New to Haiku: Thoughts From an Editor
When I was new to haiku, I often wondered why editors didn’t see the value of my haiku. Why did my work get rejected so often? Why did this poem I wrote quickly get snapped up on first offering, but that one I agonized over can’t find a home? Why did one editor choose to publish or award a poem that numerous other editors had turned down? What’s really going through the mind of a haiku editor?
Obviously, I can’t speak for all editors. But the following thoughts came to me recently during a reading and editing session, and I thought they might prove useful to you. Please keep in mind that these are my personal comments and observations––I’m not speaking on behalf of The Haiku Foundation or Frogpond.
1. Editors of haiku journals read A LOT of haiku, sometimes thousands of poems per issue. There are many lovely haiku that may not be chosen for inclusion due to space constraints.
2. If you submit to a journal with multiple readers, keep in mind that one editor’s favorite poem in a batch of submissions might be another editor’s least favorite. On average, this poem will likely not be chosen. So if you love your haiku, keep submitting it!
3. Please don’t submit multiple versions of the same aha moment. They read like the same haiku with different edits, and it’s unlikely that more than one will be chosen. On a similar note, haiku that stem from your own personal observation and experience tend to read as more genuine.
4. Trends show up in poetry, and this may work against your haiku. If I have read ten poems about “gossamer wings,” for example, I may not observe the unique twist in yours. This doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with your poem, just that your editor has image fatigue.
5. I’m noticing more 3-line haiku with long-short-long construction rather than short-long-short. I don’t have strong feelings on this either way, but I think it’s an interesting development.
6. If a haiku has more than 17 syllables, it likely reads “heavy,” regardless of how wonderful it is otherwise.
7. Which reminds me, watch for adjectives in haiku that ascribe judgement, such as beautiful, ugly, happy, or sad. If you can, find another way to describe the scene. Can you evoke this feeling in your reader with a concrete description instead? The rule of “show, don’t tell,” applies to haiku too. Another option might be to rework your poem as a senryu. Use caution, however, when ascribing human traits and feelings to plants, animals, and other non-humans. Sometimes this works, but more often it doesn’t.
8. Specific unfamiliar words work best when they add a twist to the poem. If I have to look up a word and it unlocks the entire haiku, I’m delighted. If it doesn’t, I wonder why this particular word was chosen. Keep in mind that if you overload your haiku with niche words, you run the risk of your readers not understanding you. This may be worth it––only you can decide.
9. Poems with unusual lineation or shape work best when they enhance the meaning of the poem. If you deviate from a left-justified or centered haiku, think about why. And if you are hesitant to edit the shape of your poem, keep in mind that some haiku function best in a different layout.
10. Remember that your haiku editors and judges are nearly always unpaid volunteers. We do our best, but our best may vary. We are trying, but we are human. Have patience with us!
My personal rule of thumb is that I keep editing a poem until it is accepted for publication or until I despise it. I encourage you to resubmit work you believe in––the haiku world is richer for it.
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Comments (17)
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Thank you great advice for beginners and a review for the more experienced
Your “New to Haiku” feature is such a gift to the haiku community, and this one helps so much with perspective around publication. Thank you!
This might sound beside the point here, but getting your work published is a kind of performance, a challenge we set ourselves, and also a kind of competition between poets. I do know that I write haiku for the simple love of it. I do my own research, and I do not think that the choice of editors should represent the alpha and omega of our haiku practice. There is a lot more beyond that.
The best thing would be to follow the haiku path, do our own long research on this form, and ultimately find our voice.
Thank you for these insightful comments about editors. I tend to give up after a couple of rejections and look closely at my haiku and begin to dissect if it wasn’t as clear as I thought. Rejections are a valuable but painful part of the writing process.
Many thanks for this post, Julie, I was fading away from haiku, fast.
Reading about haiku and other forms has been a bit more than a journey but, a desire to learn. I’ve taken many opportunities to advance my knowledge. Paragraph seven, for me, was most important for the learning process.
I agree with, Alan, when entering verses, there should be a friendly exchange and a process entered into.
A while back this was available to those interested in producing and submitting verses via THF. I learnt so much, along with many various courses with Alan Summers.
