The Poetteer

Hello Poetteers, Today's poem is about determination. Enjoy! Determination is the drive through obstacles to accomplish our goals and reach our dreams Our dreams are known, when we've spent time with ourselves, the truth is what we need We learn our needs are kept alive by determination and we let it lead us through life. by Fida islaih and Sahira Javaid Check out Sahira's latest poetry book , Crack of Dawn.  Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers,  I hope you enjoy today's poem.  Dancing For Joy Dancing with my friends, I discover my body: I'm twirling under the lights, electricity fuelled limbs I watch their hips sway arms pumping the air - following along I am not as smooth, but my smile fills the room, hits the roof, bounces off the ceiling I was afraid of showing skin my body always aches to feel whole but I don’t feel it tonight it’s all about seeing the joy in our eyes: When I dance I am transcendent, And in my laughter, I find self-love. By Fida Islaih and Isabelle Kenyon Isabelle has a poetry book published called 'This is not a Spectacle'. Stay inspired, Fida 

Hello Poetteers, This poem was inspired after listening to Pink's "What About Us?" Enjoy! I gave you a chance I gave you my love, my trust but you said so many things so many things that turned out to be lies I'm not taking it anymore I'm ready to face this world without you and I'm okay with that I have all the power in my heart to change it all I don't have to be afraid. By Fida Islaih and Jennifer Rapp Check out Jen's debut poetry book, Ink Stained Hands . Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, I feel like I've been slacking on the blog and decided on a project to bring the blog back to life. A little while ago I got to collaborate with Luna on a poem. Enjoy! Stars All bruised up I look up at the stars the sky is the same color purple and black I don't let the bruise bring me down the way the purple gives into the night, making one feel closer with the stars and the universe I am a star among stars. By Fida Islaih and Luna Margo Valentine You can find Luna sharing original pieces of soft girl poetry over on twitter . Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, There are many different kinds of poetry books and different options on the length of them. Before compiling your own book, research the market for similar pieces to know what you are getting into. Some readers may read all the poems, but some won't. I have to confess that I sometimes skim poems. I usually go for shorter poems and smaller poetry collections. Something has to touch my heart for me to read longer pieces. I'm starting to gravitate towards the thicker poetry books. The average length is 60 to 100 pages of poetry, sometimes 200 pages feel like a lot. I think it depends on how you read. Some people read from cover to cover and others will read a bit of it through a length of time. It depends on the type of the book: 20-30 for a chapbook 50-80 for a full-length book 200-300 pages are the max length. Be careful because it may seem too long. It's about whatever the story and book require. Adjust where needed. The length and format

Hello Poetteers, We all should have a document filled with our favorite quotes, poem, etc to read whenever you are feeling down. Keep all the compliments and good reviews to read whenever you are doubting yourself or read a bad review. This will encourage you to see the best and keep going. It will remind you that you are doing well, on the right path. that you know what you are doing. It will rid of feeling like an imposter. (how I deal with the imposter syndrome ). It may be slow but you are building something out of nothing, with your own hands. I hope after this, you create a positivity file for yourself. Pay it forward by complimenting someone or leaving a positive review of their work. stay inspired,  Fida  For more tips and pep talks, join my free newsletter . 

Hello Poetteers, Poetry is messy, in good and bad ways. I like to stay organized or my mind will feel chaotic. Also, you can look back at when you wrote specific poems to see where you’re mind was at. You intentionally don't want to repeat old poems but there will be moments of serendipity. Use track changes when editing your poem.  In the document name say whether it’s a draft, edited or final copy.  Or maybe have all the versions of the poem in one doc.  Have another file for scraps of poems you didn’t use.  Maybe electronic is not your thing and you print it out. Use a different colored pen to write in the margins.  Use excel to keep track of when you wrote the poem, when you edited and how many times, when you shared or published it.  Keep a checklist of how to edit your poem to use each time.  Bonus : How to organize your poetry book .  Are your edits organized? Join my newsletter for a free editing checklist. Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Genre means the type of art, literature or music characterized by a specific form, content, and style. Poetry genres are any literary genres like sci-fi, fantasy, etc. While researching I found this: “three major genres: epic poetry, lyric poetry, and dramatic poetry, treating comedy and tragedy as subgenres of dramatic poetry." Poetry falls under two categories: classic and contemporary. I think the poetry genre I write is narrative. Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often making the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not have to follow rhythmic patterns. Narrative poetry can be broken down into different themes like culture, faith, experiences, love, nature. If there is someone out there who better understands poetry genres, let me know if I’m correct or not. I want to try writing more dark poems, fantasy poems, and humorous poems. Here are a coupl

Hello Poetteers, I noticed several of you are having trouble keeping track of your work. Poems scattered everywhere. It can be a bad thing or a good thing. You can find it later and surprise yourself with what you wrote or look at them differently. Either way, don't throw away your older poems. One way to keep your poems organized is to keep it together by theme. I organize my poems by months they were written in. I love using excel for my business stats. You can use it to keep track of the poems you have by title, date written and whether you shared it or not. Also on excel, you can add another tab for submissions. List where it's submitted, when, and what the response was. Or check out these resources, Submittable or Duotrope. I have a writing folder on my desktop with subfolders: Ideas Month Theme Or when I was researching tips to organize poetry I found a writer that kept these subfolders: Ideas In Progress Completed Works Journals and Free-writes

