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Use the following ideas for writing poems, memoirs, essays, or
fiction. Be sure to see the note at the end of the 2nd idea.
1. Get an idea from reading John Ashberry. He’s an “abstract
art” poet and so we get a series of words that do not usually make literal
sense. Therefore some juxtaposition of terms may just strike your psyche
and jolt an idea for you. Read with your receptors open!! He’s published
a lot, so just get something from the library or spend an hour in a
bookstore reading his stuff. Another writer whose work works similarly:
Paul Celan.
2. Write about food. Food is a major part of our lives. Social,
elementary to survival, often a problem as we seek solace in food, used
to win hearts and show that we care…. We all have many food memories. Can
you use food as a take-off point? I bet you can. Start writing and just
see what you get. Try taking it a step further. You can even move into
imagination and add any detail you wish to add – no need to stick to
literalness.
I suggest that if this idea doesn’t work for you the first time
you try again and again and even a 4th or 5th time,
because with as many food memories as you have, you are bound to strike
gold with some strike of your “food” pick. (And if you write something I
like I will ask permission to include it in publication of a project I’m
working on.)
3. Try writing a poem where you start many lines with the word
“because.” It will work well I think if you do not say what your “because
meaning” is – let the reader figure that out by what you list. This will
be a list poem.
For instance, you list why you long for world peace, but you
never say that’s the reason for the list. By not explicitly stating it,
you leave to the reader to figure out the meaning of the list. This
omission may (not always, of course) be much more powerful for the
listener/reader. The reader needs to participate in the exchange
between the two of you.
4. Start with an aphorism. A stitch in time saves nine. No use
crying over spilt milk. (These are old-fashioned ones, so try choosing a
more contemporary one if you prefer.) Use the phrase more than once, or
never mention it but play it out.
5. Consider “three faces” – as in the movie, The Three Faces of
Eve. All of us have at least three faces. We act differently with different
people and different situations. Write about your three faces (or however
many) or do a portrait poem about someone else and show their faces.
Remember to show us (not just tell us there are three faces). And be sure
that when you relate an anecdote to show us a face, you “ground” the
example in a specific time/place (for example, in the supermarket’s
produce section on a Saturday morning).
I wish you good writing!
Barbara Lawing
bklawing@earthlink.net,
704-875-6112
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