Articles and blog posts I can submit to anyone. At anytime. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much. I don’t hesitate. I’m never afraid. If rejection happens, it’s just happens. I shake it off, go on to the next one.
When it comes to poetry, it’s like I’m over someone my sensitive underbelly to be poked and prodded. It’s too personal. Too inherently me. Even when it doesn’t seem like it’s about me, I leave a trace of myself on the pages. Rejection becomes a major factor. Fear holds me back. I push through it, because I feel like the end result could make it worth it.
But the nerves never fade.
What about you? Does submitting poetry fill you with fear? How do you push past it? Tell me about it in the comments.
If you want to try to get past that fear, every Thursday we post a publishing opportunity. We try to cover different types of publications looking for different kinds of poetry.
This week’s prompt is to write something that’s happy. Check it out here.
The Reverie 
It depends on what the subject is for me. Mostly, I hardly hesitate, even talk myself into it, if I am hesitating, by saying, ‘Ach, just do it, what’s the worst that can happen?’ and then just go for it. I think I’ve held back from exposing my writing for too many years to be wary now. It’s like I’m running out of time and blogging has given me the confidence I needed to take chances. There are definitely traces, and sometimes big smears, of me all over the place but I’m learning to live with that.
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I struggle even to put poetry up on my blog, and I’ve thought about why that is — I think it’s two reasons:
1. Calling something “poetry” feels a little risky to me because poetry is defined in so many ways. I picture someone running across my words and saying, “Whatever that was, it wasn’t a poem . . .”
2. I’m usually a little more personal and reveal a little more of my own thinking in my poetry than the other things I put on my blog.
So, I guess my short answer is: “yes.”
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