The Apples in My Orchard

NaNoWriMo Update

Whew! This month is flying by. I am halfway through NaNoWriMo and pushing ahead. So far I have 22,225 words, slightly behind where I should be at this time in the month. I killed off a character last night and am not sure it was best for my storyline. So today, for the first time, I might be a little bit of a plodder instead of a pantser. I plan to spend more than my usual 1-2 hours on this today and move up my writing time to this afternoon. I’ve been writing after dinner and last night I was just too tired to be creative with the story.

I joined a poetry group on Medium.com where I’ve been a writer since mid-summer (after our move to the cabin). Yesterday, I published a group of my photographic haiku on that site. It was received well. I’m glad I found an additional outlet for my work. The link is here: Haiku Inspired by Nature Caught by a Camera.

Medium Update

Some of you have asked about Medium and being paid on the site. I’ve written some articles about that, too. My advice? Do Not go to Medium and think you’ll earn a living, or in my case, much at all. There are some caveats to earning on the site that has hurt my earning power, such as my viral articles (there have been a few) have been almost entirely ready by external (read non-members) and at this time, those reads/views do not count. Your piece has to be read by Medium Members to earn. Since August, I’ve earned about $25.00 on the site. I’ve always reached my modest goal but this month, I do not think I will. Also, it’s time-consuming because it’s essentially another social media site. I am trying to keep my WordPress blog up and running for those reasons and others. Time will tell what I decide to do with Medium.

Here are a few links about that:

Help! My stories aren’t being read to the end.

Wishing for a return to statistics-free writing.

Have you ever had this happen? It was weird!

Other writing opportunities and projects

I’m working on a Christmas gift that involves writing. I cannot say much more than that because my boys (who the gift is for) occasionally read my blog. The project started off strong about a month ago and then, I’ve let it sit. I worked for a bit this morning on it. Hopefully, I can get it done. If not, there’s always Valentine’s Day.

An email came across my page from a librarian about poetry readings and holding groups. It was sent from WFOP – Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets – a group to which I belong. I’ll have to see what they are looking for but unfortunately, it was from the library I used to go to, now three hours away. I do miss writing with students though, so maybe, just maybe they’ll be an opportunity for that again.

Poem for Today

And, last but not least – a poem for today. I was trying to do some desktop clean-up last night and ran across my woodpecker poem. I thought I had shared that here, but I looked for the post and cannot find it listed in my history. So at the risk of repeating myself:

A Rectangular Hole

What makes a hole 
In a tree like that?
A bird or insect or a
Man with a tool that’s flat?

I’ll give you a clue,
It’s a large bird as big as a crow,
With some red along with black,
Fifteen inches in height or so.

Banging on wood to search for food,
Dead trees in the forest
Serve this purpose for some
But you’ll hear no song chorused.

A songbird it’s not
An endangered life now
Splintered wood, tiny insects 
Will feed him somehow.

The pileated woodpecker
A handsome forest fellow
Winging from stump to stump
With an attitude less than mellow.

When it is time to mate
Dryocopus pileatus needs decay
On trees that in a 
forest no longer sway

A large hole is made in a 
Lone dead tree
For woodpecker eggs and then other
woodland creature that later flee.

What can we do to help this 
Big noisy bird?
Just leave some dead trees in the
Forest, a species death deferred.  


© Draft, Carol Labuzzetta, 2022

I've found that birds make excellent foder for writing.  Earlier this week I wrote a piece on the swans that gather on the Mississippi River, near to where we used to live. It is a sight to behold with thousands of waterfowl gathering to rest and feed.  I've included the link to that as well: 

Thousands of Tundra Swans Gather On the Mississippi River

Today is Poetry Friday. Our round-up host is Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup. Be sure to visit her blog for links to other participants as well as Jama’s usual visual treats! Thanks for hosting! I hope you all have a happy and productive week.

This article’s featured photo of a pileated woodpecker is from pixabay.