Writing the Life Poetic

Introducing The Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life!

All good things must come to an end, and this blog -- thanks to your company here -- has been one of the very best parts of my writing life! Today, I am officially stepping down from posting here. Instead, the conversation about the life poetic will continue over at the brand new Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life.

Why the change? As my new book, The Productive Writer, was taking shape, I found myself at a crossroads of identity. My collection of poems and my book Writing the Life Poetic both anchored me solidly in the realm of poetry. The realm of poetry is my first language, and there are many other realms in which I live and write these days. So the question became, what is the scope and shape of who I am, what I write about, and the service I want to give my community of writers today? The answer came very quickly.

I realized that what I've been trying to accomplish in everything I write and all of my classes is simply: to help people align themselves with possibility. Whether you're writing a poem or a marketing plan, trying to get up the nerve to do a little freewriting, read publicly or send out a book proposal, what interests me is how I can help you follow that desire into action...making the possible far more probable. What I've found is that we're so used to getting in our own way, we may have no idea how very likely our dreams and intentions may be. My goal is to help poets and writers find a greater alignment between their writing and their lives--by tending all that is possible along the way.

So, without further ado, I invite you to come on over to The Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life and enjoy your free party favors!

You can download a free "Productivity Power Tools" workbook companion to The Productive Writer. (Just look for the link in the center column.) Plus, if you sign up to receive email updates, you'll get the free, 10-week email series, "10 Ways to Boost Writing Productivity."  This would also be a great time to sign up for the free, Writing the Life Poetic e-zine, which comes out six times per year and features inspiration, insight and information from 10 of my favorite poets and people.

You'll also find information about five new, online classes that I'm very excited to offer in a new, interactive classroom forum.

Poem-A-Day Challenge: Break Through Your Resistance
January 1 to January 31, 2011

Poetry for the People Level 1
January 10 to February 21, 2011 (six weeks)

Poetry for the People Level 2
January 12 to February 23, 2011 (six weeks)

Productive Writing Revolution: Set Your Sights and Hit Your Targets
February 28 to April 11, 2011 (six weeks)

Break into Business Writing: Make a Living as a Writer
February 28 to April 11, 2011 (six weeks)

And, of course, you'll learn all about my books, who I am, and my thoughts on being 40.

The best part of blogging is making friends whom I then get to meet "live" sooner or later! I'm headed to Washington, DC, New York, NY and to bookstores and writing communities throughout Oregon in the coming months. If there's an event on my schedule that works for you, I sure would love to see you! 

It's an exciting time to be a writer. I am honored to be traveling with you, and I look forward to supporting you as you walk your own, unique writing path.

The word is the way,

Sage Cohen

Hope to see you at AWP on February 5!

The news is in! Our panel at AWP now has an exact date and location! If you're attending AWP and interested in online teaching, come on out and join the conversation. (And if the panel doesn't match your interests but you'd like to talk poetry or productivity, let me know; I'd love to connect with you!)

Saturday, February 5, 2011 // 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.
"Finding and Creating Online Teaching Opportunities—and Sustaining and Succeeding in Them" panel
AWP 2011 Conference
Lobby Level, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Room Virginia C
Washington, DC

Panel experts: Erika Dreifus, Sage Cohen, Andrew Gray, Matthew Lippman, Chloe' Yelena Miller, Scott Warnock

See you in DC!

Break into Business Writing: Boost Your Income and Creativity

A Workshop with Sage Cohen and PDX Writers

Why think small (and earn small) when you can write for love AND for money--and when each type of writing can benefit the other? A day job that utilizes writing skills can be an ideal way to keep up your chops and fill your inspiration fuel tanks while making a respectable living.

 

This workshop for writers of all genres will introduce a writing for love + writing for money lifestyle mix that can help:

• Earn a solid income that funds your creative pursuits.
• Cultivate skills that benefit writing craft and business savvy.
• Equip you with publishing skills and mindset.
• Make you a great candidate for finding an agent and a publisher.
• Use your time most effectively to accomplish all of the writing (and living) that matters most to you.

