Routine Writing

The desire to write well, the desire to write extraordinarily well can hinder the likelihood of any writing at all. Most writing is going to be mundane, clichéd, substandard, and uninspired. I know that. Consciously I accept that. But when it comes to having the motivation and discipline to write, I stall, avoid, and leave it undone. This is why I need to build the discipline of 20-minute writing sessions, yet again. 20 minutes is possible in almost any circumstance. And I go into it with no expectations except to have the bragging rights that I have written. 

Today's session felt uninspired. I wrote from an artistically done photo of a domestic scene. As you would expect the subject of the writing was a domestic scene about making coffee and a mother cuddling with her son. There was some life in the mother's stream-of-consciousness, but it did not excite me. The words were not fresh or inspired. But it was writing. I was meditating on what that life would be like. Reaching into that environment with my imagination. It was something. 

The downside of 20 minutes is that it's not enough writing time for experiments with saying things in different ways, revising, and rethinking the way I'm putting together words. I will need more time to develop more style and inventiveness again. I need to be thinking ahead to what the goal would be after 20 minutes becomes habit. Thankfully I have a Poetry Retreat coming up next week with poet friends. There I will be able to sink more deeply into the process for a weekend. 

My Creative Journal

Starting today I will be posting here more regularly on the topic of my creative efforts and my exploration of aspects of writing and stimulating creativity. My aim here is to keep a running journal of what works for me and what doesn't.  Also to document my thought process as I strive to reactivate my muse and search for ways to get back to the pleasure of imagining and creating new worlds, whether they be worlds of language or story. 

This week I am committed to spending a bit of time on nailing down my aspirations for 2023. My biggest hope is to improve at balancing my time and efforts.  I have a tendency to get single-minded about tasks, tenaciously spending an excessive number of hours on one thing to the detriment of everything else. Often that's either seminary or occupation related. I'm obsessively focused on being responsible. While it is good to be concentrated on important and purposeful things, I need to develop the disciple of setting aside other things in order to fit in things I aspire to do. 

My other weakness is succumbing to timewasters, especially scrolling through Facebook or looking up the latest news or gossip on Doctor Who, Marvel movies, or Star Trek.  My goal is to set aside those mind-numbing sessions of yielding to click-bait. Time is limited in this life, and there are so many other edifying options. 

If you know me and you happen to find this post, please say a prayer for me, and I also invite you to check-in and hold me accountable for my aspirations. Drop me a line and say something like, "Keith, did you write today?" Thanks in advance. 

What Inspires My Poetry

Recently I have been reading a book about poetry by Kenneth Koch, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry. In one section, he writes about what inspires poets to write and what inspires the content of their poetry. He gives several examples, including particular seasons, everyday conversation, certain kinds of words, and the innovations of other poets. I too have noticed that certain specific things inspire me repeatedly, so I thought I would make a list.

• The poetry of the following poets: Rumi as reinterpreted by Coleman Barks, T.S. Eliot, Carolyn Forche’, Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, Jane Kenyon, Rodney Jones, Walt Whitman, Marilyn Hacker, Carol Anne Duffy, and others.


• Crisis in my life or in the lives of my friends. (Not that I’m wishing ill on anyone else or myself!)


• Literal stormy weather and heavy rain.


• The passion and advice of my professors: Bob Waugh, Carley Bogarad, Jan Z. Schmidt, H.R. Stoneback, and Edward Brunner.


• Lyrics by particular rock and progressive rock artists: Marillion, Fish, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, U2, and others.


• Discussions about writing with friends who are passionate about writing: John Langan, Dawn Pendergast, Mildred Greear, Tracey Gagne, David Oates, Steven Shields, Bonnie Rude, John Bush, Jim Gilchriest . . . to name a few. (If I neglected to mention someone, I’m very, very sorry! You are all so important to me!)


• Bible stories and biblical imagery.


• My audience, that small group of people who are sincerely interested in anything I might write: my Mom, Christi, Mildred, Sally, Maria, David, Todd and Laura, and a few others. (Let me know if you are one of these! I can always use more on this list.)


• Oceanic and aquatic creatures.


• Pop culture icons: I Love Lucy, Warner Brothers & Hanna-Barbara cartoon characters, Kiss, superheroes, and many others.


• The women to whom I‘ve been attracted. (There’s no denying it!)


• Remembered daydreams of writing poetry and novels while I was an undergraduate student at S.U.N.Y. New Paltz. Sometimes I try to put myself in a “New Paltz state of mind”. It was there that I first formed my ideas about what a poem IS. Part of that formation came from listening to other poets read their work aloud at the President’s Guest House readings: Chad Roche, John Burdick, John Langan, Lauren Athanas, Gail Vorbach, Bob Singleton, Bob Waugh, Arthur Josephs, Pey Pey Oh, Kevan Stoffel, Tim Healy, Danny Rzetelny, and others. (Again deep apologies to anyone I forgot to list!)