SPIRIT FIRE REVIEW

Celebrating God's Goodness through Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Visual Art, and Music
Ideas to Enhance Your Writing


Wouldn’t it be nice to have a special poetry vacuum cleaner that removes excess “a”s
and “the”s, unnecessary adjectives, and
any other debris cluttering up your poem?

You know the guidelines---journals always want
you to send your best work. But how do you
make it your best?

"The pen is mightier than the sword," wrote
Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It’s also mightier than
the bullet, the baton, the Molotov cocktail,
and broken windows.

Why do poets spend so much time revising
their work? Shouldn’t you just write from the heart and let it go at that?

I’ll be honest with you: I like rhyme. It’s fun, challenging, and can make a poem easier to remember. After all, some very famous and beloved poems have been written in rhyme—
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I've been a fan of Joseph Fasano ever since
I read these words from his poem...

Let’s say you have a poem that’s been
around a while, maybe you’ve submitted it
once or twice, but no one’s snatched it up. (There’s no accounting for taste.)

As I wondered what to share that would be meaningful during this time of Covid-19
concerns, the words and music of well-known
hymns began to come to mind. (Posted in 2020.)

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One of the toughest things for me as a writer is to keep from editing while I’m composing.

Tuesday Tips: Remember to Dream
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Think back to when you first imagined yourself a writer, an artist. Oh, the places you'd write!