One of the most potent sources of inspiration is other people’s poetry. Workshopping your poetry will get you more than feedback on your own work – it lets you into the minds of other writers. If you’re more in the mood just to read, then the blogosphere is a treasure trove of other people’s poetry. One place that you can count on finding lots and lots of poems – fresh poetry every week! – is the Ringing of the Bards Carnival. You’ll find a list of who’s hosting the Carnival each week at the link above – along with instructions on how to host a Carnival at your own blog.
My daddy was a forester and I really lived in a log house with a wolf as a pet. My uncle, another forester, would visit and we would call owls down from the trees late at night. In the summer we would sleep out on the lawn to watch the meteor showers all the while hoping that the bears would leave our freshly brushed breath alone while they walked through our yard to check out our neighbor’s garbage can. While snow shoeing I have fallen into a hole over my head upside down only to find that the will to survive is mighty strong in 20 below weather. While hiking in the White Mountains I have watched an elderly couple bath nude in the icey waters. I also watched in horror as my older brother fell off a cliff while goofing around, and nearly choked on my own heart as my father chased after him to save him from his fate. I have never experienced “nothing” while communing with nature. There is always something new, something alive to grab one’s attention. Take a day, a weekend, lace up a pair of sturdy shoes and open your eyes.
writers are seldom only creative with words. use your other creative interests to fuel your muse. paint a portrait. dabble with your music. knit an afghan. color a picture with crayons. or do what Jared did and spend weeks dripping wax to create something unique.
Keep a journal next to your bed and write down your dreams when they first wake you. I don’t know about others, but there is some crazy alternate universe stuff going on in my dreams. Great resource material.
I just spent my Saturday night with a root beer and a movie. (This is not a sad confession.) I watched “Trudell” and I want to recommend it to anyone that wants to feel inspired. It is a portrait of a Native American, and indigenous soul, a poet, an activist. I watched it twice just to hear the words again. But this is really not a review of a movie as much as it is a loud clap for those that can make us sit up and listen. John Trudell.
Recently, my heart broke twice in one 24 hour period. Why mention that? Because I think that from a crack in the heart a billion words can spill. Angry words. Sad words. Longing words. Grief-filled-blood-on-the-page words. Now, I am not suggesting that one go out and look for a broken heart. But I think all of us have been wounded at one time or another, and that with a careful cut we can bleed all over again. When I was a teenager and I wanted to call up that horrible feeling I would sit and imagine my family all dying in a car accident, or my boyfriend dying of a horrendous disease. After I got myself in a real “lather”, as my mother would call it, I could write all kinds of angsty poems. And with time those blood covered poems translated into rich imagery for later pieces. It is a “practice”, a ritual of some sort that I still use to call forth the muse. Now it is lost love, not car wrecks that do it.
One of the most potent sources of inspiration and images for writing can be your dreams. Try keeping a notebook and pen on your bedside table so that you can jot down a few words to jar your memory about those in-between waking-and-sleeping moments. You may surprise yourself with the things your subconscious churns up.