1. Bleached Yule (White Christmas)

2. Soundless Nocturnal Period (Silent Night)

3. Delight For This Planet (Joy to the World)

4. Yonder In The Hayrack (Away in a Manger)

5. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

6. Question Regarding Identity of Infant (What Child is This)

7. Kris Kringle Will Be Arriving in the Small City (Santa Claus is Coming to Town)

8. Assemble , Everyone Who Believes (O Come, All Ye Faithful)

9. Leave and Broadcast Message From A High Elevation (Go Tell it on the Mountain)

10. Allow Crystalline Formations To Descend Three Times
(Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!)

11. Small Municipality in Judea Southwest of Jerusalem (O Little Town of Bethlehem)

12. A Dozen 24 Hour Yule Periods (12 Days of Christmas)

13. Decorate The Corridors (Deck the Halls)

14. The Under-sized Male Percussionist (Little Drummer Boy)

15. Our Team of Majestic Triplets (We Three Kings)

16. I Desire A Pair of Incisors on December 25^th
(All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth)

17. Caribou With Vermillion Proboscis (Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer)

18. Tintinnabulation of Small Chimes (Jingle Bells)

19. Our Group Extends Felicitations For Your Yuletide Season
(We Wish You a Merry Christmas)

20. The Christmas Before All Others (The First Noel)

21. Hallowed Evening (O Holy Night)

22. May the Deity Give Ease To You Well-Mannered and Happy Males
(God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

23. I observed My Maternal Parent Osculating St. Nick
(I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)

24. Dapper Individual With a Frozen ID (Frosty the Snowman)

25. It Arrived On A Cloudless Night at 12:00 AM (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear)

26. Hard-Shelled Seeds Cooking Over Uncovered Flames
(Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

27. Precious Metal Musical Devices (Silver Bells)

28. Travel by Vehicle on Runners (Sleigh Ride)

29. Large Woody Yuletide Plant (O Christmas Tree)

30. We Listened To Winged Heavenly Beings Far Above (Angels We Have Heard on High)

31. Traveling Through Amazing Area During Barren Season
(Walking in a Winter Wonderland)

32. As Ovine guardians Kept Vigil During Dark Hours
(As Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night)

33. Are You Aware of the Same Sound As I? (Do You Hear What I Hear)

34. I Viewed a Trio of Nautical Vessels (I Saw Three Ships)

35. I Yearn for a River Horse at the Height of the Holiday Season
(I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas)

36. Maternal Octogenarian Flattened by Suspicious Hoof Prints
(Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer)

Thank you Pamela and Paula for responding to the quiz. I’ll be sending you both something via email, simply for participating.

Because the Holiday Season has been, and continues to be, a busy time, the next discussion will not be posted until after the New Year. Wishing you all a bright and happy holiday and a fruitful new year.

1. Bleached Yule

2. Soundless Nocturnal Period

3. Delight For This Planet

4. Yonder In The Hayrack

5. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings

6. Question Regarding Identity of Infant

7. Kris Kringle Will Be Arriving in the Small City

8. Assemble , Everyone Who Believes

9. Leave and Broadcast Message From A High Elevation

10. Allow Crystalline Formations To Descend Three Times

11. Small Municipality in Judea Southwest of Jerusalem

12. A Dozen 24 Hour Yule Periods

13. Decorate The Corridors

14. The Under-sized Male Percussionist

15. Our Team of Majestic Triplets

16. I Desire A Pair of Incisors on December 25th

17. Caribou With Vermillion Proboscis

18. Tintinnabulation of Small Chimes

19. Our Group Extends Fellicitations For Your Yuletide Season

20. The Christmas Before All Others

21. Hallowed Evening

22. May the Deity Give Ease To You Well-Mannered and Happy Males

23. I observed My Maternal Parent Osculating St. Nick

24. Dapper Individual With a Frozen ID

25. It Arrived On A Cloudless Night at 12:00 AM

26. Hard-Shelled Seeds Cooking Over Uncovered Flames

27.  Precials Metal Musical Devices

28. Travel by Vehicle on Runners

29. Large Woody Yuletide Plant

30. We Listened To Winged Heavenly Beings Far Above

31. Traveling Through Amazing Area During Barren Season

32. As Ovine guardians Kept Vigil During Dark Hours

33. Are You Aware of the Same Sound As I?

34. I Viewed a Trio of Nautical Vessels

35. I Yearn for a River Horse at the Height of the Holiday Season

36. Maternal Octogenarian Flattened by Suspicious Hoof Prints

Hope this put you in the mood. Answers will be available next week.

