Fida Islaih's Blog, page 11
May 23, 2017
How To Poetry Chat
Hello Poetteers,
I started #PoetteerChat because I barely saw any twitter chats about poetry. That is starting to change.
How to participate
Chats are time specific, so be timely. Use hashtag specific to chat, so that everyone participating can see what you have to say. Questions are presented as Q1, Q2, etc. Answer them by using A1, A2, etc. Engage with other participants. Invite those who may be interested. Suggest topics for future chats.
How to host
Choose a day and time. Choose theme or topic. It can be a one-time thing. If re-occurring, make it weekly or monthly. Create a Twitter list for those who participate and want reminders.Batch create questions to go with a specific topic. Do it ahead of time. 5 to 6 questions are the average amount for an hour long chat. Make graphics to go with reminders and questions.
Examples of what to chat about
Poetry Writing Sessions Book clubBring guests Different topics of chosen themeCelebrate writing or book anniversary
Stay inspired,
Fida
Download How To Poetry Chat PDF.
I started #PoetteerChat because I barely saw any twitter chats about poetry. That is starting to change.
How to participate
Chats are time specific, so be timely. Use hashtag specific to chat, so that everyone participating can see what you have to say. Questions are presented as Q1, Q2, etc. Answer them by using A1, A2, etc. Engage with other participants. Invite those who may be interested. Suggest topics for future chats.
How to host
Choose a day and time. Choose theme or topic. It can be a one-time thing. If re-occurring, make it weekly or monthly. Create a Twitter list for those who participate and want reminders.Batch create questions to go with a specific topic. Do it ahead of time. 5 to 6 questions are the average amount for an hour long chat. Make graphics to go with reminders and questions.
Examples of what to chat about
Poetry Writing Sessions Book clubBring guests Different topics of chosen themeCelebrate writing or book anniversary
Stay inspired,
Fida
Download How To Poetry Chat PDF.
May 18, 2017
100 Day Project Reflection
Hello Poetteers,
I was running on the excitement of a new idea and working on something new. But then it wore off and I fell behind. I kept going and at one point I thought I didn't love this idea anymore. I wanted to quit. I told myself no. I still love this idea. I just need a little more wiggle room. So I changed up some things.
When I started the project I limited myself to one book but then I let myself use any of my books. As you saw I tried to keep organized by going in order of the book. I switched to doing what calls to me. Drawing the Muslim girls was my favorite part. It felt like I needed to do a new piece every day but I let myself redraw something if I felt the need to do so.
I fell behind for a few days and caught up. But I fell behind for a week and caught back up. But then I fell behind again. I saw some people use the progress pictures as part of the project. I decided to try it out and it helped me catch up.
Maybe the structure of the project isn't for me or the idea I chose is not for me or it simply isn't a priority for me.
My word of the year is strength. There is strength in keeping going but there is also strength in realizing what bogs you down vs what lights you up. I'm glad I tried this. I'll be drawing a final piece and saying bye to this project. Thank you for following along on this short experimental journey.
Day 33. This is my last piece for #the100dayproject.
From my poem, Knock, in my book, Hugs & Kisses.
Do you ever change up or quit your project after you start?
I was running on the excitement of a new idea and working on something new. But then it wore off and I fell behind. I kept going and at one point I thought I didn't love this idea anymore. I wanted to quit. I told myself no. I still love this idea. I just need a little more wiggle room. So I changed up some things.
When I started the project I limited myself to one book but then I let myself use any of my books. As you saw I tried to keep organized by going in order of the book. I switched to doing what calls to me. Drawing the Muslim girls was my favorite part. It felt like I needed to do a new piece every day but I let myself redraw something if I felt the need to do so.
I fell behind for a few days and caught up. But I fell behind for a week and caught back up. But then I fell behind again. I saw some people use the progress pictures as part of the project. I decided to try it out and it helped me catch up.
Maybe the structure of the project isn't for me or the idea I chose is not for me or it simply isn't a priority for me.
My word of the year is strength. There is strength in keeping going but there is also strength in realizing what bogs you down vs what lights you up. I'm glad I tried this. I'll be drawing a final piece and saying bye to this project. Thank you for following along on this short experimental journey.
Day 33. This is my last piece for #the100dayproject. From my poem, Knock, in my book, Hugs & Kisses.
Do you ever change up or quit your project after you start?
