Peter Meinke
Peter Meinke is an American poet and author whose work has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, and The New Yorker. His accolades include the Flanner O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, two NEA Fellowships, and three prizes from the Poetry Society of America. Meinke is also the Poet Laureate of Florida.
Published 01/11/16
Published 01/11/16
Howl: What is your writing process?
Meinke: My time for writing has changed over the years. Someone once asked why my first thin book of poems, "The Night Train & the Golden Bird," was so "dark" - it opens with a poem about suicide. I told her that maybe it was because I wrote most of them after midnight. We had 4 small children, I was teaching full time at Hamline University, so by the time I finished with the kids and the schoolwork, it was pretty late. For quite a few years now, I've been at my desk always between 9 am and noon; and then back in the afternoon to write more, or handle letters etc., like this one.
The main thing I believe is to find a regular time to write, and stick to it. I do believe in inspiration, but waiting for it won't work; you have to be at your "desk" a lot of hours; and the way to do this is do set some regular time (many writers, like William Stafford, write or wrote in the very early morning). I also always carry a small notebook in my pocket, so that when ideas come to me, or I hear or see something that strikes me, I can write it down. I then transfer these to a notebook (eventually to the computer.
Writing is a calling. I've always wanted to write, and love to write, and am driven to write. If I skip too many days, I feel weird, like a runner who skips his daily run.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Meinke: I do a great deal of rewriting; in fact, even in poetry I believe most of writing consists of rewriting. Mainly on my first drafts I write as fast as I can, putting down everything I want to say (I often don't quite know what that is). I rewrite almost entirely for sound, trying to make the lines more memorable, almost always shortening my first draft. I tell my students, never send out your poems until after 6 months, because you'll always think of some improvements (small as they might be) during that time.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Meinke: I don't know of any well-published poets who don't also read a lot of poetry. It doesn't seem to matter what poems you read, but if you want to write poetry, you better read a lot of it, to see what's been, or what's being, done. But also reading in a general way is good: read lots of fiction, too, in order to give your poems a bit of structural texture, so they don't float off into the gassy heavens.
Howl: What inspires you to express yourself through writing as opposed to other creative mediums?
Meinke: I don't know. I'm 83, so missed the big influences of TV and internet. I loved as a little boy books like "A Child's Garden of Verses" and "When We Were Six." I just liked books, and still do - I'm not against Twitter, etc., or rap poetry, etc., but I'm a book person and love poems on the printed page. We love movies, too, and perhaps if I were born 30 years later, I'd have enjoyed writing scripts for movies.
Howl: What are the most common challenges you face as a writer and how do you overcome them?
Meinke: Several common challenges. When young, I never had enough time to write. Poetry (but art in general as well) doesn't pay enough to support a normal life with family et al; So I chose to teach in college, because at least then you're surrounded by people interested in books; and you generally have a flexible schedule.
Getting your first "serious" publication is hard. I entered contests, and constantly sent my poems out to magazines. Getting the mail was always exciting in our house. Certainly far more rejections than acceptances, but as time went by I won contests and had poems accepted in good magazines. I recommend trying for chapbook contests, just because that's how I started: I had 2 or 3 chapbooks accepted before the U. of Pittsburgh Press took my "first" full collection of poems. I guess my advice is, to keep sending things out, despite many rejections. I wasn't a prodigy by any means. I sent work out for many years, and slowly began to be accepted.
Don't think you'll make money from writing poems. Even The New Yorker doesn't pay anything that you could live on. So you need a job, teaching or anything else that leaves you time to write. The only "money" in poetry is from readings. Finally, in my old age, I can make a living from just writing and giving readings - but in 95% of the case, you'll need a "real" job to support your writing habit. This isn't a terrible thing: I loved teaching, surrounded by people interested in the arts.
Meinke: My time for writing has changed over the years. Someone once asked why my first thin book of poems, "The Night Train & the Golden Bird," was so "dark" - it opens with a poem about suicide. I told her that maybe it was because I wrote most of them after midnight. We had 4 small children, I was teaching full time at Hamline University, so by the time I finished with the kids and the schoolwork, it was pretty late. For quite a few years now, I've been at my desk always between 9 am and noon; and then back in the afternoon to write more, or handle letters etc., like this one.
The main thing I believe is to find a regular time to write, and stick to it. I do believe in inspiration, but waiting for it won't work; you have to be at your "desk" a lot of hours; and the way to do this is do set some regular time (many writers, like William Stafford, write or wrote in the very early morning). I also always carry a small notebook in my pocket, so that when ideas come to me, or I hear or see something that strikes me, I can write it down. I then transfer these to a notebook (eventually to the computer.
Writing is a calling. I've always wanted to write, and love to write, and am driven to write. If I skip too many days, I feel weird, like a runner who skips his daily run.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Meinke: I do a great deal of rewriting; in fact, even in poetry I believe most of writing consists of rewriting. Mainly on my first drafts I write as fast as I can, putting down everything I want to say (I often don't quite know what that is). I rewrite almost entirely for sound, trying to make the lines more memorable, almost always shortening my first draft. I tell my students, never send out your poems until after 6 months, because you'll always think of some improvements (small as they might be) during that time.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Meinke: I don't know of any well-published poets who don't also read a lot of poetry. It doesn't seem to matter what poems you read, but if you want to write poetry, you better read a lot of it, to see what's been, or what's being, done. But also reading in a general way is good: read lots of fiction, too, in order to give your poems a bit of structural texture, so they don't float off into the gassy heavens.
Howl: What inspires you to express yourself through writing as opposed to other creative mediums?
Meinke: I don't know. I'm 83, so missed the big influences of TV and internet. I loved as a little boy books like "A Child's Garden of Verses" and "When We Were Six." I just liked books, and still do - I'm not against Twitter, etc., or rap poetry, etc., but I'm a book person and love poems on the printed page. We love movies, too, and perhaps if I were born 30 years later, I'd have enjoyed writing scripts for movies.
Howl: What are the most common challenges you face as a writer and how do you overcome them?
Meinke: Several common challenges. When young, I never had enough time to write. Poetry (but art in general as well) doesn't pay enough to support a normal life with family et al; So I chose to teach in college, because at least then you're surrounded by people interested in books; and you generally have a flexible schedule.
Getting your first "serious" publication is hard. I entered contests, and constantly sent my poems out to magazines. Getting the mail was always exciting in our house. Certainly far more rejections than acceptances, but as time went by I won contests and had poems accepted in good magazines. I recommend trying for chapbook contests, just because that's how I started: I had 2 or 3 chapbooks accepted before the U. of Pittsburgh Press took my "first" full collection of poems. I guess my advice is, to keep sending things out, despite many rejections. I wasn't a prodigy by any means. I sent work out for many years, and slowly began to be accepted.
Don't think you'll make money from writing poems. Even The New Yorker doesn't pay anything that you could live on. So you need a job, teaching or anything else that leaves you time to write. The only "money" in poetry is from readings. Finally, in my old age, I can make a living from just writing and giving readings - but in 95% of the case, you'll need a "real" job to support your writing habit. This isn't a terrible thing: I loved teaching, surrounded by people interested in the arts.