CREATIVE PROCESS FOR WRITING AND ART

Bridge, Study for Geometric Composition,© by Ruth Zachary

Train

In early morning darkness,

before the sun rises

on the east side of Greeley,

The train whistles the miles

from North to South.

I imagine smoke rings,

or round puffs blown out,

like E.E. Cummings'

little old balloon man

whistling far and wee.

When I was young,

we could still hear the train

sound its steam whistle

between Harlan and Mesick

In its Southeast run

through the twenty mile woods

west of our farm, on public land.

Chills would play my spine like

fingers on the stops of my clarinet.

The Creative Process for Writing and Other Art Forms Can Be Related.

Inspiration for writing and other art often comes from unexpected places and times.
In addition to memory, associations can lead from one image to another. Awakened in the night by the train whistle carried on the wind to my open window, much of this poem was created in the darkness. The image of the bridge abstraction reminded me of the train trestle crossing the Manistee River in Michigan, and of the metal bridge the school bus went over every school day. Often when the water was high, I would also get shivers while crossing that bridge.


One association can lead to another. Often I write down the ideas and these jottings can lead to other poems. Images also can stimulate writing, and poems can suggest images. The "Twenty Mile Woods" conjures other mysteries in my mind, connections which lead to many places.



Writing and Images are the Copyright of Ruth Zachary

COLLAGE POEM

Fortune Cookies, Study for Collage, by Ruth Zachary. ©

Collage or Found Poems

In our Greeley Writer’s Group, we have occasionally tried different versions of collaging phrases or lines found in unexpected places, and attempted to make a poem from them. Ken Mowery first brought the idea to the group which came from an Exercise called “Unthink Your Poem.”

The Process:

Cut out lines, phrases or words from magazines or newspapers; Try to put them together to make some sort of sense.

Choose a theme, such as from advertising, fashion statements, or news headlines. You can add your own connections, and some words, phrases and lines might be discarded altogether, to come up with some coherent idea in the finished version.

One of our members, Susan Buller brought her Collage poem to our monthly meeting:

RIVER

By Susan Buller ©

THE WORLD IS WISER THAN YOU THINK

VENERATED OLD AGE.

WHEN THE FIRE OF THE SPIRIT DIES OUT

GRAVITY COLLAPSES

NATURE MAKES ITSELF GLORIOUSLY APPARENT

AND TIME IS A RIVER OF PASSING EVENTS

SEARCHING AROUND IN THE TORN DIRT

I KNEEL AND LOOK AT ONE THING AT A TIME

AN EMERALD CROWD

GRAINS OF SAND CEMENTED TOGETHER

WRINKLED BLACK

AND TIME IS A RIVER OF PASSING EVENTS

SEPARATE THE FRAGMENTS FROM THE WHOLE

FIND COMPANY IN YOURSELF

WHAT HAS PUZZLED US BEFORE SEEMS LESS MYSTERIOUS

AS OUR CIRCLE OF PAIN

ENLARGES AND CONVERGES

AND TIME IS A RIVER OF PASSING EVENTS

Notice how Susan tied the lines and theme together by repeating one line at the end of each stanza, in a kind or refrain. The overall effect is somewhat surreal, and there is a kind of dream-like impression conveyed by the rearranged fragments.

The advantage of this exercise is that by putting unexpected words together, new wording combinations may be suggested, that you would never think of if you proceed in your habitual manner.

Variations:

•Take a magazine column, and cut it lengthwise in two parts. Match up the lines in a new order, by scrambling them or just shifting the lines up or down.

•Write a poem made up of conversational fragments heard in a public place.

Try to avoid long lines or phrases which are uniquely someone else’s. Don’t plagiarize!

Invitation:

If you would like to contribute a writing idea or writing exercise to this blog, in the interest of taking part in a networking conversation with others, please submit your idea in the comments section with contact information so that I may reply. Your privacy will be respected, and you will be attributed for your contribution, along with your web site if you would like. Ruth Zachary.