What's one activity that gets you prepared...

[Larry]

To write a poem!

I like taking walks.

Also, do you find "inspiration" a necessity? I don't
Even if I'm not inspired, I try to vomit something up.

[addy]

Sitting in a quiet place with no distractions and just thinking.

Reading helps too. Not to copy what you've read, of course, but it puts you in the right frame of mind and gets your thoughts rolling in a rhythm.

[billy]

To write a poem!

I like taking walks.

Also, do you find "inspiration" a necessity? I don't
Even if I'm not inspired, I try to vomit something up.

one word or line.
i don't really get inspired
so no to inspiration.

basically i need a little bit of time say 20 30 minutes to get down the bones of a poem.
then another 20 30 mins to alter and edit it.

then another 3 years during which it gets brought out dusted off and re-edited over and over.

[mrmod]

Do you guys have any advice? I feel like I want to write, but I don't know what to write about.

[srijantje]

get inspired by a picture

[billy]

Do you guys have any advice? I feel like I want to write, but I don't know what to write about.

thats how it starts :p poetry is insidious :p

first off just look at something, anything. try and strip it down in your mind and rebuild it on paper.
the same can be done with a scene or a situation.

try and be original in your interpretation.
if you don't write as a rule go for a three to six liner.

a simple observational poem i find to the easiest \;.

example;

Spoiled Fruit by William Marsland. (an instructional poem for the Nad)

soft dark stains
yield to my arthritic fingers

consoled within my poverty
by the generous gift of free fruit

i part the apple's skin
with my dentures.

the above too about 5 mins to write. afetr that i'd normally spend some time on an edit to see where i can improve it;

i think i could change poverty to another word. how about austerity to show this old person has to live within a budget.


not too happy fingers lets change it to grip

not happy with the first line, it's not really saying much, lets change the whole line to;

sweet rotting flesh


yield sounds a bit posh, let's change it to burst under and remove the to my (it also creates an image)

i dont like the two lines

consoled within my poverty
by the generous gift of free fruit

i'll change them too;

apathetic to my poverty
thankful to eat

ill change plastic to broken and reverse the end two lines.


so now i have;

Spoiled fruit by William Marsland

sweet rotting flesh
burst under my arthritic grip

i'm apathetic to poverty
thankful to eat

with broken dentures.
i crush the apple's skin

this would normally be put up for feedback. which i'll do presently.

thank's for the inspiration dan

[digna_sofia]

I do pretty much what Billy says - I start with a word/line, or I hold on to an image and strip it down. For people who are new to poetry, though, I'd suggest a fill-in-the blanks concentration exercise. For example:

(Word) is the (description)
It lives (describe its home)
When I am with (Word), it (describe what it does to you)
If I can say one thing to (Word), I would say (sentence with quotation marks)

That doesn't make a poem, but it DOES help the imagination, especially if you choose a simple but unexpected word. For example:

Shame is the landlady demanding my rent.
It lives around the corner, at near the edge of my left eye.
When I am with Shame, my ribs claw into my organs.
If I can say one thing to Shame, I would say "I paid more than enough."

I hope this helps you get started with the creative process.

[Bianca Alabaster]

Dan, & the activities that prepare me for poetry: walks in nature work for me and I get super inspired when I'm in the "dead zone" of concentrating on driving. I really don't understand that, but whack a poem will come flying into my head and I keep a book on the seat for hurrying up to scribble it down.

Unfortunately emotional hurts spur a poem up too, pretty quick. Sitting and just staring fixated at a spot outside is good too, like drops of water on a delicate birch tree, or watching the wind, putting yourself in someone else's shoes too or thinking like an animal or a created thing like a tree or rock.