You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I started working on titles for poems, to get me going with a bit more focus.
I got a little sidetracked when one became more like a story plan, but it’s always a good exercise, with positive results.
Now I am working on the next phase; building up some draft poems to see which ones work, which ones I like, and which ones I want to take further.
There’s a degree of order in my process this time because of my desire to write about the world as it is now – and the last few weeks have given me more material than I want, frankly! – but I want to keep as open a mind as possible because writing often takes you in unexpected directions.
It’s important to let it too; in this set of work I want to take unexpected routes. If I can surprise myself, maybe I will surprise my audience too.
I also want to challenge myself with this work. Last time I wrote a particularly politically-inspired poem it didn’t feel finished or complete enough when I first performed it. I believe that was because it didn’t quite say what I intended. This time around I need to eliminate that sense of incompleteness because all it does is saps my confidence.
So I am spending my writing energy from now until at least my holiday in May on getting these poems as good as I can, or at least beyond the first draft status! From then onwards, let’s see what my audience think…
I will share a few of the unused titles over the next couple of weeks: they might not get my writing going but perhaps they will work for one of you 🙂
Happy writing,
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 