May 16, 2017
Bring Positivity to the World
Hello Poetteers,
In the beginning of the month, there was an imperfect boss campaign. It was changed up a bit for us to share the good things we bring to the world. I wanted to share on here what I wrote.
A year ago I made the declaration that this is a positive space. I really feel it's true. I've heard people say that they feel the positivity when they come into my space. They feel the encouragement and inspiration when they read my work and speak to me. I want to continue to live through that declaration.
Inspire. It's the word I live by. I've been an indie author for almost four years and only in the past year do I really feel my writing is noticed. When people started to tell me that my work touched them, it surprised me. It feels good to know that when it's all you wanted to do.
We sometimes, myself included, get caught up in our work and forget about the journey. I looked back and again it surprised me. I built this dream.
Stay inspired,
Fida
In the beginning of the month, there was an imperfect boss campaign. It was changed up a bit for us to share the good things we bring to the world. I wanted to share on here what I wrote.
A year ago I made the declaration that this is a positive space. I really feel it's true. I've heard people say that they feel the positivity when they come into my space. They feel the encouragement and inspiration when they read my work and speak to me. I want to continue to live through that declaration.
Inspire. It's the word I live by. I've been an indie author for almost four years and only in the past year do I really feel my writing is noticed. When people started to tell me that my work touched them, it surprised me. It feels good to know that when it's all you wanted to do.
We sometimes, myself included, get caught up in our work and forget about the journey. I looked back and again it surprised me. I built this dream.
Stay inspired,
Fida
May 11, 2017
Announcing Hijab & Prompt Books
Hello Poetteers,
Challenges come in many ways. Small or big. I'll be stepping outside of my comfort zone and doing something different. All my collections have been self-published. Before self-publishing, let alone the decision to publish, that was outside of my comfort zone. Now that is my new comfort zone.
I've been working on a new poetry collection. It's about my journey with hijab and disability. See my journey with hijab. From being naive to seeing the complexities. See how I deal with my disability and anxiety. See how love helped with all of this.
My plan for it is to submit it to a few publishers/press. It's scary yet exciting!!
Add to Goodreads.
But that isn't the only thing I'm working on. As you know I've been creating monthly poetry bundles and now I'm working on a prompt book. It's divided into three parts. The first is of loving your body, mind and taking care of it. The second part is about appreciating culture. The last part is about being honest with yourself and the activism we do. Each prompt has a set of questions along with sentence starters and poetry formats.
Add to Goodreads.
Both books don't have titles yet as I have a list of several titles I'm going back and forth on.
Stay tuned for updates,
Fida
Challenges come in many ways. Small or big. I'll be stepping outside of my comfort zone and doing something different. All my collections have been self-published. Before self-publishing, let alone the decision to publish, that was outside of my comfort zone. Now that is my new comfort zone.
I've been working on a new poetry collection. It's about my journey with hijab and disability. See my journey with hijab. From being naive to seeing the complexities. See how I deal with my disability and anxiety. See how love helped with all of this.
My plan for it is to submit it to a few publishers/press. It's scary yet exciting!!
Add to Goodreads.
But that isn't the only thing I'm working on. As you know I've been creating monthly poetry bundles and now I'm working on a prompt book. It's divided into three parts. The first is of loving your body, mind and taking care of it. The second part is about appreciating culture. The last part is about being honest with yourself and the activism we do. Each prompt has a set of questions along with sentence starters and poetry formats.
Add to Goodreads.
Both books don't have titles yet as I have a list of several titles I'm going back and forth on.
Stay tuned for updates,
Fida
May 9, 2017
Factors in Our Writing Changes
Hello Poetteers,
You may not notice this. I didn't either. Our writing/art changes with the seasons or weather. I do know that the environment has an effect on our writing. It may get darker. Maybe different from what you usually do. With a rainy day or in a dark environment I may not write as much or at all. When it’s sunny or I’m in a well-lit place I’ll be in a writing flow. Being in a room where I see others being productive like in a coffee shop or bookstore I am able to write more.
What you read and write or simply the mood you’re in will affect your writing. Sometimes your mind is in a different place, wanting you to write something or work on something else altogether. For example, you have to write a blog post but you keep thinking of the story you want to add to or maybe it’s the other way around. Take a break to switch it up. You can come back to it later that day.
If you are in a bad mood you write something dark or the opposite of it to pull yourself out of it. Maybe you write more instead of less when there is a feeling of darkness. I know both writing less or writing more has happened to me when darkness is around. If you write something or read something dark it puts a damper on your mood and you feel like you don’t want to do anything near that.
