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Howdy, Campers!
The winner of our latest autographed book giveaway is....KAY S! Congratulations, Kay!
Today is Poetry Friday and the fabulous Jama Rattigan is hosting. A poem from my first verse novel is waiting for you at the end of this post. The poem is about...
Creativity!
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| An example of creativity from morguefile.com |
In case you've missed TeachingAuthors' series on Creativity, JoAnn started us off with kindness and community, Jill left us on a high note with 5 secrets of creativity, Esther got our juices flowing with a Writing Workout inspired by punctuation, Carmela offered "4 Ways I Boost my Creativity", and Mary Ann, back from a TA sabbatical (yay!), grants us permission.
My turn!
Here are four reasons why I think you should give up trying to be creative:
1) Don't you dare tell me what to do;
2) Get miserable;
3) Find someone so frickin' honest you want to hit them.
4) Write weird things. Other peoples' brains are are loony as yours. Trust me.
1) Don't you dare tell me what to do. For me, authentic ideas come most easily when no one is expecting a product; when I let myself play with words...the reason I fell in love with writing.
My turn!
Here are four reasons why I think you should give up trying to be creative:
1) Don't you dare tell me what to do;
2) Get miserable;
3) Find someone so frickin' honest you want to hit them.
4) Write weird things. Other peoples' brains are are loony as yours. Trust me.
1) Don't you dare tell me what to do. For me, authentic ideas come most easily when no one is expecting a product; when I let myself play with words...the reason I fell in love with writing.
If you're our regular reader,you know I've been writing a poem a day since April 1, 2010. I send them to my best friend, author Bruce Balan, who sails around the world in a trimaran, and he sends me his poem. (BTW, Oct. 2nd was Bruce's birthday. Since it's past his birthday, kindly sing to him the Birthday Song...backwards.)
Bruce can always smell if a poem is an assignment. "It's stiff," he'll write. "It's not you."
After I shake my fist at his sail mail critique, I pretend I'm not writing on assignment. I toss out everything I think I'm supposed to write and stand on my head...because I WANT to stand on my head. That's when words begin to flow from my heart.
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| Me, writing a poem...okay, not LITERALLY on my head... |
2) Get miserable...(if you're already depressed, think of it as a big mud hole of ideas made especially for you!) Some of my deepest, truest words are written when I am in a muddle of misery...or when I think back to some terrible time in my life, feeling every heartsick, petrified or bewildered feeling. (Why would anyone want to bring back life's worst moments in living color? You think writers might be just a teensy bit cuckoo?)
So, how can you stimulate creativity in students? Make sure there's misery in their lives. When I read my students the tender book, I Remember Miss Perry by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch (about the death of a beloved elementary school teacher), the topics they choose to tackle are much deeper than if I give them time to write without reading it first.
3) Find someone so frickin' honest you want to hit him. I write better when someone who believes in me and who is on the writing path with me (usually Bruce) reads my work and tells me his truth. (Sometimes I want to throw darts at him for his stupid, doo-doo head honesty--good thing he's in Thailand right now.)
Exhibit #1--recent correspondence between us:
From: Bruce
To: April
Subject: RE: poem for September 25, 2014
Hi You,
This feels more like a very short story than a poem.
Doesn’t have your heart in it. It feels like an assignment.
Love,
B
(See what I mean? Can't he just pretend a little bit that he likes it?)
To: Bruce
Subject: Re: poem for September 25, 2014
Well, damn.
I read it again tonight and see that you're right. But maybe I can do something with it. But maybe I can't.
Not sure it's worth it.
I am so tangled up in my novel. I wish I could hire someone to sit with me and figure the darn thing out.
Why do we do this, again? I forget.
xxx,
April
From: Bruce
To: April
Subject: RE: poem for September 25, 2014
"I wish I could hire someone to sit with me and figure the darn thing out."
Unfortunately that is not possible. I, too, wish I could hire someone to fix so many problems but those problems always seem to be ones I need to deal with…not someone else.
I hate that part about writing.
B
4) Write weird things. Other peoples' brains are as loony as yours. Trust me. Go ahead, unlock the heavy wooden door in your brain and let the odd stuff out.
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| Let the odd stuff out (this odd stuff is from morguefile.com) |
For example, here's a poem I thought no one would get. I wasn't even sure I got it. And listen to this: my editor didn't throw it out--it's in my book, Girl Coming in for a Landing--a novel in poems (Knopf 2002)!
WRITER: CREATOR
I want to
make something
beautiful.
Peaches.
If I could
make peaches--grow them
from my pen...
or stretching my palms
up to the sun, watch as
they grow from my lifeline,
that
would be something
beautiful.
drawing and poem (c) 2014 by April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
Okay, I'm done. I order you to be creative. GO.
Okay, I'm done. I order you to be creative. GO.
And remember, Poetry Friday is at Jama's today!
0 Comments on 4 Reasons to Give Up Writing Creatively...and it's Poetry Friday! as of 10/3/2014 6:39:00 AM
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8 Comments on Writer: Creator. A poem. Two boys. And a book giveaway!, last added: 1/31/2010
April, I wrote "passionate poetry" in my journal in junior high too. Unfortunately, I saved only one of those journals. I wish I'd kept them all.
Love your idea to journal for only 1 minute at the end of the day. I've read a similar suggestion to write only one sentence at the end of the day. I'll have to give it a try.
Amazing peek into how your book came to life!!!
I did keep my grade school diary, and I have some funny stuff through 7th grade... I wish I'd kept a hs journal!
Oh, April, I forgot to say--I love the poem. I can almost taste the peach. :-)
But what happened to the boy, the girl, and the can of tuna? You should finish that story.
April,
I love the idea of a novel in poems, brilliant! Can't wait to read the whole book!
xoxo -- Hilary
All of my passionate poems were actually song lyrics. I was going to be a famous lyricist. I still have them all - every awful word - locked away in a secret place no one will ever find. :)
Your book sounds awesome - I must read it!
I love this book already! And oh yes, I remember the junior high poetry days... oh the angst. Congratulations!
You made me hungry for peaches and ready to try to write for one minute every day!