This is her 6 point compass guide to writing poetry -
(1) I always write with the reader or the observer in mind. I try to make my images, my allusions and my messages accessible to people's sense of familiarity. In other words, I strive to employ words, metaphors and ideas that people have experienced or encountered in everday life. For example, I would not use references to tv shows, personalities, brand names that are typically American and only understood by an American audience. I want to be understood by all readers.
(2) I try never to weigh down my sentences with multisyllabic words. I simpifly my verse and use the smaller words. Also, I avoid placing too many modifiers in front of my nouns. Too many adjectives clutter the idea, take away from the clean lines of the poetic symmetry.
(3) I always wait for inspiration to come to me randomly. A poem (for me) must happen spontaneously or it sounds too contrived. I go through periods of writer's block because of this concept but it's worth waiting for a good idea to come in the end.
(4) Sometimes, a glimpse of nature, a scrap of conversation with a friend, a headline in the newspaper or reading another line from a poem, sparks an idea, an image. I always write these quick flashes of inspiration down in a notebook. They can be developed into poerms sometime in the future.
(5) I am not afraid to leave a poem unfinished. Sometimes I will start a poem and struggle with it for days. At this point, I leave it and come back when I feel I am equipped to complete it. And by length of abandonment, I mean anywhere from a week to even a year. There are three poems I have left up in the air for a year each and then returned in another year to complete them. Some people say how can this be done when the writer loses his continuity of thought or original intent over a proloned absence from the text. I feel the poet can bring new perspective and insight especially if he or she has been away from the troublemsome verse for awhile. A break always gives the mind a chance to rest and re-invests its frarme of reference with new energy and stimuli. Those tratis can help to re-shape a half-finished poem and perhaps, lead it in a stronger direction.
(6) Always trust your gut instincts and imagination. I have learned to be myself and trust what sounds right to me. After all who knows my own self or thought process better than I do.
This is one of mine
Thomas the experi- mental linquistically innovative lyrical poet- sighing at the reading window where no wolves prowl - is beating his poetic wings to crush and bend language flapping in the sing song dust of chaos that scrapes outside of lingo normal's door and the timbre of his doppleganger - an oil throated story teller - tells in speech gap narratives how fragmentary life whispers linear trad syntactic sound redundant, whilst here in parliament bank mermaid accurate pieces testify to the sweeping ferocity of slam multiple adornments in car picture garlands driving on street world sheet roads running to roll on bronze wine ships which hulk along white foam ribbon under star dark pin prick skies then roll off upon a sea outside of language.
Into the terminal herding area of a wet crust soggy heaven where test card olympians stare through blue ripped yellow depths and forge grammatically odd sculptured poems in smithies of disruptionto poise and swim on rock top tables littered with OAP infinities gagging to laugh and gurgle at the filter jelly film packets with owl panel corner cracks sweeping colour friendly hair clutch boxes into needle murmers smirking repeatedly as the head's breath inhales insect windmills grinding into particles of moment the dreams we rinse when unconsciousness creeps, sleeping off the full glob of life that's been shrewed through the sieve mixed and shrunk whipped to the consistency of blurred paint then thrown out of kilter until the faint trace of an outline stirs and makes identification of word packages dumped in the cauldron at the warehouse of shifting contexts dissolving you, I, we or them unofficial legislators whose technology problems is vision compressed ‘n driven into a nascent flash of immensly creative capacities radically affecting past methods because "easy" does not do it anymore "hard fun" is the future says Seymour the mis- chief and mysticism guru who brought hi tech to learning under the edict of Seamus now stroking his palm clamped face with ideal fingers designed to tame in a dazzling dance the irrational from biting back
1 comment:
Hi
Check out Wendy Howe. She is a 42 year old English Teacher in New York State and has been writing for 25 years.
http://p211.ezboard.com/fthecriticalpoetsmessageboarfrm74?page=1
This is her 6 point compass guide to writing poetry -
(1) I always write with the reader or the observer in
mind. I try to make my images, my allusions and my
messages accessible to people's sense of familiarity.