How does any of these things affect your writing?
Stay inspired,
Fida
Read more: change your environment | evolution of my writing
You may not notice this. I didn't either. Our writing/art changes with the seasons or weather. I do know that the environment has an effect on our writing. It may get darker. Maybe different from what you usually do. With a rainy day or in a dark environment I may not write as much or at all. When it’s sunny or I’m in a well-lit place I’ll be in a writing flow. Being in a room where I see others being productive like in a coffee shop or bookstore I am able to write more.
What you read and write or simply the mood you’re in will affect your writing. Sometimes your mind is in a different place, wanting you to write something or work on something else altogether. For example, you have to write a blog post but you keep thinking of the story you want to add to or maybe it’s the other way around. Take a break to switch it up. You can come back to it later that day.
If you are in a bad mood you write something dark or the opposite of it to pull yourself out of it. Maybe you write more instead of less when there is a feeling of darkness. I know both writing less or writing more has happened to me when darkness is around. If you write something or read something dark it puts a damper on your mood and you feel like you don’t want to do anything near that.
How does any of these things affect your writing?
Stay inspired,
Fida
Read more: change your environment | evolution of my writing
May 4, 2017
Publishers That Publish Poetry Books
Hello Poetteers,
As I was doing my own research for poetry publishers this question popped up on my feed: Does anyone know any publishers that publish poetry books?
Later on while hosting #PoetteerChat I asked what everyone’s plan is for a year from now. Most of you said to be published. I promised a list of publishers, so here’s the top 5 I found. Along with the publisher, I will mention the poets they represent. I want to work with someone I can trust. Seeing familiar names makes them more trustable in my opinion.
Andrew McMeel - has published Amanda Lovelace, Lang Leav, Rupi Kaur and more. Dancing Girl Press - has published our very own Amanda N. Butler. Bottlecap Press - has published Courtney LeBlanc Button Poetry - has published Olivia Gatwood, Sierra DeMulder and more. Two Sylvias Press - has published Jeannine Hall Gailey, Kelli Russell Agodon, Martha Silano and more. Are there any other publishers I should know of?
Stay inspired,
Fida
I love having information easily accessible to me. Download the PDF version of this blog post.
As I was doing my own research for poetry publishers this question popped up on my feed: Does anyone know any publishers that publish poetry books?
Later on while hosting #PoetteerChat I asked what everyone’s plan is for a year from now. Most of you said to be published. I promised a list of publishers, so here’s the top 5 I found. Along with the publisher, I will mention the poets they represent. I want to work with someone I can trust. Seeing familiar names makes them more trustable in my opinion.
Andrew McMeel - has published Amanda Lovelace, Lang Leav, Rupi Kaur and more. Dancing Girl Press - has published our very own Amanda N. Butler. Bottlecap Press - has published Courtney LeBlanc Button Poetry - has published Olivia Gatwood, Sierra DeMulder and more. Two Sylvias Press - has published Jeannine Hall Gailey, Kelli Russell Agodon, Martha Silano and more. Are there any other publishers I should know of?
Stay inspired,
Fida
I love having information easily accessible to me. Download the PDF version of this blog post.
May 2, 2017
Poet Life: Dream vs Reality
Hello Poetteers,
A dream day of a poet would be to spend the whole day reading and writing poetry and chatting with fellow poets. But the reality is that we have to balance poetry with life.
You might be able to squeeze in an hour of reading a poetry collection or writing poetry. We would love to have all our poetry in one place in a virtual folder or physical notebook. There is a chance to try that. But throughout the day with a job, family, cooking, etc we don’t have time to write, so you have scraps of paper everywhere with poetry ideas and verses jotted down. Sometimes you forget why that line came to mind and where you were going with it. I haven’t tried it yet, but you can use an audio recording device or feature on your phone to help you better understand your thoughts later when you finally get the time to sit down.
I consider my life with poetry to almost be my ideal lifestyle. How does poetry look like in your daily life?
Stay inspired,
Fida
A dream day of a poet would be to spend the whole day reading and writing poetry and chatting with fellow poets. But the reality is that we have to balance poetry with life.
You might be able to squeeze in an hour of reading a poetry collection or writing poetry. We would love to have all our poetry in one place in a virtual folder or physical notebook. There is a chance to try that. But throughout the day with a job, family, cooking, etc we don’t have time to write, so you have scraps of paper everywhere with poetry ideas and verses jotted down. Sometimes you forget why that line came to mind and where you were going with it. I haven’t tried it yet, but you can use an audio recording device or feature on your phone to help you better understand your thoughts later when you finally get the time to sit down.
