Friday, November 7, 2014

Can You Publish What You Journal?

Filling the white space

white space taunts my pen
my épée etching each word100_2443
slowly on the page

words marching cadence
along pale blue journal lines
and then there is light
                  © Perle Champion 2009

William Wordsworth wrote: “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”

I’ve filled the paper or my journal since I was a child: daily observations, traumas & dramas,  poetry, essays, stories and more since I was a child.  I didn’t realize how much publishable material languished there in my own journal until one day.

One day I was rereading an old journal when I realized that one story was practically complete, so why not type it up and send it out. That story was “Rain” back in 2004.  What a thrill it was to see that story so dear me, not only published but resonating with so many readers. 

That day I started paying attention to what I wrote in my journal and noting in the margin whether it would make a good poem or essay or story or a character in a book.  That decision has since stood me in good stead.  Most of what I’ve published originated inthe pages of my journal.



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