The 4 AM Internet Rabbit Hole and Finding Your Voice Through Ezra Pound

I woke up at 4 AM today, before my alarm, before the sun, before even the stray dogs outside remembered their duty to howl at nothing. The plan was simple: start the day writing poetry. This is a new routine I’ve been trying to establish, courtesy of Stafford Challenge, an earnest attempt at prioritizing creative […]
Art as Necessity: Notes on Carl Phillips “Ambition”

Art as Necessity: Notes on Carl Phillips “Ambition” Sitting with Phillips’s “Ambition,” I see something like a dialogue across time and across difference. Assigned for my poetry class, the essay rises like the Gothic arches of a cathedral- each stone a study on what motivates us to create, what makes art not just appealing but […]
Should You Use AI as a Writer? A Beginner’s Guide

AI has changed how we tackle writing, making it easier and more accessible for everyone—from novelists to bloggers. If you’re curious about how AI can support your creativity, this guide will show you what it is, how it works, and how to get started.
Translating Howl: A Struggle with Ginsberg’s Beat

One morning, while scrolling through Facebook (as one does), 😂 I fell into a rabbit trap, an unexpected and exciting, a translation of Howl by the eminent poet Roberto Anonuevo. His version leaned literal, peppered with Filipino street slang. I found it intriguing but hard to grasp. It wasn’t a criticism, just my preference for […]
What 10 Days of Writing Poetry Taught Me

Joining the San Anselmo Publications 10-Day Poetry Challenge was a leap into the unknown—ten days, ten poems, and hundreds of entries from some of the country’s best poets. By the end, I had more than just ten finished pieces; I gained insights about creativity, discipline, and the power of simply showing up.
Monetize your Muse: 7 Websites that Pay for Poetry (and Actually Pay Well)

Discover the lucrative world of earning cash through your poetic prowess! This guide reveals the top websites to submit your verses and get paid, plus insider tips on crafting poems that editors can’t resist.
The Room Where Fear Lives

I was afraid of my own mind before I even knew how it worked. High school halls and people’s doubts echoed with my hesitations: What if what you write betrays you? I knew I was meant to tell stories before I could even spell the words “meant to.” But the knowledge curdled when I tried […]
The Dread of Generic or Copycat Writing

Hey there, guys and ladies, it’s April – your resident rabble-rouser here to stir things up again! Today, let’s chat about something that haunts many of us in the writing world – the fear of sounding too generic or, worse, like a copycat of someone else. It’s like walking a tightrope, isn’t it? We all […]
Enchanting Worlds: Exploring Magic Systems and Folk Traditions in Fiction

Magic systems are something that I’ve always wanted to explore in writing. And a s a beginning fiction writer, I am aghast that something as intricate as magic is something that I have just assumed to be simple and direct. So I have just discovered that there’s an ongoing debate about magic systems and folk […]