I consider my life with poetry to almost be my ideal lifestyle. How does poetry look like in your daily life?
Stay inspired,
Fida
April 28, 2017
Changing it Up in May Prompts
Hello Poetteers,
Last month I told you there would be a change in the prompts. I'm going from having daily prompts to weekly prompts. #dailypoetrygram will be retiring after a year of prompts. There is a hope that each month will have its own hashtag unique to the prompts.
The May prompts and poems have a new hashtag. You can repost my challenge graphic on your Instagram profile for reference. Share the poems on Instagram using #ThreadsOfPoetry and tag me @poetfida.
For in-depth questions to help with these word prompts you can purchase the poetry bundle. These questions are here to guide you in writing your poem. You don’t have to answer all the questions or use all your responses in the poem. Pick your favorite responses to be in the poem and rearrange them until you’re satisfied. These word prompts are up to your creativity and interpretation.
Last month I told you there would be a change in the prompts. I'm going from having daily prompts to weekly prompts. #dailypoetrygram will be retiring after a year of prompts. There is a hope that each month will have its own hashtag unique to the prompts.
The May prompts and poems have a new hashtag. You can repost my challenge graphic on your Instagram profile for reference. Share the poems on Instagram using #ThreadsOfPoetry and tag me @poetfida.
For in-depth questions to help with these word prompts you can purchase the poetry bundle. These questions are here to guide you in writing your poem. You don’t have to answer all the questions or use all your responses in the poem. Pick your favorite responses to be in the poem and rearrange them until you’re satisfied. These word prompts are up to your creativity and interpretation.
April 26, 2017
Poetry Challenge: Verse
Hello Poetteers,
Today's poetry challenge is the letter V. This is the last challenge I will be blogging about. You can find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Word Prompt
Verse
Questions
What is your favorite verse from the Bible/Torah/Quran?Why is it your favorite?What does it mean to you?How is it incorporated into your life?Did it change your life and how?Include the actual verse somewhere in the poem. Share the poems on Instagram using #dailypoetrygram and tagging me @poetfida. These questions are here to guide you in writing your poem. You don’t have to answer all the questions or use all your responses in the poem. Pick your favorite responses to be in the poem and rearrange them until you’re satisfied. These word prompts are up to your creativity and interpretation.
Stay inspired,
Fida
Find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Today's poetry challenge is the letter V. This is the last challenge I will be blogging about. You can find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Word Prompt
Verse
Questions
What is your favorite verse from the Bible/Torah/Quran?Why is it your favorite?What does it mean to you?How is it incorporated into your life?Did it change your life and how?Include the actual verse somewhere in the poem. Share the poems on Instagram using #dailypoetrygram and tagging me @poetfida. These questions are here to guide you in writing your poem. You don’t have to answer all the questions or use all your responses in the poem. Pick your favorite responses to be in the poem and rearrange them until you’re satisfied. These word prompts are up to your creativity and interpretation.
Stay inspired,
Fida
Find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
April 20, 2017
Poetry Challenge: Quit
Hello Poetteers,
Today's poetry challenge is the letter Q. You can find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Word Prompt
Quit
Questions
What are you currently trying to do?What did you give up on?Why did you give up on it?Was it a good or bad choice to give it up?
Poetry Form
Quatern: This poem has 16 lines broken up into 4 quatrains (or 4-line stanzas).
Each line is comprised of eight syllables.The first line is the refrain. In the second stanza, the refrain appears in the second line; in the third stanza, the third line; in the fourth stanza, the fourth (and final) line.There are no rules for rhyming or iambics. (source).
Stay inspired,Fida
Find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Today's poetry challenge is the letter Q. You can find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
Word Prompt
Quit
Questions
What are you currently trying to do?What did you give up on?Why did you give up on it?Was it a good or bad choice to give it up?
Poetry Form
Quatern: This poem has 16 lines broken up into 4 quatrains (or 4-line stanzas).
Each line is comprised of eight syllables.The first line is the refrain. In the second stanza, the refrain appears in the second line; in the third stanza, the third line; in the fourth stanza, the fourth (and final) line.There are no rules for rhyming or iambics. (source).
Stay inspired,Fida
Find all the challenges in the April Poetry Bundle.