In other words, I strive to employ words, metaphors
and ideas that people have experienced or encountered
in everday life. For example, I would not use
references to tv shows, personalities, brand names
that are typically American and only understood by an
American audience. I want to be understood by all
readers.
(2) I try never to weigh down my sentences with
multisyllabic words. I simpifly my verse and use the
smaller words. Also, I avoid placing too many
modifiers in front of my nouns. Too many adjectives
clutter the idea, take away from the clean lines of
the poetic symmetry.
(3) I always wait for inspiration to come to me
randomly. A poem (for me) must happen spontaneously or
it sounds too contrived. I go through periods of
writer's block because of this concept but it's worth
waiting for a good idea to come in the end.
(4) Sometimes, a glimpse of nature, a scrap of
conversation with a friend, a headline in the
newspaper or reading another line from a poem, sparks
an idea, an image. I always write these quick flashes
of inspiration down in a notebook. They can be
developed into poerms sometime in the future.
(5) I am not afraid to leave a poem unfinished.
Sometimes I will start a poem and struggle with it for
days. At this point, I leave it and come back when I
feel I am equipped to complete it. And by length of
abandonment, I mean anywhere from a week to even a
year. There are three poems I have left up in the air
for a year each and then returned in another year to
complete them. Some people say how can this be done
when the writer loses his continuity of thought or
original intent over a proloned absence from the text.
I feel the poet can bring new perspective and insight
especially if he or she has been away from the
troublemsome verse for awhile. A break always gives
the mind a chance to rest and re-invests its frarme of
reference with new energy and stimuli. Those tratis
can help to re-shape a half-finished poem and perhaps,
lead it in a stronger direction.
(6) Always trust your gut instincts and imagination. I
have learned to be myself and trust what sounds right
to me. After all who knows my own self or thought
process better than I do.
This is one of mine
Thomas the experi-
mental
linquistically innovative lyrical poet-
sighing at the reading window
where no wolves prowl -
is beating his poetic wings
to crush and bend language flapping in the sing song dust of chaos
that scrapes outside of lingo normal's door
and the timbre of his doppleganger
- an oil throated story teller -
tells in speech gap narratives how fragmentary life whispers linear
trad syntactic sound redundant, whilst
here in parliament bank
mermaid accurate pieces testify to the sweeping ferocity
of slam multiple adornments in car picture garlands driving on street world sheet roads
running to roll on bronze wine ships
which hulk along white foam ribbon
under star dark pin prick skies
then roll off upon a sea outside of language.
Into the terminal herding area
of a wet crust soggy heaven where test card olympians
stare through blue ripped yellow depths
and forge grammatically odd
sculptured poems in smithies of disruptionto poise and swim on rock top tables
littered with OAP infinities
gagging to laugh and gurgle at the filter jelly film packets
with owl panel corner cracks
sweeping colour friendly
hair clutch boxes
into needle murmers
smirking repeatedly as the head's breath inhales insect windmills
grinding into particles of moment
the dreams we rinse when unconsciousness
creeps,
sleeping off the full glob of life
that's been shrewed through the sieve
mixed and shrunk whipped to the consistency of blurred paint
then thrown out of kilter
until the faint trace of an outline
stirs and makes identification
of word packages dumped in the cauldron
at the warehouse of shifting contexts
dissolving
you, I, we or them
unofficial legislators whose technology problems
is vision compressed ‘n driven into a nascent flash
of immensly creative capacities
radically affecting past methods
because
"easy"
does not do it anymore
"hard fun" is the future
says Seymour
the mis-
chief and mysticism guru
who brought hi tech to learning
under the edict of Seamus
now
stroking his
palm clamped face
with ideal fingers
designed to tame in a dazzling dance the irrational
from biting back
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