The mic is open:

Much of my sense of writing has to do with clarity, connecting the dots and finding some form of resolution, or completion. Even Science Fiction and Fantasy has to make some sort of sense, use the tension of storyline and plot, or it wouldn’t be read at all.

As I have already stated in an earlier discussion, writing creates a constant learning process, as far as I am concerned. My reading was also aimed toward that desire to learn. So, I have a tendency to seek out authors who tackle an issue and seek its solution on some level. Mystery and suspense are hard wired to those realities, as is most good writing.

When I sit to write a poem, I seldom have much more than a vague impression of topic in mind. The writing becomes my way of connecting the dots, and more often than that, I stumble on surprises while engaged in that process. I like a well-rounded ending, one that at least takes a stab at some form of conclusion. That has become a very important aspect of my own writing process as well.

I’ve learned a great deal from reading, and not just about writing. What and where do you find your reading influencing your writing?

The mic is open:

PS Mike, no one gets demerits here. You may speak (write) for however long you desire. That goes for everyone.

Most, if not all writers are also people who read. But just as our writing is individual, so too are our tastes in reading material. This week, I have only one question: What do you read, when and if you do read?

I look back and realize that my reading material has taken a slightly crooked path, over the years. I actually once read romance novels, but that was long, long ago. I also had a time period when all I read was science fiction and fantasy (I really do love dragons).

When I attended college, I read textbooks and non-fiction and continued that trend for years afterward, exploring my different interests through non-fiction works and how to manuals, many of which centered around writing. Then slowly drifted back to the world of fiction, preferring mystery and suspense. And yes, I do read poetry, much of it here on-line, and do have my favorites in my little library, along with shelves of books on writing. They are wonderful sources for inspiration.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. The mic is open:

Last week, Neil used a phrase, “You get what you are willing to pay for.” That discussion was about difficult topics and subjects. I’d like to go to an opposing corner this week. I agree with Neil, we choose to do things because we gain something from the activity. But, because each of us is an individual, the things that are gained may be very different.

This week, I’d ask you to tell us about the part of the writing process that brings you the most satisfaction, delight, or pleasure. There are a lot of things that I like about writing, but I think the one I enjoy most is the learning process that takes place. Whether it is about an unfamiliar topic, or about my own person, I think that is the main reason I keep coming back to do this thing we all do. Of course, there is also the adulation of my few fans. That’s nice too, lol.

There is another thing that has mostly to do with writing poetry. I really get a kick out of making metaphors that work. A deep sense of satisfaction when things connect and make sense. I guess that is part of the learning process I was speaking of earlier. I really do like those light bulbs switching on and spreading their warmth.

So, for this week, which part of the writing process are you willing to pay for in time, effort, frustration, solitude, and all the rest of it?

The mic is open:

So here are some questions: Are there things that you find too difficult to write about? What is the most difficult topic you have tackled with your pen or keyboard? What makes them difficult, or eases that difficulty? You can get as personal or honest as you choose.

The mic is now open:

Synchronicity is when two or more diverse things: elements, thoughts, experiences, etc., come together and bring a light to our understanding that was not present before. There are those who define it as a moment of enlightenment, and I would certainly agree with that.

One of the reasons I continue to write is because that synchronistic energy is present when I do so. So this week, I’d like to hear about what you think of synchronicity, how it works in your experience, and if you have an experience, related to your writing, about such a moment of enlightenment.

I have not been readily present on the prompt circuit of late. The poetry was coming, but often with difficulty. So, I stepped back away and simply did what I could do. Then decided it was time to get back to the poetry, so committed myself to the PAD Challenge, hoping I wouldn’t fall flat on my nose in that attempt.

And yesterday, when several things came together, that would not have if I hadn’t been responding to the Challenge, I was deeply grateful. I had an appointment and during it, something was said that pulled up a deep rush of anger. I didn’t react, but simply acknowledged what was happening inside of me. Then this morning, when I went in search of the day’s prompt, it slipped with ease into that new awareness from the day before. So, I wrote about the experience and learned a great deal more in the process.

That is why writing is a corner stone of my life. And it’s why I will probably never stop doing it. It is a constant source of knowing and learning. Would like to hear how and what you think and feel about synchronicity in your own writing process.

The mic is open:

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/2011-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-rules

If any of you are thinking of participating in the November PAD challenge, please let the rest of us know. We can support one another through that endeavor. I do plan on taking a stab at doing the PAD, though I don’t know if I will use the daily prompts as an incentive. I might use some, but will remain open to other avenues as well.

