genealogy of a colony

Writing the Bones, Entry 3

I was all set to start publishing the next chapters in Goree Island Ghosts; was typing it out on actual WordPress when the muse came calling. Gotta go where it takes you so those chapters are now in editing mode.

Also, every single article screams at me YOU MUST PROMOTE! (Yes, they do scream because I can be very hardheaded and tend not to listen when it comes to putting myself out there.) But lately, I’ve been telling myself, you’re not exactly putting yourself out there, you’re putting your words out there. As an introvert, this is a compromise I can work with. After all, if folks don’t know about the words I write, how are they going to find out unless I tell them? So I’m working on editing some pieces not designed for Goree Island Ghost (as of now) and submitting them to online poetry publications. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, here’s a blast from the past: Genealogy of a Colony: Matrimonial Matters

Genealogy of a Colony, Author’s Reflection

In the Introduction to this series, I wrote about how I was fascinated by the Great Dismal Swamp. I didn’t include that I also desired to write a verse novel but I was intimidated for a variety of reasons: my limited poetic knowledge of the forms and techniques writers I admire (Derek Walcott) used for their verse novels/epics. Plus, my previous books length collections have been full of pieces that were created individually with no thought of the cohesion a novel type book requires.

But what I realized both on my own and after reading this article about Idea Debt. Simply put, Idea Debt is defined thus:

Idea Debt is when you spend too much time picturing what a project is going to be like, too much time thinking about how awesome it will be to have this thing done and in the world, too much time imagining how cool you will look, how in demand you’ll be, how much money you’ll make. And way too little time actually making the thing.

I’ve spent the past few years writing this in drips and drabs…and mentally engaging with it and its concept; to the point that I was allowing it to hold me back and stymie other writing projects in the works. After reading that article, I realized I was correct in publishing the pieces online so that they could move out of my creative space and thereby free it up.

I feel validated by the likes the series has gotten so far although some constructive comments would also be nice! So, thank you, reader for reading this and I hope you like where I take it (or it takes me!)