Full Moon InnerG
Full Moon Writing Round Ups (with a back story and commentary)
In January I started writing these posts as a way to reflect, refocus, and refine my way of being a writer.
Reflections Jan. 13. 2025
In 2023
I only was onstage in December doing poems
I submitted poems 4 times. Two were declined and the other two left in limbo.
I almost got traditionally published.
I self-published Dangerously Absurd Places.
I sold 5 copies of Dangerously Absurd Places, which only published in December.
I posted 24 blog posts
Ko-fi - 15
Website - 9
In 2024
I only was onstage in July as a conference speaker and in August as a keynote.
I submitted poems 4 times. All were declined.
I sold 5 copies of Dangerously Absurd Places.
I posted 37 blog posts
Substack - 28
Ko-fi - 9
Website - 0
I began news writing again. I did a transcription project.1
Poetry
A little backstory:
While I was living in Guatemala, I started being upset about how I should have been able to create a successful online business selling my poetry and writing. 2021 and 2022 were huge years for me in terms of speaking engagements and teaching adult workshops. Then I moved and I knew I perhaps was interfering with that stream of progress. In Jan 2023, I tried to offset that interference with many emails and much planning and correspondence. I really hoped to jumpstart a new focus on public speaking.
In June 2023, I connected with a Black woman indie publisher and I was set to release my poetry book in February 2024. That fueled my reimagining of how I wanted my life to change, based on the book tour we planned together. I wanted to return to the states so that I could drive to shows rather than having to fly from Guatemala. I would keep teaching because there are so many vacation days built in and I would make up the money selling books. I was all jazzed about re-entering the poetry scene heavily.
Last December (2023) in Guatemala, when I came to terms with the publisher falling through, I got all pumped about self-publishing. I was really proud of myself because I had enough poems to create an ebook that included none of the poems that were supposed to be (traditionally) published. I self-published that ebook in December and got really excited about using all of the business tips I had been studying to market my book. I performed onstage in Guatemala to an only sort-of-bilingual audience but it was such a good vibe. I started making a ton of videos of my poems and my process. I joined an Instagram group for poets in business. I submitted my work to several publications. And in April 2024, poetry month, I joined a group of writers meeting every day to write together and read our work aloud. It was very enriching and I was fairly consistent with that group until September, solidifying the idea that writing is all I want to do.
So this weekend I was taking stock:
I got poems on poems waiting to be published. I’m talkin’ about two or more full books ready to go.
Some of these poems deserve to be memorized just in case.2 I don’t like the phrase “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” because it triggers my workaholism. But there’s value in being a rehearser, a memorizer, being ready to embody who and what I’m meant to be.
I made a document for a new book codename: E&M or M&E. It has 27 poems - 9 that are unpublished in other books.
Another new book codename: TeachDance has 26 poems - 9 different poems unpublished in other books.
These two books share 15 poems that I’m tryna get out there, no matter who publishes me.3
Refine
Takeaway:
My takeaway from this most recent writing season is how much I benefit from accountability in the form of co-writing and body-doubling. I need to point out the difference between the types of accountability that help me and the types that overwork me.
I can’t do trackers and streak achievement charts. If it’s connected to numbers, chances are it’s bad for me. I struggle so much with performing for an external metric rather than embodying the overflow of my innate need to tell and show.
I hope your circles are, like mine, full of people who know the benefits of coworking4, co-writing, and body-doubling.5 It’s best when everyone agrees that all progress is good progress and that we are only here to cheer each other on. It’s lovely when the group has time to debrief what may have held one back from “completion,” and to listen and offer feedback and suggestions without judgment.
Never forget: “accountability is about relationship.” You should not attempt to check or correct someone you don’t have a relationship with. And also, you can cheer on and support anyone. I imagine I’ll have a lot more to say about body-doubling in the future.
Thanks for reading!
May we learn from the cycles of the moon.
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Writing Life Round Up Feb. 12-21, 2025
Embodying My Writer Self
I keep a daily tracker. Since the January and February full moons, 28 days, I wrote 11-12 of them (there was a week I didn’t track).
