Why I am adding Author's Notes to my Vocal Back Catalogue

Why have I started to add backstories to my old Vocal-published work?

Let me cut to the chase:-

1. I enjoy it when others do similar. I feel closer to the author when I read the perspective that motivated or framed their words. I have bought books based on the quality of the ramblings in the marginalia. Some people hate it when people write on books - I say, what were they meant to do before quick edit?!

2. Doing this is a way to share elements of myself with people. I have always been a fairly closed book. It has been said that I enjoy my own company far too much for an extrovert. However, this is because I shy away from being judged. I think it is time to put my heart on my sleeve more and be brave.

3. I am still learning, and adding the author's notes to my work helps me to look back and think about what I was trying to achieve when I wrote a poem or piece of fiction. Mostly I write for challenges, but not always. Sometimes it is interesting to reflect on your headspace when you produced a poem or a story and then to note what you have learned from that little writing adventure.

4. Sharing our failures is as important (if not more) as sharing our successes. I have spent much of my career helping others realise their potential, and what I know is that stories of easy glory do not shape confidence, but tales of trials, tribulations, and adversity do. So, I thought I would start openly critiquing my work; annotate some challenge attempts that did not win and why I believe they didn't. Describe where I went wrong and what I have learned. I am hoping this helps people reconcile their own challenge losses and encourages them to keep going.

Some Examples from my Poetry Collection:

Melancholy Skies was one of the first times I had put some author's notes at the end of a poem. I thought it would help readers not from my locality to empathise with the imagery in the poem. I got a top story for this, but I think it was likely more because of the comments than the poem's quality.

Vivi dissectio is one of the shortest poems I have written - and for a good reason - its length is in keeping with the content. I have, post-publication, added some notes to share a little of myself and how the words came about so I, and perhaps others, can reflect on the content and the conscious brevity of it.

The Wake of Weekend Warriors is a favourite poem of mine, but it did not touch the sides of the poetry challenge it was entered into. I understand why completely. Although, as I note at the end of it - if, as Poet Carol Ann Duffy describes, "Poetry is the music of being human," surely, there is room for some heavy metal souls.

Queen of the Web was pulled back to drafts pretty much as soon as I published it because I had an emotional meltdown in the subtitle. Yep, not exactly a proud moment. I added the notes to remind me what had happened and not to be such a hypocrite!

My Will: In Glorious Technicolour was the first poem, actually, the first of anything, that I wrote for Vocal. I entered it into the Colours Challenge. I can see why it did not win; in fact, I cringe at how arrogant it reads. It was meant to be a poetic celebration of starting out on a new journey. I was pioneering again after cancer and navigating a pandemic in food retail - it just goes to show intention is not as important as impact. We all get judged by the latter and not by the former.

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Author's note:

I had to write this little ending - it is amusing to me if nobody else!!!

Self-criticism, working through our edges, understanding the landscape we write in, appreciating the pitfalls, listening to peers, and focusing on progress rather than missed successes has helped me evolve as a writer. I recently had my first win in fiction; one day, I will hopefully get one in poetry too.

Until that day comes, I shall continue reflecting on my performance and keep sharing my thoughts. None of us succeeds in silo, and if I can throw a few little crumbs onto the bird table, as meagre as they may be, then I should. Who knows, they may be of help to somebody other than me!