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All of us have bitter battles with The Muse at times, whether we believe in her or not. Sometimes we want to write and haven’t the slightest idea about what. Other times, we drive down the highway with poems flying at us from all angles. Various ways of recording those flying poem scraps have been discussed elsewhere, but how do we really get a steady stream of poetry going? One of the things I do with some regularity is demand of myself a poem a day for thirty days, no matter what. The motto is that it doesn't have to be a *good* poem, but it does have to be a poem. (A bit like Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird theory of "sh*tty first drafts.) I have done this about six times in the last year, and every time it's worked out well for me. In fact, when I write a poem a day, many are just -- well -- crap! But the more important thing is that I get at least five to ten decent first drafts with which to work . That's more than I'd get without this exercise in 30 days, I can assure you. If I wait for the Muse to strike at the correct time, I usually get about three good poems a month from waiting around for Her. If it’s a bad spell of life, I may write absolutely nothing. The 30 days/30 poems challenge helps me push myself as a writer, even when I don’t feel like one. I divide the poems after writing them into files: “to work on” and “crap.” Obviously I will work on the ones to edit and hopefully they will bloom into publishable poems. Some of them start out very much finished and just need some touches. From the "crap file" which is always much larger, I get a few good ideas or lines; so that adds to my output as well. I use some tricks to get inspiration when I need to write that poem and don’t have any handy scraps hanging around in my head. There are art galleries online. I go for a virtual visit through museums or through other countries. I read the newspaper. I try all those exercises found in various poetry books that I may not ever get to otherwise. I listen to music or think about food. Some days I write a poem about how frustrating it is to write a poem. (See below.) There is poetry in everything. With a little pressure, I usually can find enough for a poem every day. I didn't come up with this idea on my own, it was offered as a challenge at a poetry community related to SaucyVox.com, and now there are other such challenges available on the web, one at The New Blueline This exercise is not something I could do for 365 days of the year, but it’s a terrific way to instill a work ethic for writing and to remind myself that I am a writer. I am continually surprised at how many poems I’ve published that have come from these challenges when I didn’t feel like writing. Just remember, it doesn't have to be perfect -- it does have to be a poem, and anyone can really thrive from this exercise. Finally, I have learned that even if I am sick in bed or starving or so busy I can't see straight, I *will* take the time to write that poem every day (OK, some days are haiku or dirty limericks) *if* I make the commitment to do so. This has helped me relax a bit into the act of simply finding poetry anywhere and allowing myself to write those bad first drafts so I can cull from them and "revise revise revise" later. All the best with it! Ella McCrystle Original Drafts of Ella's Poem-A-Day frustrations:
How Not to Write a Poem (An Anti-Ars Poetica) Addict 12 Steps of the Poem-A-Day Addict And just a note: As of March 2005, Ella is still, insanely, practicing this tradition. | ||
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