count them for) Newbery award winner New Kid by Jerry Craft. It was lovely. I'm scaling back on the reading for November so I can write more so right now I'm reading Household Stories, which is a Brothers Grimm translation from 1886, just dabbling with it and reading a couple of stories at a time. And then I started a middle grade novel called "The Campaign," which is either going to be a really good idea....or a really bad one.

Tiredness has set in. The extra hour has caught up to me. So today I'm grateful for writing, for poetry, for Josh, for James and having a break from James, for gorgeous weather and the chance to spend time outside, for visiting a FAVORITE childhood park with my kids today, for mountain views, and for my dad who we saw but he was having a bad health day. Those are always tough. For health. I'm grateful for every day of health every one of us has.