Sage Cohen's Tip A Day: Define Paradise x4 For Your Writing Life

Editor’s Note: Throughout the month of April, Reading Local and Portland poet Sage Cohen will celebrate National Poetry Month by featuring a new tip each day.

April 17: Define Paradise x 4 for your writing life

“Generally speaking, 25% of our intentions are realized. This means that if we plan for Paradise x 4, we’ll end up with Paradise!” – Dave Ellis, founder of Falling Awake

When you set clear expectations for your writing practice, you have a standard of accountability – and something to measure against over time. You can always change your goals if you find them unrealistic along the way. But everyone has to start somewhere. This week, I invite you to clarify the following:

• Decide how many poems you want to write per day/week/month/year – or how much time you intend to spend writing, and at what intervals.
• Choose a rhythm for sending out your poems (weekly; monthly; quarterly).
• Identify a budget for sending work to contests – this will inform how many contests you can participate in throughout the year. (Typical reading fee costs range from $10 to $25.)
• Set optimistic publication goals. (How many poems do you want to see in print this year?)

Sage Cohen is the author of WRITING THE LIFE POETIC: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writers Digest Books, 2009), THE PRODUCTIVE WRITER: Tips & Tools for Writing More, Stressing Less and Creating success (Writer’s Digest Books, forthcoming in 2010) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. Learn more at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com.

Image credit Poets.org.