Poetry writing-habits/advice/suggestions,writer's block,exercise

I had answered two postings in the poetry discussion section('suggestions' and 'writer's block') which should probably have been posted in this section.Another member suggested I post the response in the writing poetry/techniques section so I revised and expanded it a bit and posted my response in this section.So below is the entire post reprinted.Hopefully someone can get something out of this.

Hi,
I've been asked for advice/help from many members and this is an expanded response I'd sent one young lady.It's more to do with writing habits/advice than with actually ideas, but some of these things can help spark ideas I suppose, so am going to re-copy the advice I'd sent to this particular member.Hope you can find something of use here.

Anyway, I'm not sure what advice I can offer,and by no means do I claim to know it all or be an expert, but I have had years of knowledge and experience. I'll try to touch on a few things.First-I love poetry because it is such a release,it is cathartic, a type of self therapy, it's really helped me through some rough times, saved my sanity, perhaps even my life.It helped that I wrote for years without ever showing anyone my stuff or with any thoughts of publication-this allows total freedom and I built up a confidence and belief in my poetry that I didn't even have in myself.So believe in your writing, believe in yourself.I wish I had started earlier, but then things might have been different.

Sometimes it helps to have a certain time you write, my best time is usually the dead of night, it used to be the early mornings(when I worked third shift).So write whenever it seems to work best for you.Or write at any time you can(in my early years I would write every chance I got-5 minutes here, an hour there).Also it may help having a certain place.There's a spot at a wooded park I love to go to and write.At home, I never use my desk/study, I sit on the floor at my coffee table, papers spread out across it, back against the sofa.A lot of times I'll play music-sometimes rock or pop, a lot of time instrumental stuff, like smooth jazz or new age, usually just something in the background that I don't really pay attention to once I'm absorbed in writing.I used to write with the tv on-Nick-At-Night-when nickelodeon showed all the old sitcoms all night-Patty Duke, Mary Tyler Moore show, Leave it To Beaver, Taxi, Night Court, Wings, Dobie Gillis-again, I didn't really watch it, just something in the background.

Also, keep a journal.I have off and on since I was 12, but I threw the early ones out because they embarrassed me, now I wish I had them.Journals/diaries are a good outlet, plus they can be used to jot down ideas for poems or stories, or came back to years later for material.I have a few months from 1986 when I was 22, and a few months from 89-90 when I was about 25,and some other stuff over the years. I read it now and it shows me where I was then, how much I've changed, and it also reminds me of things I'd forgotten, simple truths or thoughts I had written when younger, kind of like talking with myself, the self I was and who I am now.I was never real consistent at keeping a journal, I'd do it for awhile, then not do it for a few years, but I have some pages/notebooks from off and on over the last 20 years, and glad I learned not to throw them out!

Another good habit is to keep a pen and pad of paper by your bed to jot down any thoughts you may have if you awake during the night, or to jot down dreams or dream fragments, which can also be a good source of material.In fact, since I was a teen-ager I've never went anywhere without a pen and small pocket-sized notebook.It's easy to say'I'll write this down later'-but often the thought slips away and is forgotten, write it down immediately, while it's fresh in your mind.

If you submit a poem to an e-zine or even the paper published one, never take the rejection of a poem personally.It might be the editor doesn't like that style or content, but there may be another one who does, so keep trying.It might be the zine is overstocked.There are many reasons.A rejection doesn't mean the poem is bad, just might not be right for that particular publication or any number of other reasons.Don't get discouraged.Remember, you are writing for you(to get out the emotion, to express something, whatever the reason), anything else(like publication) is a bonus.And like I said, if you keep at it, your work gets better(some of my early stuff I thought was so great and then a few years later I realize "this sucks!", how could I have ever thought this was good?But you never know-some of the stuff I've posted on the P & Q site I didn't think was that good, and some of those have surprised me with the positive response they get).Although sometimes you will write poems that just don't work, that are honestly not that good(or truly bad)-but don't despair, sometimes you have to write a few bad ones to get to the good ones(I'd say for every good one I've wrote there are at least 5 really terrible ones-but the more you write the better you get), sometimes it is even necesssary to write bad poems to grow as a poet and improve your skills.Don't get frustrated or discouraged, don't give up, just keep writing and writing....