Plus, it will offer all of the basics for how to get started as a copywriter--from finding clients to establishing a scope of practice to setting prices to building long-term relationships.

 

Through a series of guided exercises, you'll plant the first seeds of your copywriting future and prepare for next steps. You'll leave informed about what it takes to break into copywriting for businesses and inspired to get started.

Saturday, November 20, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $40.
Location: TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont, Portland, Oregon
Learn more and register.

Hope to see you at the VoiceCatcher reading on October 18!

Monday October 18, 2010
Powell's on Hawthorne - 7:30 p.m.

3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd,

Portland OR 97214

Readers include:

• Paulann Petersen
• Penelope Scambly Schott
• Mary Zelinka
• Kaitlyn Burch
• Sage Cohen
• Nikki Schulak

www.powells.com

VoiceCatcher, an anthology of new writing and art by Portland-area women, is a non-profit collective that nurtures women authors and artists in the Portland/Vancouver area and strengthens the local creative community by offering publishing opportunities, educational grants, and respectful editorial guidance.

Make Your Story Sing (and Sell): a workshop with Sage Cohen and Jessica Morrell

Want to spend a delicious day at one of the most beautiful places on earth, learning how to make your language leap off the page? I'd like to spend that day with you! Let's do it.

Make Your Story Sing (and Sell)
a workshop taught by authors Sage Cohen and Jessica Morrell
The Center for Contemplative Arts, Manzanita, Oregon
October 23, 2010 -- 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Cost: $80

To me the greatest pleasure in writing is not what it's about but about the music the words make. ~ Truman Capote

Writers often believe that it takes a knockout plot or idea to see their work in print. Of course, what you say is important; but many writers don’t realize that how you say it matters just as much. The truth is that the beauty of your sentences and strength of your voice can help take a solid piece of writing from the slush pile to publication.

Stories are built of sentences, and sentences are built word by word. An artfully-crafted sentence can bring shivers of recognition in the reader, stir his or her emotions, build or release tension and take the action forward. When words are consciously chosen for impact, you can keep your reader on the edge of his or her seat from start to finish––whether you’re writing a personal essay, a piece of fiction or a how-to article.

Join two inspiring writing teachers and authors for a deep dive into the possibilities of language. Through a mix of writing exercises, inspiring examples, generous handouts and personal instruction, writers of all genres will learn how to make potent language choices that will bring your great ideas to life and increase your odds of publication.

Instructor Bios:

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, The Productive Writer: Tips and Tools for Writing More, Stressing Less and Creating Success (forthcoming in December 2010) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World.

Jessica Morrell is the author of Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us, A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected; Bullies, Bastards & Bitches, How to Write the Bad Guys in Fiction; The Writer’s I Ching: Wisdom for the Creative Life, Voices from the Street; Between the Lines: Master The Subtle Elements Of Fiction Writing; and Writing Out the Storm. Find her at thewritinglifetoo.blogspot.com.

How to Enroll: Send a check for $80 to Jessica Morrell, P.O. Box 820141, Portland, OR 87282 Please include your email address and a phone number. A confirmation email will be sent when your check is received along with further instructions.

What to Bring: Please bring writing materials, two colored highlighter markers, two-three paragraphs of a writing sample, and questions about language and craft.

Get your productivity infusion here

Want to be more productive in your writing life -- in just a few minutes? You can learn common mistakes to avoid by checking out this free, online article at Writer's Digest: "Top 10 Pitfalls Writers Should Avoid".

The companion, print piece "10 Ways to Be a Productivity Pro" is featured in the "Big 10" (September) issue of Writer's Digest -- available now in your favorite bookstore. This is a first-of-its-kind issue, with a wide range of satisfying suggestions and insights from bestselling authors such as Jodi Picoult, Sherman Alexie, Natalie Goldberg, Chuck Palahniuk, and many more.