In pursuit of another book-length work, I had 5 writing sessions where I wrote 3,310 words. I’m sad it was so few days, but I’m happy about the word count.
Blogland
I’ve been double-posting to Substack and my regular blog.
2 vlog/podcast posts
2 written posts
Stats: My Substack views are fairly consistent, with the majority of views coming from email. One vlog/podcast has 5 views and the other has 4. One person commented!
Poetry and Business
I attended a local author meeting at a bookstore in Tulsa. I am really pleased that they don’t require jumping through hoops and they pay you for your books up front (rather than after they sell). I received a small royalty check for my kids book (those don’t come every month).
I submitted a small chunk of poems to a publication on January 15. I should hear back from them by March 1.
I wrote the first half of a poem last Tuesday. That’s a big win because I haven’t written any poetry since election day in November.
I still haven't made it to the stage or gone live.
Articles
A new development: I have published 3 articles with the Black Wall Street Times.
1st back in November
2 were published the first week of February
I’m assigned to the education beat, and it’s interesting how that sometimes branches into other areas.
1st - teacher feature - fun and easy and made the teachers happy
2nd - lot harder because it got into the political weeds
3rd - very political and short, but also easy and useful
doing 3 interviews last week felt a little bit hard
I’m enjoying learning about the different types of articles and I’m excited to figure out which type is the easiest for me and which people enjoy most from me.
Having this opportunity with the Black Wall Street Times is a dream-come-true. My friend reminded me I should call it a manifestation. Each byline paves the way for the next one and increases my desirability for bigger publications and platforms.
I think interviewing is another thing that is going to require me to be very careful with my energy and sleep patterns.
More Refining
I’m noticing that I regularly don’t write on the weekends. I don’t want this to be true, but it is for some reason. I don’t know if it’s my frame of mind (writing is work so I don’t want to work on weekends) or perhaps, I’m just sleepy and have other things to do on weekends.
I noticed when I did this last month that people respond differently to my Ko-fi links than to other sites I use. I’ve never generated a dollar from Substack, but I have way more subscribers there. Ko-fi has been useful for me as a subscription service and also as a storefront.
My video stats are really disheartening for me, because talking is my favorite format. It’s my most natural and easiest. I wonder if posting them on Ko-fi will be more fruitful?
I am enjoying watching myself build my capacity with awareness and authenticity. I think I’m doing a good job managing the stresses. I’m refusing to get caught up in the doom and gloom of the news cycles. I still would like to figure out which summary news service I should use. I used Skimm once upon a time, but my fellow publication writers mentioned a different app. I’m doing better at putting my phone down and away so I can research and write. My drafting process is getting neater. I’m developing a system for how I relisten to my interview recordings and how I take notes.
In a nutshell, it feels like I’m healing the gap between 2013 and now. Y’all might not know I started college as a mass communications major with an emphasis in print journalism. I was a “web” editor back when the internet was a teenager. Haha. 2011-2013 I wrote for digital and print publications that no longer exist. Because the publications are gone, I was afraid that my experience was all-but erased as well. Being able to think back on those processes and integrate memory with updated praxis, that’s healing.
I get to embody and reintegrate my former and future selves. I AM a paid writer.
Submitting to Inertia and Cycles 3/14/2025
Reading: at least 16 of the 28 days - finished a long YA novel and inhaled two cheesy romances, began another YA but I’m taking it slowly. Working on for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf with my eyeballs.
Any writing: 10 ish days
Writing toward a book length work: 2 days
Blogging from Every Angle
I’ve only written two blog posts. I wish it were more, but the two posted are good ones: “Being ‘Successful’ at the End of the World” and “Multiverse Portal InnerG.”
5 videos - 4 that go with the “Being ‘Successful’” post and one general
5 new subscribers
“Being ‘Successful’ at the End of the World”
I am really proud of myself for this post. It is timely in a way that my writing is sometimes not. It reflects my honest perspective about American politics in the MAGA era. It is appropriately sort of controversial. I turned it into a video I felt pretty confident about. The video got some traction on TikTok.
