One of my 2021 goals is to keep a list of my writing activity for each month (here’s last month’s). I do so partly as a form of encouragement for myself–to show that I am still able to do some writing despite the energy-sucking terrors of the pandemic (Which is still going on! Keep wearing masks!)–and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I will include negative happenings (e.g., receiving rejections), not just positive ones.
I think that it is important for me to share my list publicly as a queer disabled writer of color because mainstream discourse tries to either pretend voices such as mine do not exist or actively tries to suppress them. Whether one is part of a marginalized group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.
The list is basically in chronological order.
1. Wrote a haiku or senryu on most mornings.
2. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies website.
3. Had the ten haiku/senryu I submitted to Acorn last month rejected.
4. Submitted seven haiku for consideration for inclusion in an anthology the Haiku Society of America is publishing by members of their haiku mentorship program.
5. Worked on an essay about Frank O’Hara for one of my MFA courses.
6. Had the first MFA workshop on my writing, which generally went well.
Daniel Shank Cruz 
One thought on “Writing Activity, September 2021”