Hello Poetteers,  Poetry is not just something that is written. It can be something you perform. Practice is always recommended but when you're in the moment, it may still be shaky. Practice will help you get comfortable, confident and know your piece. I practice the words, not the emotion and emphasis. When it should be both. The nervousness gets in the way. That's something I need to work on. For example, you have an angry slam poem & since you're nervous, the anger isn't really there when you perform it. It's okay if you can't memorize the piece but do try. Have a copy of the poem with you on stage. Practice every day, three times a day, aloud, keep looking up to make eye contact. Practice in front of friends like it's the actual thing before the actual performance. There will most likely be other poets performing, sit back and listen, observe the crowd, and just take in the moment. Let yourself feel the nerves, but don't let it consume you.

Hello Poetteers, As I write and share my poetry I've noticed a few mistakes poets have made. Leaving their name out of their poetry graphic. With leaving out your name, you make it easier for someone to take it and call it their own. Adding your name will make it harder for your work to be plagiarized. It will make it easier for readers to find more of your work.                       Not keeping track of and organizing their poetry. Without an organization system, you may forget your ideas or end up rewriting or resharing an old poem.  Not adding their book on Goodreads. Goodreads is a place where readers keep track of what they read and their book reviews. ( Goodreads tutorial ). Believing rhyme words is what makes a good poem. Rhyme words is a bonus to a good poem. A poem is a piece of writing that shares emotion in a concise way.  Fighting and pushing away learning and writing poetry. I first learned poetry through structure and didn't like it. Lat

Hello Poetteers, As I get new clients who want me to edit their poetry a few have asked what is a PayPal invoice or how they will pay me. I take all my payments through PayPal. An invoice is a bill. Once I create it, it will ask me for your email. Afterwards, it will be sent to your email. In the email, there will be a pay now button. It is that simple. Read more . Stay inspired, Fida Find out my editing process when you join my free newsletter . 

Hello Poetteers, There is a list of songs I always listen to when I want to feel uplifted. The other day I thought the feelings behind these songs are similar to those when you read Blossoming Heart . I had to share this with you. Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield - This was one of the first songs I heard and saw myself in it. Broken Glass by Rachel Platten - When I first heard this song I felt it is an uplifting dance song about standing up after getting hurt and working hard towards what you love. It is a motivating song I listen to first thing in the morning when I get ready to work. Brave by Sara Bareilles - An uplifting song that made me cry when I first heard it. It reminds me of my quiet self and how I use my writing to speak up and be comfortable with myself. The poem, Being Brave, was inspired by this song. Stand by You by Rachel Platten - The song is about reaching out and being with someone as they are breaking and healing. In the beginning stanza, it tal

Hello Poetteers, Back in May , I revealed I was working on a poetry prompt book. With some help of a couple readers, I finally came up with the title for the book! It also has a publication date of Nov 7, 2017. Drumroll, please! Add it to Goodreads  first. It's also available for preorder . And the title is... Love Yourself: A Journey to Healing Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Since we are celebrating A to Z Poetry and my 4th author anniversary I thought I would share with you my first poems. The very first poem I wrote was when I was 5 about a doctor and a cat. While learning about poetry my first poem was about where I'm from. But that was a school assignment. I believe that piece set the tone and foundation for my writing career. That summer I wrote my first unprompted poem about my thoughts on Malaysia. The poems 'Writing Journal' and 'Sisters' were part of the first batch of poems written. Eventually, I tried spoken word. It was more of a poetry reading. My first one was part of a class assignment. I was nervous and quiet but being able to sit down helped calm me. What also calmed me was looking at a familiar face. After reading the first couple of lines I forgot the nerves and that an audience was watching me. I was feeling the poem. Afterwards, I asked a friend how I did. I was loud and clear. I didn't

Hello Poetteers, Yesterday was day three of the slay edits challenge . The prompt was a poetry lesson. See my response in the video below. Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, The other day I found a deck of index cards with a post it note that read "inspiration if needed." I made this back in high school in a creative writing class. I think the teacher made us do this in the beginning of the year for when we felt like we had nothing to write. It has been a few years since I looked through it. Some writing things have changed while others didn't. There are 19 ideas written on these cards. It reads of chocolate, sisterhood, a few quotes, and song lyrics, cities and tourist sites, free spirit, small gestures, volunteer work, struggling Muslim, unbearable heat, spring, blossoms, and birds chirping. One just said, "my favorites." Another tells me about national poetry month and writing one poem a day. I have participated in NPM a few times. The ones that surprised me are volunteer work and free spirit. I have no idea what I meant by that. I do enjoy my chocolate. Looking back I used to write a few poems about