After you write a poem, let it breathe.By this I mean don't rush to post or submit it or think it's done(I found recently in recopying some of my poems I've totally changed or revised ones that I wrote over ten years ago and had thought were finished, many have even been published before in their original form)-very few poets write a perfect poem first draft.Write it, then set it aside for a few days, even weeks.Come back to it now and then, and rewrite it.You'd be surprised what changes you can see to make it better.Revising/rewriting however many times is sometimes essential.You learn to be your own editor and critic after awhile.I've had poems where I might only change one or two words, where it still is pretty much how I first wrote it, and I've had ones where I changed so much the final version looked nothing like the original draft (the five line poem Lucius I wrote was originally 2 and a half pages-I trashed everything but the last five lines).Don't think your words are set in stone, you are always free to change things, sometimes it's hard, like say you have to cut a line you really like because it just don't seem to work.Do it.But save the line.Save everything, scraps of images or verse can be used in other poems.Trust your inner instincts, but don't be afraid to change something(or to stick with something-I've had editors suggest changes when publishing some of my stuff, I always listen-then decide for myself.Sometimes the change is justified and I make it, sometimes it's like, 'this editor just don't get it' and I refuse.Always be open, but go with what you believe).
Listen to advice from others and then decide what works or doesn't work for you.
And remember, if you speak out loudly, be sure you have something to say.And always believe you have something to say.Everyone's opinions/thoughts/feelings are important.

I have a couple things to add as some of the stuff above I mentioned is a bit generic, this is more about actually writing/creation of poems.

Read.Read the professionals-Walt Whitman,Michael McClure, Sylvia Plath, Jim Carroll, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Shelley, David Berman,T.S. Eliot, Allen Ginsberg, Lorca,Stevie Smith, William Blake, Billy Collins, Tupac Shakur, Ogden Nash, Cummings, Jim Morrison, Longfellow, Rod McKuen,William Carlos Williams,Robert Bly, Anne Sexton, Leonard Cohen, Bukowski, Dylan Thomas, Lord Byron, W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson,William Wordsworth,Sandburg,Ted Berrigan, John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson,etc.Read the academic poets and the street poets, the Beats and the Surrealists, the Traditionalists and the songwriters, all forms and genres..Read the stuff on the various websites-you can learn as much from a bad poem as you can a good one (there are some great ameteur poets out there, but also some truly horrid stuff).Check out some of the on-line zines or some of the poetry collections in stores(there's a ton-from the well known poet collections to collections of this particular year's contemporary(and usually lesser known) poets).

When reading over other people's poems-famous or ameteur, pay special attention to how they use images or unusual word combinations or phrases.Some find it easier to write in straight forward simple terms, which is fine, but a good image or unusual use of language(such as words you normally wouldn't associate as going together) can really make a piece stand out.Study poems, see what you think the author is saying.Study up on metaphors and similies.There's another good writing maxim-show don't tell, meaning use images or mood rather than blatantly hitting the reader over the head with the message.Avoid the cliche, especially in rhyming work(which is why I prefer the freedom of free verse, so much rhyming work is full of cliches or mundane words, it's hard to write a good rhyming piece but it can be done).Check around on the net and learn about different forms of poetry.

Challenge yourself, try traditional forms/styles/techniques(rondels, Kyrielle,blank verse, doditsu, tanka, villanelles, acrostic, etherees,pantoums, haiku, chain verse, Balassi, sonnets, ghazal, alliteration, rondeaus, pleiades, triolets, metered verse, cinquains, etc)(for some good examples read the excellent works of Steven Beesley and Sunny(at the bottom of their poems they define/explain the form used), also read the stuff by Meena, Bob Shank, Ann*stareyes*, Hansrick and others(sorry I know there are others but they aren't coming to mind as I write this) on this site. Try free verse, try experimental stuff, off the wall stuff, be surreal or abstract, etc.A lot of my stuff is like that-sometimes I'm not even sure what I'm saying(until later), it seems to just come from the subconscious and many of my poems have an ambiguity that allows each reader to find their own meaning, or different meanings then others(kinda how two people can view a painting or a film and each have different impressions).I jokingly say my style is having no style-but really I use so many different forms and styles, the poems, the thoughts, emotions coming out into words seems to dictate what form or style I use, start with what you are comfortable with, but always be open to try other things..Have fun with writing.Or use it to express yourself.That is how I started out, I wrote because I had to, I wrote for myself at first(and guess I still do).So write for yourself, with no inhibitions, no holding back, be brutally honest and emotional.Or if it works better for you to write for someone or with someone in mind reading your poem, do that(even if it's an imaginary someone).I, and others, can offer all the advice and suggestions under the sun, but eventually you will forge your own voice, your own style.Listen and use what works for you.

Don't tackle the broad, grand themes-Life, Love, Death, God, etc. in a big way-use specifics.When I say this, I mean, yes, write about those subjects we all know and can relate to, but in a more intimate way rather than trying to explain the meaning of life or God or cover too broad and general an area.This I found is important and so true:
Sometimes you'll find the more personal you are, the more universal your work is.
-all people can relate to certain things.Though I write for myself, many of my poems are born of sadness,happiness,melancholia, pain, loss of love,being in love, depression,the ecstasy of feeling/being alive, things I think sometimes only have meaning to me, then someone will write and say, "I know what you mean" or have felt similiar or can relate in some way(again the more personal, sometimes the more universal it is).There is a lot of satisfaction(in many ways) when you can write something that touches the heart and mind of someone(the reader).