Reading this article has rekindled my desire to start writing haiku and haibun as often as I used to.
Thanks, Julie, for the insightful column and happy to see it resonated with so many in the community. Your first point about how many submissions that editors receive is so important as it’s difficult to get into many of our renown journals due to the sheer number of submissions, which is a ‘good problem’ that we have, as it speaks to the enjoyment and appreciation of English language haiku. This is also so true for contests and awards.
I appreciated, “I encourage you to resubmit work you believe in.” Many times I’ve have had poems rejected by several editors and the poems aren’t as good as I thought 😔 or as clear as I thought or as resonant as I thought and need more editing and refinement. Other times, they find a place in another journal and sometimes this occurs years after originally being rejected. For me, writing from the heart, mind and soul is emotionally and spiritually rewarding and hopefully leads to being published.
Also, thanks to all the editors who find the time to give some feedback on ‘rejected’ poems. It is a lot of work, highly appreciated and builds community.
Finally, thanks, Julie, for writing , “We are trying, but we are human,” – so true.
Thanks, Julie, for the insightful column and happy to see it resonated with so many in the community. Your first point about how many submissions that editors receive is so important as it’s difficult to get into many of our renown journals due to the sheer number of submissions, which is a ‘good problem’ that we have, as it speaks to the enjoyment and appreciation of English language haiku. This is also so true for contests and awards.
I appreciated, “I encourage you to resubmit work you believe in.” Many times I’ve have had poems rejected by several editors and the poems aren’t as good as I thought 😔 or as clear as I thought or as resonant as I thought and need more editing and refinement. Other times, they find a place in another journal and sometimes this occurs years after originally being rejected. For me, writing from the heart, mind and soul is emotionally and spiritually rewarding and hopefully leads to being published.
Also, thanks to all the editors who find the time to give some feedback on ‘rejected’ poems. It is a lot of work, highly appreciated and builds community.
Finally, thanks, Julie, for writing , “We are trying, but we are human,” – so true. Thanks for the wonderful contribution in this column!
Thank you for this … and also to othered who have commented! I too appreciate the info about some poems being ‘close’… and also Alan’s posts about his process of engaging with writers were very interesting… what a great way to help newer poets improve their writing!
Thanks for being so open about this difficult and often painful topic; when I have work rejected I feel like I’m the only one, though I know that isn’t true. As always, your remarks are helpful and to the point. I’d like to add that editors can ease the moment a bit by mentioning any submissions that “came close,” even if they ultimately weren’t the right match. It helps to have something a little positive, or I feel like junking the whole batch, though that’s not fair to them, and I have had revisions accepted once I made changes–though the main reason for revising is just to make each poem as good as it can be and to learn something from the revising. So, thanks again.
All and each of these observations are useful—whether to apply consciously or simply to remain aware of—if one seeks publication.
Thank you, Julie, for such rare transparency.
And yet, I find myself questioning something more fundamental: what place should the notion of “competition” hold in haiku practice?
S.R
This was crucial, Julie. Many thanks for your insights & for all that you do for the community!
Thanks for great advice. It is so timely, and will help in future submissions. I think I suspected some, but to have it spelled out, well, so much the better.
So grateful for this advice – and encouragement. Especially your rule of thumb.
I also like the power of the editor when it’s my turn as sole editor (and founder) of The Pan Haiku Review, as I love dialogue with poets new and old. No one gets declined, rather we enter into a process.
Quite often the friendly exchange is 10-20 emails until a stronger haiku, tanka, haibun etc…
As an editor I do not want rejections. As it’s an online journal, printing and postage costs are not a problem, and I’m a pretty open as a “broadchurch” in taste and approach.
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New to Haiku: Advice for Beginners – Alan Summers
https://thehaikufoundation.org/new-to-haiku-advice-for-beginners-alan-summers/
Librarian’s Cache: Poet of the Month – Alan Summers
https://thehaikufoundation.org/librarians-cache-poet-of-the-month-alan-summers/
Thank you for these sound observations. I am new to writing Haiku and this has given numerous ideas to improve my efforts.
Oh my goodness, Julie, this advice couldn’t be more timely or needed. I am so grateful you put this together so well, and this is an important read for haikuists of every level of experience.