Both articles offer a quick snapshot of the range of tips and tools, strategies and systems that will be offered in my latest book, The Productive Writer, for writers of all genres, forthcoming in December of this year!

To your productivity!

Become a productivity pro with two, new articles in Writer's Digest

Want to be more productive with your writing process and results than ever before? I have two, new articles that may help.

Check out "10 Ways to Be a Productivity Pro" in the "Big 10" (September) issue of Writer's Digest -- available now in your favorite bookstore or purchased here. This is a first-of-its-kind issue, offering a wide range of satisfying suggestions and insights from writers including Jodi Picoult, Sherman Alexie, Natalie Goldberg, Chuck Palahniuk and many more.

My companion piece, "Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls For Writers To Avoid" is available for FREE on the Writer's Digest website. Together, the two articles give you the "do's" and "don'ts" (according to me) of productivity in the writing life!

Both pieces offer some of the greatest hits (and tips) from my latest book: The Productive Writer: Tips and Tools for Writing More, Stressing Less and Creating Success -- to be released in December of this year.

What are your favorite productivity tips and tricks? I'd love to hear what keeps your writing (and publishing, promoting, and platform-building) going strong in the comments below!

Wishing you peace, poetry, productivity and prosperity,

Sage

Upcoming events with Sage this summer and fall

If you'd like to give your writing life or community a boost in the coming months, I'll be offering a number of events and publications that can help! Following is an overview of upcoming workshops, readings, articles, books and more. I'd love to see you! Here's hoping that you're having a poetic an productive summer.

Saturday, July 17, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Big Tent Poetry Celebration Reading
St Johns Booksellers
8622 North Lombard Street
Portland, Oregon

Big Tent Poetry is an online site that provides weekly poetry writing prompts, friendly community, inspiration and fun. Come on out and celebrate poetry with Big Tent Poetry founders, contributors and participants: Tiel Aisha Ansari, Sage Cohen, Dale Favier, Deb Scott and Carolee Sherwood.

Friday, August 6, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.
"GET A DAY JOB: Boost your income and creativity as a copywriter"
Willamette Writers Conference
The Sheraton Airport Hotel 
8235 NE Airport Way / near the Portland, OR airport

Why have an either/or approach to a writing life when one can write for love AND for money -- and when each type of writing can benefit the other? A day job that utilizes writing skills can be an ideal way to keep up your chops and fill your inspiration fuel tanks while making a respectable living.

This workshop for writers of all genres will introduce a writing for love + writing for money lifestyle mix that can help:

• Cultivate skills that benefit writing craft and business savvy.
• Equip you with publishing skills and mindset.
• Make you a great candidate for finding an agent and a publisher. 

Plus, it will offer all of the basics for how to get started as a copywriter - from finding clients to establishing a scope of practice to setting prices to building long-term relationships.

Wednesday, August 25, 7:00 p.m.
"Poetry for the People" student reading and celebration
Barnes & Noble Lloyd Center
1317 Lloyd Center
Portland, Oregon

Come on out to hear students share their poems developed in the Poetry for the People online classes since 2007.

Saturday, August 28, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
LOCALLY GROWN POETRY featuring Sage Cohen & Judith Barrington
Hollywood Farmers Market
NE Hancock between 44th and 45th
Portland, Oregon

Listen to good words while you choose your sweet carrots, free-range eggs, luscious berries - and lettuce so beautiful it could be a bouquet.

6/26: Kirsten Rian + Sam Lohmann
7/31: John Morrison & Dave Jarecki + BT Shaw & Friend
8/28: Sage Cohen + Judith Barrington

September 2010 issue of Writer's Digest
Check out my article "How to Become A Productivity Pro"!

September-ish 2010
My new, streamlined website and teaching platform to be unveiled.

December 2010
The Productive Writer:Tips & Tools for Writing More, Stressing Less and Creating Success by Sage Cohen will be published by Writer's Digest Books.

