A couple of years ago I wrote a poem specifically to get into a certain magazine. What I mean by this is that felt I knew the sort of poems that would appeal to the editors.
It worked; the poem was accepted for publication, and so one could say the poem had achieved what I set out for it to do.  It looked nice on the page, was technically alright and had a certain entertainment value.  I read it aloud once and it sounded OK.  I still don’t think it’s a bad poem, in fact some people have told me they like it. It just doesn’t really feel like it’s my poem.
This is not just a question of distance and development or change of style, of looking back a couple of years later and thinking ‘Did I write that? I don’t write like that now’. It’s more to do with the poem being an artefact I could make but didn’t really feel.   Â
There is, I think, nothing wrong with noting the type of work certain magazines take and submitting the poems you have written accordingly to give them the best chance of publication. Â Â I’m not sure I’m very good at this, I just put them in the envelope or e-mail and send them off when they seem ready.
But writing a poem in a certain style to appeal to the editors is a different matter, and for me it was a unrewarding exercise for the following reason ; the level where I connect with the genesis of a poem, the place where I go to is a place where
I wonder almost as a sleepwalker wonders through a house. To continue this analogy it seems it is as though the second stage after setting the poem down is to wake and to begin to look at the poem more objectively. The poem I refer to did not arrive in this way.
At the time I wrote it I had a list of magazines and was working through them like a tick-list. But when the contributors copy arrived I realised I didn’t really like much of the work in the magazine anyway. This is a separate but related issue; is it worth submitting to magazines you don’t like just to get your name ‘out there’?
I might have quite liked my poem if it had been written by someone else.
In a sense it was.
Honest reflection, Roy.
When I first sought advice on submitting from more experienced writers/poets, several of them offered, ‘Consider which journals/magazines you enjoy most, and submit to these.’ Although I confess to wanting to get my work ‘out there,’ I think I was given sound advice and do my best to remain true to myself as a poet. Furthermore, having worked hard to develop a ‘voice’ and preferred style, I hope my work will find publication where it resonates with other work I admire, knowing it won’t suit all.
Hi Jayne. Your comment about remaining ‘true’ has just reminded me of turning down a publication.
The editor said he would take the poem if I left out the first line. I declined and so the poem was rejected. Looking at the poem two years later I can see the editor was right.
I agree, very well summed up about ‘writing to please’. I’ve done the same: but is being seen on a certain page in a certain magazine more important than exploring your ‘real’ feelings?
Thanks for your honesty Roy. Having just this year begun to submit poems and stories to journals I can really identify with this. I’ve got a leaning tower of them stacked up precariously next to me as I write and I’m enjoying working my through their content and learning where (if indeed anywhere) I might fit between their covers.
Hi Lindsay, thank you for your comment. You probably don’t need it but there’s a bit of basic info on the ‘poetry submissions’ page which I wrote when I set this blog up. There is an interesting piece by the Buddhist poet Maitreyabandu in volume 101 of Poetry Review (spring 2011.) He discuses ambition and gratification in poetry, among other things. Good luck with your submissions.
Thanks Roy, I’ll check that out. I’ll take all the advice I can get! Mmm ambition/gratification – can o’worms