Anybody try to work on their novel and just have… no ideas?! I’m at the very beginning stages of planning my story, and I’ve been stuck at this point for a while. Any advice on how to get through it?
Jenna Mather
@jennamather.bsky.social
Poet, writer, and University of Iowa grad enjoying the Subplots of life. Work published in petrichor, wildscape, and others.
Lately it feels like almost anything is easier than writing. Cleaning, grocery shopping, working—all the little things that need to get done but sop up so much time. It’s hard to keep prioritizing your art when life never stops. Figuring out how to balance this as well as I can is my new priority.
Heard the news today that I have a new poem coming out in August from @bloominonionlit.bsky.social! It’s a spicy little love poem called “Skinny dipping” and I’m so excited it finally found a home!🌊🤍
"...But there is only silence and you, air-tanked and plunged deep under the surface like a needle...." Jenna Mather's "Appomattox," a poem for a Milwaukee shipwreck. Read the full piece in the 10th anniversary issue of petrichor. petrichormag.com/30-jenna-mat...
petrichor is extending our submission portal. Both general subs and subs to Pebbles vol. 7 (micropoems, no more than 5 lines each!) will now be accepted till June 15. Send us your best poems! It doesn't have to be intelligent, but it better not be artificial (brb gotta delete our linktree rn).
Sometimes waiting feels like the biggest part of being a writer. I have so many poems and short stories out waiting for consideration from lit mags right now, and the anticipation has me feeling hopeful and nervous anytime I check my email!
I got some exciting print publication news this morning!!! Thanks, Lunchbreak Review!
My poem “Appomattox” (inspired by the shipwreck off of Atwater Beach in Milwaukee) was published in @petrichorlit.bsky.social today!!! Thanks so much for including me in this issue.
petrichor 30, our 10th Anniversary issue, is here! feat. CAConrad, Rosaire Appel, Jose-Luis Moctezuma, Sy Hoahwah, Orchid Tierney and many more! petrichormag.com/petrichor-30...
A new essay is up on my Substack this morning! This one is inspired by National Poetry Month—it’s about how the last year has been for me as a poet and some things I’ve learned along the way! open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Reflections on another year as a poet
Stories and thoughts for National Poetry Month from another year as a poet.
open.substack.com
My poem “Appomattox” will be out this week in petrichor journal! I wrote it last summer after searching for the shipwreck of the same name off of Atwater Beach on Lake Michigan. It’s a yearning, summery love poem, I can’t wait to share it!
Happy National Poetry Month! This is what I’ve been reading to celebrate…
One of my first Substack posts I ever wrote was in honor of National Poetry Month! Bringing it back since it’s that time of year.🤍📝 open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Why I love poetry
Musings on the form for National Poetry Month.
open.substack.com
I recently wrote a guide for submitting to literary magazines! It’s the kind of thing I wish another writer had sat down and walked me through when I was working on my very first submissions. I hope it helps you get published! open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
A Beginner's Guide to Submitting Your Work to Literary Magazines
Because intimidating processes shouldn't hold you back from sharing your awesome work with the world!
open.substack.com
Slight delay on the 10th Anniversary issue. It's our biggest in 10 years, so there's a lot to put together. But it will be worth it. In the meantime, subs open in two hours yaaaaay.
New cooking-themed unconventional sort of love poem out now on my Substack!🍳🧄🧂 open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Garlic press
Another cooking-themed love poem...
open.substack.com
I haven’t posted much here recently—I’m mostly on Threads and Instagram—but if you missed it there, I had a new poem published in January in wildscape journal! It’s inspired by the time I broke my foot last year.
My poem “We need to break up” was published today in Discretionary Love! I’m so grateful to the team there for publishing this piece!🥰🌱🤎🍊
My poem “We need to break up” is out now in Discretionary Love! So grateful to them for publishing this piece.🤎🌱🍊 www.discretionarylove.com/we-need-to-b...
We need to break up, Discretionary Love
the soil, i heard someone say, to keep growing the garden we need to break up the soil together, to press our palms into the hot dirt after a rainstorm...
discretionarylove.com
I just heard one of my love poems will be published in Discretionary Love this week!🥰
I’ve been a bit more quiet online lately; I’ve been trying to find a natural balance where I feel like I have time to write, read, work, and do everything else—while also being less stressed and more present. I don’t know how successful it’s been, but I’m almost done writing chapter 1 of my book.😁
I don’t post on here very often, but wanted to share that one of my poems will be published by wildscape in January!!! I can’t wait for this piece to be out.☺️🥳
New post out on my Substack about the importance of persistence and my two poems that were published earlier this week!🤍 open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Two Poems Published in Boats Against the Current + Thoughts on Persistence
How one of my poems (that I wrote in 2023!!!) finally got published.
open.substack.com
A new essay is up! I wrote about how I’ve struggled to write over this past year. I never realized how hard it can be to feel creative during big life changes—I hope this essay reaches other writers who are also trying to find their voice again. open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Are you having trouble writing? Me too.
How a creative lull is helping me rediscover my voice as a writer.
open.substack.com
A new essay will be up on my Substack on Sunday! I’m sharing about how much I’ve struggled to write over this past year and how I found solace in taking life moment by moment creatively. This is my most cathartic post yet, so I’m excited for it to be up soon! ☺️ open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
Subplots with Jenna Mather | Substack
Sometimes the subplot is the best part of the story. Welcome to Subplots, where I share poems, stories, and essays about whatever's on my mind as an emerging writer. Click to read Subplots with Jenna ...
open.substack.com
A new post is up on my Substack! This time, I wrote about struggling to make progress on outlining / drafting my novel and finding joy in reading great books or writing shorter works along the way. open.substack.com/pub/subplots...
#2: In Between Moments
On ideas and writing little things during long projects.
open.substack.com
What I’ve been reading these days… I just finished Problematic Summer Romance, which was the breezy, funny romance I’ve been craving to get out of my reading slump. Now I’m on to The Dry Season, a memoir that I’ve been dying to get my hands on since I first heard about it!