July 17, noon: Big Tent Poetry reading and celebration

I'll be hosting a Big Tent Poetry reading on Saturday, July 17 featuring a number of poets involved in Big Tent Poetry, an online site that provides weekly poetry writing prompts, friendly community, inspiration and fun. Come on out and celebrate poetry with  Big Tent Poetry founders, contributors and participants. Featured poets will include Tiel Aisha Ansari, Sage Cohen, Dale Favier, Deb Scott and Carolee Sherwood. We'd love to see you there.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

12:00pm - 1:00pm

St Johns Booksellers

8622 North Lombard Street

* * *

Tiel Aisha Ansari is a Sufi, martial artist, and data analyst living in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has appeared in Islamica Magazine, Untitled Country Review, The Lyric, Barefoot Muse, and the VoiceCatcher anthology. Her poetry has been featured on KBOO, Prairie Home Companion and MiPoRadio and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her collection Knocking from Inside is available from Ecstatic Exchange. You can visit her online at “Knocking from Inside,” http://knockingfrominside.blogspot.com/.

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 and Tools for Writing More, Stressing Less and Creating Success (Writer’s Digest Books, forthcoming in December 2010) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. Find out more at http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/.

Dale Favier is a massage therapist and a database administrator in Portland, Oregon. His poems have appeared in Qarrtsiluni and the print anthology Brilliant Coroners. Pindrop Press will be publishing a chapbook of his poems, Opening the World this fall. Drafts of his poems and essays appear regularly, you might even say inexorably, on his personal diary, "Mole" (http://koshtra.blogspot.com/), and he writes a column, "Minding Words," for the Writing the Life Poetic Zine.

Deb Scott lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and pets. She blogs at "Stoney Moss" (http://stoneymoss.org/) and was one of the folks behind the poetry magazine and community Read Write Poem. These days she is one of the ring-leaders at Big Tent Poetry. Deb’s poetry, prose and photography are published or forthcoming in a number of journals, including Qarrtsiluni, Tiny Words and Right Hand Pointing.

Carolee Sherwood is a painter, mixed-media artist and poet from New York State. Her poetry has been published recently in Pirene’s Fountain, Awakenings Review, Scythe and Hobble Creek Review and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She was one of the folks behind the poetry magazine and community Read Write Poem and is part of the creative team that produces Big Tent Poetry. In addition, she co-edits Ouroboros Review and writes reviews for Poets’ Quarterly. Read more about Carolee at her blog, http://caroleesherwood.wordpress.com/.

* * *

Big Tent Poetry aims to create a fun, inspiring, motivational and supportive community for poets at all levels of writing.

Join me for a bridge and poetry walk on Saturday, June 5

I'll be sharing poems as part of the 2010 bridge walking series on Saturday, June 5. It would be most lovely to spend a historic Portland morning with you!

The event will be led by Sharon Wood Wortman, author of The Portland Bridge Book, and leader of waterfront bridge walks for Portland Parks & Outdoor Recreation since 1991.

About a mile long and easy-paced, each walk includes a tour of the Oregon Dept. of Transportation’s Traffic Management Operation Center and the tower and bascule pit of the Morrison Bridge. See eight bridges in all.  

Registration not required. Begins at 8:30 a.m. at the corner of NW Second & Everett (steps of the Northwest Natural Building). Ends with lunch (extra $) in Chinatown. $16 for adults, $10 for children.

Bridal, by Sage Cohen

The pond drifts its corsages
along the withered wrists
of trees fallen too soon
The broken vow folds
its paper wings.
No boat, no confetti, today
the leaving falls away
to a float of daisies.
Each opens her hungry yellow
throat to the rain’s staccato,
trodden banks, the simple
untamed thrill of hope. 

***

Here are two bridge walkers modeling the principle of the cantilevered kiss (photo by Marilyn Johnston).

Supporting the Divine, by Sharon Wood Wortman

A kiss is like a cantilever bridge—
Two lips meeting in the middle,
Air jumping up and down
(vortices exciting the molecules);
tension and compression
at such an angle two hearts
can safely walk hope across
no matter how many miles
or old the ground.