IG reel - 366 views
TT video - 576 views
3 comment response videos - 341 views, 185 views, 216 views
“Multiverse Portal InnerG” got me a date. Haha. The thoughts that went into that post are the same kinds of thoughts that sometimes keep me from being timely. I don’t feel timebound, so writing current is very difficult. I prefer evergreen topics that can be tailored.
Brand video on Instagram - 132 views
Other Writer Stuff
I have published 3 more articles with the Black Wall Street Times. I have not done as well as I wish I had, but I’m giving myself grace for that.
Last month I submitted 3 poems for an anthology and 2 of them were accepted! I’m really excited about this first experience.
I spoke at a career expo affiliated with my school. I interacted with about 10 high schoolers, and I had so many points of reflection while trying to put my ideas together.
Refiner InnerG
I moved myself through some depression this month, for the first time in several months. On my 3rd or 4th day in it, I used calligraphy art, music, and literary reflection to get me over the hump. I didn’t really expect it to work but I’m delighted that it did. I want to make a post about each of those things, but that will take some time.
Last month, I was discouraged about my video views. I wondered if Ko-fi would help me do better. This month, while I didn’t post on Ko-fi or YouTube, only Instagram and TikTok, my views are great by comparison. I would still like to be able to funnel people to my YouTube, but for now, I can submit to the systems that exist. Going against the grain takes energy I don’t have when my innerG is off. Even though I have “medicine” for it now (specific art, music, and books, not actual medicine - but I would love food recommendations), it’s an extra hurdle to jump over on my already busy days.
Reflections
The last cycle was better for writing than this one. This one was better for reading than the last one.
I wonder if I haven’t been writing enough because I’ve been busy in the cosmos, doing shadow work. Between the depression, the anger surrounding my living situation, and the romantic connections made, maintained, and broken, I have been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually busy. I have been taking in a bunch of content about my Manifestor aura according to Human Design theory. It has been very helpful, and simultaneously frustrating.
Marketing
I marketed the “Being ‘Successful’” post more thoroughly than many other things I’ve written and that’s likely why the views were higher. I posted an Instagram poll and chatted with people in the DMs based on their responses. I shared the link several more times than I usually would have.
Both the TikTok video and a DM on Instagram revealed insights into how people are thinking about the current political climate. This sparks a whole other reflection for me. I’m leveling up in curating my community.
Marketing is a whole job and it can be fun! I need to continue embodying a person who curates her own community. I cannot think about marketing my content like a job. I feel good about this overstanding. I believe that I can do this strategically and also be aware of my screen time.
Submissions
Originally I titled this sub-section “submitting” and that has such a different connotation. Haha. But the exciting thing about my acceptance to the anthology is the alignment. I saw an Instagram post advertising submissions for a BIPOC speculative anthology. I don’t see the word “speculative” everywhere. People talk about fantasy and romantasy and sci-fi, but they don’t talk about all of it together under the umbrella of speculation (except in classrooms).
And then when I re-read the poems I submitted, one is about how measuring time impacts actual learning (just like my post “Multiverse Portal InnerG”) and the other is about how Black folx show up for each other supernaturally.
This last moon cycle, I not only remembered what I’m meant to do in the revolution, but I shared that knowing with others. And now I will focus forward on curating a community of people who know what they are meant to do and are doing it, even in the Divided States of Fake Tanerica during a “Hostile Government Takeover.”
More on these later. I don’t want to write too long.
It's easier for me to memorize for specific planned shows/occasions.
My next thing to process through is my desire for specific types of publishers.
I really want this to have a dash (co-working) but the AP says no.
I will argue you into the ground that study groups and coworking are the EXACT SAME as body doubling. I'm gonna call it body doubling because I believe we need to embody who we are and stop trying to work (read the last post). I'm gonna continuously be caught on record saying this is not a thing exclusive to ADHD.