Try writing something political, social, enviromental, religious,etc.

Write from the perspective of an inanimate object(a rock, a house, a tree, the ocean, a door, a cloud, etc.) or write from the viewpoint/perspective of someone/something totally different than you( a rich person, a homeless person, an old person, a child, a man, a woman, a cat, dog, fish, wolf, bird, etc.).

Write when emotional-angry, sad, ecstatic, etc. or when calm, serene, content.Or when feeling empty or nothing.

Write when tired, exhausted-sometimes unusual things come to mind when feeling hazy or giddy(as a chronic insomniac, sleep deprivation has inspired/created many of my pieces-though I don't recommend forced sleep deprivation).

Listen to music-sometimes a song can spark an idea.Some of the best poets are the singers/songwriters.

Go out and purchase one of the commercially available MAGNETIC POETRY sets/kits. These can be fun just to experiment/play around with, can help break writer's block, and sometimes can result in a decent poem or two.

And, not even sure if I should mention this,as I do not advocate the use of any mind altering substances, and let me make it very clear I STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST THIS!-but many poets/writers have used liquor or drugs(Jim Carroll, Edgar Allan Poe, Hemingway, Jim Morrison, Charles Bukowski,etc.) to expand consciousness or distort reality to write from that state.Again, I cannot stress how strongly I advise AGAINST this!

Write about someplace you've never been.Or on the opposite end, as another old maxim goes, write what you know.

Write something true.Write something made up.

Try a play on well known phrases or sayings(for example in my poem Eden Quest I begin with the line'Love is a many splintered thing'-a play on the phrase 'love is a many splendored thing' and also in my poem Surreal Sleep-I start with the line 'Absence makes the heart go wander', a play on 'absence makes the heart grow fonder') and then just take it from there.

Try a stream of consciousness piece-set an alarm clock for 10 or 15 minutes and just start writing-anything and everything that pops into mind, do not stop to re-read what you've wrote until the time is up, don't pause to analyze the what, whys, and where these thoughts/feelings are coming from, sometimes the subconscious can produce some wonderful or disturbing thoughts and images(for example my piece Reflections from the Living Room Floor was an exercise in stream of consciousness, with a little revising later it turned out to be a poem published in many literary journals).

Write seriously.Write nonsense.

Approach well worn subjects that seem to have been written about to death from a different viewpoint/angle.

Sometimes I'll browse through the dictionary just to discover new words, and many have sparked off a poem, plus it improves your range of vocabulary.This has led to the creation of a great number of my poems.I use it a lot.

And I almost forgot to mention the importantance of solitude.Every writer needs time alone to think, to reflect, to find oneself in a poem, to create, to not be distracted.Solitude is being alone which is not the same as being lonely by any means.Though writing can seem so solitary and lonely sometimes, but a quiet period to yourself, or just some time to think alone really is essential.

There are also some excellent books on poetry exercises(or even on the net-I'm still getting used to using the net rather than the ways I had to do things in the 80's and 90's!(including submitting to online e-zines).Check these books out.I highly recommend these books of exercises.

Lastly, a note on writer's block.Writer's block is a common problem(I went through almost a 5 year spell of it!) but eventually it passes.Don't try so hard or stress out over it as this can just make it worse.Try different exercises, do other things that involve writing(submitting poems, organizing poems, revising older ones, etc.-something to do with poetry and writing even though it is not the actual creation of new work can lead to breaking the dreaded writer's block).Some writer's never have this problem, but most do at some point or another.

And even though there are set rules/guidelines/etc. for forms and stuff, really, when it comes down to it, in poetry there are no rules.

I know there is a lot of stuff I've left out or forgotten to mention, but hope this helps a bit.

Write from the heart, write with honesty and passion for your subject, idea, emotion, etc..

The bottom line is, write,write, and write!(At times I just don't feel like writing, I always remember one of my personal maxims-'Rise above your mood.').Also read, read, and read.

Ideas/subjects are everywhere as long as you keep your mind open and a broad vision.

And the most important thing of all-trust your instincts,
and always, not just in poetry,
but in everything in life, always trust, and
always follow your heart.

Peace, Love, Good luck & Best wishes,

Gary Jurechka

(If anyone cares to contact me for any other questions, comments,discussions, additions, etc. or for a few titles of poetry exercise/writing books or just help in general on any topic, I am always willing and would be glad to help if I can)

thanx alot for yr reply dear :)