Hello Poetteers, Turn your fears into poetry affirmations. I mentioned #PoetteerChat , you can find the summary to the specific chat on Storify . Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Three years ago I published Hugs & Kisses . To celebrate I want to share the inspiration behind the book. I get my inspiration from any and everywhere. My poems Strip Me and Let it Go are inspired by songs of the same titles. When everyone read my poem Let It Go they all thought of the song and teased me. I had shared the poem as a spoken word piece. I couldn’t get the song out of my head and it made the poem feel odd. You couldn’t think of the words let it go without thinking of the song. I feel the poem is different from the song. If I wrote it with more distance from the song, the comparison wouldn’t feel so heavy. It’s not always like that. The song Strip Me is not as popular as the song Let it Go and is an older song, so the song isn’t compared to the poem. With writing these poems I’ve learned to have patience in sharing them and be careful with your words. Show the difference and make it personal with your own story.  Has a song ever inspired you to writ

Hello Poetteers, I write my own poems. At the end of last year, I started collaborating with other poets. In poetry collaborations, it all depends on the person and the topic. Whether your writing style is similar or different, is there compatibility? It's good if they write similar to you. It makes things easier. But there should be enough difference to challenge your writing. It makes you step out of your comfort zone, to write something else. With the poem collaborations I've done, I've seen you don't need full sentences. Most of the people I worked with wrote longer pieces and it challenged me to write long pieces. I usually keep my poems short. Other people keep their poems short, too, so I'm not alone. I got to see how a longer poem can make a story fuller and more personable. The typical go to when collaborating on a poem is that I write one part of a poem and the other person will the other half. You don’t always have to write like that. Maybe w

Hello Poetteers, I’m coming back from my hiatus a week earlier. I have a new set of prompts for you. There is another change to the poetry prompts. It’s phrases instead of words because with the poem a day challenge I saw how much I loved the challenge of having to include a specific phrase in a poem. I hope you enjoy the phrase prompts, too. Share your poems using #ShapeOfBeautiful . Get the Shape of Beautiful prompt bundle . Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, In this video, I share how haiku can be a stepping stone to poetry. Fun fact: When I first got into poetry one of my first pieces was writing several haikus to be one long poem. I think that's where I found that poetry form wasn't for me but then being introduced to free verse and seeing it's my style. Stay inspired,  Fida 

What Is In A Name Your name is the love your parents have for you it is something you give life to be as strong as your name and live it up Your name has many meanings of what it is in another language it connects you to your homeland It gives others an image that touches their heart it gives you a love bigger than you Your name holds your heritage and culture it holds your heart it holds you. Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers,  It's Ramadan and summertime! I have decided to take a two month-long break from blogging and  social media. I'll be back in August!  stay inspired,  Fida 

Hello Poetteers, Today we are revisiting some of my favorite and most popular posts I’ve done through the years. Some of my most popular posts are my original poetry . I really enjoyed the prompt to write a love letter between two inanimate objects. As Ramadan is here and bullet journaling is becoming popular, this post is well loved. Here is how the first month of bullet journaling went. If you would love to read more from me, read my poetry book A to Z Poetry. Relive the announcement here. Thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, The June prompts are now live!! Share your poems using  #HeartToPoetry  and tag me @poetfida. The prompts are weekly, but I gave you a few extras to choose and play around with the words. All these prompts are up to your interpretation and creativity. Your Words Are:  Belong Trust Observations Heartsick Betrayal Scattered Left behind Hiatus  Stay inspired, Fida 

Hello Poetteers, Sectioning off your poetry collection can be difficult. The easiest way to section it is by theme or topic. For example, if you have a series of nature poems, group them together. You may have two poems that present opposite ideas but are in conversation with one another, so pair them connection apparent to the reader. It’s a good idea to keep poems together that are written in the same creative period.  Maybe your poetry collection does not even need to be sectioned off if it's one big theme or reads like a story.  Maybe you can get more on the emotions side of the piece use an adjective that describes that set of poems as the section title. Another strategy is a lyric ordering, in which each poem is linked to the previous one, repeating a word, image, subject, or theme.  Order it in a way to create a sense of growth or evolution. Other times I follow one or several emotionally charged poems with one that provides comic or other relief. Other categ

Hello Poetteers, I love finding poetry books from poets I find online. It's kind of disappointing when half the the poems in their books are poems they have shared online before the book is published. I have to confess I once did the same thing. I'm more conscious of it now. One or two sneak peeks are fine for promotion but more than that and what's the point of getting the book unless the poet's work is something you read and can read it multiple times. They have to be really good to be able to have that. Some poems I read multiple times and it still surprises you. Other poems I've read once and it's enough for that one time because they are simple. It's hard to explain but I hope it makes sense. What do you think?

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.  Don't directly tag the host unless you are having a conversation with them. If you are just answering a question of the chat then don't. Then the only people who will see the tweet is the people who follow both you and the host. The chat is for everyone participating. The chat is created to help you grow and create new friendships. Questions are presented as Q1, Q2, etc. Answer the questions by A1, A2, etc so that we know which questions the responses belong to.  Use hashtag specific to chat, so that everyone participating can see what you have to say.  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 mon

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

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

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 la

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 i

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 7 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.  Write Bloody - has published Sarah Kay, Andrea Gibson and more. Glass Poetry Press

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

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.

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 .