Mike Patrick brought up a really good topic last week. He is struggling with the conflict of writing poetry or prose. When I was in college, we were told quite often, that if you wanted to write poetry, you shouldn’t write prose, and vice-versa. It has long been believed that one must stick to ones “calling”, or do harm to ones abilities in one or the other of those two formats.

Personally, I don’t believe that. I write both. And there are times when a poem becomes a personal essay, and other times when a piece of prose becomes a poem. I think that writing both, enhances and informs both. But, I struggled long before giving myself permission to do both. I have published both, and at one point had my own prose column in a local magazine for several years. I was also teaching and writing poetry at the same time.

The reason I brought this up for discussion is that there are always myths that surround any particular occupation or focus of activity. There are myths about writers, artists, musicians, doctors, lawyers, policemen, and firefighters. Those myths develop through generations of tradition and stereotypical generalities. We have been mentioning one here in these discussions: Writer’s Block.

I hope you try the prose Mike, but I’d also like to hear what myths the rest of you might have heard, or come in contact with, since starting to write. And do you recognize them as myths?

The mic is open:

Years ago, I decided that I would write everyday. I continue to do that in my journal and often write about how hard it is to write, to find words, or the energy to construct a poem that at least has something to offer and doesn’t just lie there on the paper moaning and groaning, or demanding that I put it out of its misery.

When I first started on the prompt circuit, I have to confess, I was very intense about it and was often doing a prompt a day. That’s a lot of writing, and I kept it up for months. At the present time, I do my journal, a daily observation online, this discussion blog, the wordle, and the week in review.

But, although it started out as a lack of drive to continue writing in such a hectic fashion, it has become something else. I have developed new interests and am giving them space in my existence. One is photography and the other is pen and ink sketching, or doodles. I am pretty sure I will never quit writing altogether. It’s simply a part of my being and my identity. And I like the balance I find between the writing and the non-writing activities. They feed and fuel one another. I find that they are all forms of active meditation, and bring their own nurture to the overall process.

So, what do you do when you hit a rough patch? One of my solutions is to speak to others who write. This blog, hopefully fulfills that element. Now, it’s your turn.

The best comparison I have ever come across to define a writer’s voice is that of an artist’s signature stroke. The manner in which a painter applies the paint to a canvas. Each artist does it a bit differently: the way the brush is held, the layers of paint, and the development of shadow, and that difference becomes what is known as that artist’s signature stroke. It is what helps the viewer tell the difference between a Michelangelo, and a Renoir. And the same applies to the writer and his/her voice.

When I started writing, I thought it would be impossible for me to develop a distinctive voice. I used very common language, and often, still do. I was a North Wisconsin hillbilly and that meant, among other things, that my life experience was narrow (I’m being kind here). My background was parochial school, then public high school. Marriage and children, then college. And it was only in college that I discovered that maybe the way I saw things was different and interesting enough to actually make note of it.

But still, a voice? That was something for others like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Lucille Clifton, Robert Frost, Robert Bly, Alan Ginsberg, and the list goes on and on. But, as I read and often admired those Voices, I began to realize that I did understand much of what they were communicating. Their experiences as human beings were not all that different from my own. They were not all that different from me. We were all human beings, simply trying to express whatever we chose to express. And within that process, one poem at a time, we were all developing our own distinctive voices.

And a good thing to remember about that process is that we often don’t like the sound of our own voice. Don’t even recognize it on a recording device, or can’t wrap our own heads around the sounds we ourselves are making. As far as I am concerned, Voice is simply something that happens while one is busily becoming a writer: writing on a regular basis, jotting down notes, keeping a blog, or putting chapbooks together. Voice develops along with the experience.

Several years ago, I was involved in playing a joke on some of my former students. With some help, I created a blog and put up several poems under a totally fictitious pseudonym. Then a group of my former students were asked to visit the site and see what they thought of this totally unknown poet. It didn’t take very long. Less than an hour, and two of them realized that what they were reading ‘sounded’ like something Elizabeth would write. They knew and recognized my voice.

I was pleased to know I had one, but couldn’t tell anyone what those former students recognized while reading those poems. Like a visual artist, I lay down words in the hopes of communicating an idea, a feeling, a sense of the world around me. I am an individual, so the manner in which I do that is individual to me, to my person. Each of you has a voice, and many of them I have come to recognize. And the more you write, the more recognizable that voice becomes. For me, the key to voice development is simply to write.

I know that others might not agree. But that is why this is called a discussion and not something else. The podium is open: