Writing poetry as exercise
Nov. 5th, 2011 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jjhunter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
poetreePosted on behalf of David C. Kopaska-Merkel
We all need to exercise. I am disabled and my muscles stiffen up quickly if I don't exercise so it is particularly incumbent upon me to exercise every single day. By the same token mental exercise is necessary. For the writer I would say it is more necessary than for many people. One could argue about that point, but I don't plan to do that just now.
A long time ago, so long ago that I really don't remember when, I started writing a poem every day. I do it as a deliberate habit, and the idea was to maintain or enhance creativity. Also, I wanted to make sure I'd have something for my blog every day. I knew I would rarely have time for a substantive post.
The daily poem is what I write when I don't have time for anything else, so I have to do it quickly. Typically, the poem takes less than a minute, and most of them are haiku or related forms. I look around, or think about the coming day or the night before, and pick something. For instance, the Jerusalem Artichokes blooming outside my window. The dust bunnies that need to be vacuumed up from the edge of the bookcase. Something immediate and visible. These are my usual targets.
I am no haiku expert, but I know some of the basics. Typically the total number of syllables should be 17 or less. Three lines are normally used, although certain kinds of haiku derivatives are two-line poems or even one-line poems. One of the most important characteristics of a haiku is that it has a break between one line and the other two, or between the two lines in a 2-line poem, or within the single line of a 1-line poem. A haiku should not be a sentence or a single phrase.
The purpose of the exercise is not to write a brilliant haiku. Of course one is delighted to produce one. The purpose is simply to write a haiku.Go!
Normally, I don't say anything about the inspiration, but in this context you might want to know. It's breezy and there are Jerusalem Artichokes, yellow and bright, in the garden outside my window.
Good, bad, or indifferent, but there it is after (I promise you) less than 60 seconds. Anybody can do that. After you write it, perhaps the next day or in the evening, read it again and see if you think it's good. But even if you decide it isn't, the exercise makes it easier to write the next poem. After a couple of years of doing this I know this is true.
We all need to exercise. I am disabled and my muscles stiffen up quickly if I don't exercise so it is particularly incumbent upon me to exercise every single day. By the same token mental exercise is necessary. For the writer I would say it is more necessary than for many people. One could argue about that point, but I don't plan to do that just now.
A long time ago, so long ago that I really don't remember when, I started writing a poem every day. I do it as a deliberate habit, and the idea was to maintain or enhance creativity. Also, I wanted to make sure I'd have something for my blog every day. I knew I would rarely have time for a substantive post.
The daily poem is what I write when I don't have time for anything else, so I have to do it quickly. Typically, the poem takes less than a minute, and most of them are haiku or related forms. I look around, or think about the coming day or the night before, and pick something. For instance, the Jerusalem Artichokes blooming outside my window. The dust bunnies that need to be vacuumed up from the edge of the bookcase. Something immediate and visible. These are my usual targets.
I am no haiku expert, but I know some of the basics. Typically the total number of syllables should be 17 or less. Three lines are normally used, although certain kinds of haiku derivatives are two-line poems or even one-line poems. One of the most important characteristics of a haiku is that it has a break between one line and the other two, or between the two lines in a 2-line poem, or within the single line of a 1-line poem. A haiku should not be a sentence or a single phrase.
The purpose of the exercise is not to write a brilliant haiku. Of course one is delighted to produce one. The purpose is simply to write a haiku.Go!
yellow hands wave
at the west wind
blowing kisses
Normally, I don't say anything about the inspiration, but in this context you might want to know. It's breezy and there are Jerusalem Artichokes, yellow and bright, in the garden outside my window.
Good, bad, or indifferent, but there it is after (I promise you) less than 60 seconds. Anybody can do that. After you write it, perhaps the next day or in the evening, read it again and see if you think it's good. But even if you decide it isn't, the exercise makes it easier to write the next poem. After a couple of years of doing this I know this is true.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-05 05:34 pm (UTC)slow steady drops:
it's autumn again.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-05 08:33 pm (UTC)landing steady on her paws
nothing to see here
no subject
Date: 2011-11-06 03:04 pm (UTC)collaboration
Date: 2011-11-06 05:16 pm (UTC)I have collaborated a fair bit. I've written a couple of dozen poems with various collaborators over the years, plus about 50 poems with Kendall Evans. We usually write as follows. One of us begins, perhaps with a stanza. Then we take turns, adding & revising, but mostly the former. Eventually one of us suggests that the poem's almost done. By & by we agree, & whoever started the poem puts his name first & markets it. This method tends to yield fairly long poems. You can find a copuple of the results at www.strangehorizons.com (archive), in Asimov's, or in our 3 collaborative chapbooks:
http://www.poetrybookpublishershouse.com/night-ship-to-never/
http://sdpbookstore.com/poetrybooks.htm ["The Tin Men," listing is alphabetical]
Re: collaboration
Date: 2011-11-06 05:33 pm (UTC)