A Quick Reflection

This is a little late for a reflection on 2023 (since it’s already March), but I wanted to write something anyway (so this blog doesn’t look dead, or too much like a tech blog).

I guess I could start by sharing a spreadsheet of my poetry submissions in 2023.

At the end of the year, a couple of Singaporean poets share their own spreadsheets. They share the stats of all the journals that they have submitted to, and all the rejections that they have received. I think this is an effort to normalise rejection and demystify the submission process.

Technically, I guess I’m a Singaporean poet, and a participant in the Singaporean poetry scene, so maybe I could throw my hat in this ring as well.

Here’s my spreadsheet (made in Notion):*

If you only look at the submissions that received a response, my success rate looks good (for poetry submissions): three out of seven were successful, or about 42.9%. However, I mostly submitted to local journals in Singapore, which were more likely to accept my work anyway (since the pool of applicants is smaller). So I don’t think this says much about my writing ability, or the quality of my writing. And I only submitted to seven places. Overall, I didn’t submit to many journals and competitions last year.

This is because writing poetry, and pursuing this craft professionally (and “competitively”), is no longer a huge priority for me. I will probably participate a bit in SingPoWriMo* this year, but I am no longer going to “grind” this skill (to borrow video game lingo).

I still enjoy writing poetry from time to time, but I see it more like lifting weights—it’s a healthy (creative) exercise that strengthens my creative writing abilities, rather than something that defines my life and identity. And it helps me process issues and emotions I’m figuring out too.

On a personal level, I learned a lot last year, but I don’t really like writing about my life directly and plainly in a blog post—I prefer writing about my life under a layer of metaphor or fiction. It’s easier to write, and I think it’s more fun to read. I guess I’ll continue doing that.

A Quick Update

Right now, I’m almost finishing up a short documentary film, which is also my final-year project (FYP) for my pseudo-film degree. (Hence, the banner image.)* After that, I’ll be working on an interactive fiction piece for my creative writing class.

(While I’m not sure how many people read this blog, I just found out that this website is the top search result when you search “sarah mak”. I guess this means I’m the definitive Sarah Mak! Suck it, other Sarah Maks!)