How to create a poetry collection
The (really) slow way
In April I decided I would start to bring all the poems that I have written over the last five years into a collection. It turned into a mammoth task of bringing together poems that exist in my phone notes app, note pads and multiple word documents on my laptop. It is now June and I don’t think I have got them all. And I can’t stop writing new ones.
So far I have one mammoth and chaotic document with over 300 individual poems. Some of these poems are brief, others too long and many that will never see the light of day from a public perspective. And since I decided to start this collation exercise I have been incredibly busy with many things beyond my poetry and writing. So much so that the curation and editing process have had to be shelved for now. Not forever.
In fact, even this article has been sat in my drafts since April.
I initially wanted to tell the story of how I was creating my collection. From the chaotic collation, to the editing process to working out how to publish it (submitting to agents/publishing houses or self publishing). I made some public posts on instagram promising to share the whole story there too. But that became work I realised I didn’t have time for. I have hidden those posts now.
But the idea has not died, and I have learned a lot in the work I have done so far.
The collation of all my work re-introduced me to some poems I forgot I had written. So I have started to resurrect them at the handful of poetry performances I have done in recent months. Many of the poems I rediscovered I have are not published or submitted anywhere and I haven’t performed the vast majority of them more than once, like this one, the start of a poem I performed once:
Some of the poems have never been shared. Resurrecting lost work made me realise that if I don’t share them they may never have a life beyond my laptop / notes app / pad. Sharing brings the whole poem a whole new lease of life beyond my head / pen / keyboard and the idea of releasing a whole batch of work into the world does excite me.
Looking through the first cut of what I have managed to pull together so far has seen me recalling all the different ways people have described my poetry to me. ‘Funny’ is one that comes up a bit, but that is only true of the poems I write to get a laugh. I have poems that have moved people to tears, had people nodding with indignation, some that let people in on stories I have held close to my chest and stories that I have told 100s of time before I even considered turning them into a poem. Poems about the universe, crisps, football, identity and history. Some poems are ekphrastic and experimental, others traditional like sonnets or silly limericks. I have written topical poems that dated within 24 hours whilst I have others on universal emotions. The sheer variety will make the edit and curation of the collection an interesting challenge. A challenge I don’t want to rush and need to have the right amount of time to do.
I also quickly realised that I cannot resist writing new work. I just truly enjoy the creation process. I am less good at writing with a clear outcome in mind. Beyond the poem itself I have no masterplan. I have written poems for events I have been asked to perform at and occasionally I will see prompts for submission opportunities that light a spark I wouldn’t get under my own steam. During this time I have seen several other poets just crack on with self publishing pamphlets and collections. I see others steadily building up credits in poetry journals and anthologies and realise I have not even been submitting my individual poems anywhere for quite some time.
I used to run a social media account on X and instagram called ‘Community Poetry Officer’. I would share any poetry submission or open mic opportunities I spotted whilst scrolling online. If I am totally honest, at times, it became a justification to be online. And whilst I did get a lot of connection through it, it wasn't really with my own work but the service I was providing. I also started realising I was spending more time sharing opportunities than pursuing and creating my own. In late 2023 I attempted to do a fundraiser with the platform I had gathered and it only gathered funds of less than £25. This was the equivalent of less than a penny for every follower and even less for all the promotion and sharing I had done over the years. It pulled into focus a question of priorities for myself. No one owed me anything for running a platform I chose to create, but I owed myself more focus on what I wanted and how to use my time.
Due to other things beyond poetry, I needed that time for other things, so even though I hoped by giving up running the Community Poetry Officer page I would have more time to focus on submitting my own work to more places, that has not been true. Not because that isn’t important to me but it isn’t as important as looking after my family, health, work, home and resting. Did I mention I like resting?
So I will let the creation of ‘my book’ be a slow process. So slow I will stop at times, like right now when it has taken me almost three months to even mention it on here.
And as it is festival season, I will end with an old poem I found in the ‘edit’ so far - just for a little bit of fun!
FAVOURITE FESTIVAL THINGS to the tune of My Favourite Things sung by Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins Bin bags as ponchos & shop bags as waders Leaflets as handfans & T-shirts as sunshades Covered in sequins including fake wings These are a few of some festival things Red coloured shoulders & flowers in headdresses Glitter that sticks on my nose & eyelashes Face painted angels wearing nose rings They are surrounded by festival kings When the beat drops When the crowd sings I’m just feeling glad I simply remember these festival things And dance like I’m raving.... mad !
Such a lovely post. I love that you are preparing a collection and I love the wisdom in going slowly. I think most things that are lovely and deep and stirring have a patience over them x
Reading this article really resonated with me - but in a different way (if you can resonate in a different way?).
It made me think about how I approach everything I do in life and it is just the opposite of slowly.
As you know, I have self published a few books / pamphlets but when I look back at them it is clear that I rushed into it. They are a combination of decent, half decent and not at all decent work. If I had taken my time then some of the work definitely wouldn't have made the cut. I need to work out how to slow down and not jump in with both feet.
Don't get me wrong, I have been afforded so many opportunities that I didn't even know I wanted since I started reading out loud. Who knew that I wanted to try a bit of stand up comedy or sing Barry Manilow accapella to a room full of 60 plusers. But in doing all these things , I don't feel like I have yet found my authentic voice.
Many of my early opportunities came about because you plugged open mic nights and kindly invited me on to your events. And I am not alone. Many have found their voice at events you either ran or promoted, and your standing in the poetry community is pivotal.
So take as long as you like to get that book finished, safe in the knowledge there is a large group of us waiting with baited breath to read it.