"I Have an Idea: Now What?"

[SterlingPeony]

~Hello Everyone~

Welcome to our first

*Friday Night Social*

Please introduce yourself and tell us:

How do YOU transform a vague idea into a poetic masterpiece?

What technique or process do YOU use?

[Sundance]

Hi! I'm Sundance and I live in Oklahoma.

I am fairly new to the writing game. I got a whim to write a poem in May of last year and couldn't stop.

If something inspires me, I will jot the idea down on whatever piece of paper I can find, to develop it later. What I begin with does not always resemble what I end up with. I love all forms, but I feel most comfortable writing rhymes.

[SterlingPeony]

Hi Sundance. TGIF

Welcome! I know what you mean about writing your idea down on a scrap of paper. Do you ever go back and look at your scribble and have no idea what you were referring to? If you have an idea, what's your next step?

[Sundance]

I love free form, and I will usually start out that way. Some have remained free form, but most will end up rhyming.

I normally write about true experiences, so they come easy to me. I try to remember everything about it, like my emotions, the season, the location, etc. Those are really the easy ones to write, for me. There have been very few that I have written and been happy with immediately. One of my favorites was written at the lake while I was fishing. That is one I didn't have to change.

[Sundance]

I would like to hear some of your own secrets, Sterling.

[SterlingPeony]

Well, I wish I had a bunch of secrets to share with you, but really, it's just a notebook and a pen.

[CJ Rider]

Hi Sterling and Sundance!

Great discussion here! About jotting down notes and then wondering just where the heck you were trying to go with them, happens to me now and again.

But I would rather have the cryptic notes then KNOW I had a good idea earlier in the day, but now, if I could only REMEMBER it!!!! lol.. Yes, I carry a small notepad and pen so I can jot down random ideas.

And actually, the original thoughts will usually come back to me when I read the notes. IF I can read my own writing.. but then, I guess that is another topic altogether! haha..

CJ

[Jarlsbane]

Sorry I miised the discussion friday night... I really would have liked to been but I had dinner guests and a little get together at my house.... anyway, I really should start carring a note pad because I am terrible at remembering those little gems when they come to me... I usually have an idea hit me when I am no where near a desk and pen... I try to hold on to it, make a 'tag' line that will jog memoery later. I use that tag line when I begin to write it later as a basis for other lines and ideas to play off of... sometimes it will end up as the title or maybe as the catch line of the poem... sometimes it gets chucked altogether because I found a different way to say it... just my thoughts.... Miss Ya Sterling!

[James H Oldfield]

Once more, I'm very much of the scribbled notes school here (oh, hi, I'm James and I'm from England... ).

My only problem is I'm invariably not organized enough to actually carry a notepad, so usually end up with words all over bus tickets, envelopes I then have to replace, or, if nothing else, as a text message saved on my phone. Always confuses people when I bring out an old cinema ticket in the middle of the pub and start scribbling away. Especially as what I write is illegible to anyone but me...

Generally, the actual thoughts will be very small, a title, a character, something like that. Just something I think "oh, that'd be interesting to write about". Then it's a matter of sitting down, eventually, and trying to think of something to say, something they represent, basically why they were interesting in the first place. I find that most things will have some interesting element to expand on, it's just a matter of finding it.

I then have two routes I take, depending how much of an idea I've already formed. Most often, I just sit and write (still with a pen, I still don't trust computers.. ), and let it develop on its own. I find if I've made notes of what I want to say and when, it can sound a little artificial. That said, for the major ideas, most notably my epics (with the exception of 'Finitys End', that was written without notes in one sitting. One long sitting...), I'll make some form of notes so I don't forget to include things, or get lost. Many times however the notes describe a poem entirely different to what I end up writing though, so they don't get that much sway...

Oh, when I was younger, I used to draw my poems first. So I've used that a couple of times. Basically, it'd be a little sketch, essentially representing what the poem was about. That way I'd just look at it later and let ideas come from it. I don't do it too much any more though, 'The Stairs' I did, but I think that's the only recent one. I've always been a fan of William Blake, so I suppose that's the reason I once did it...

As for the rhyme and meter, I think I've just gotten too used to it now, I find myself thinking in eight syllables... Thus it usually, well, always, comes out already rhymed and arranged into a roughly uniform length, which occasionally I'll have to iron it out a little at the end. That, I suppose, is why I struggle so much to write unrhymed poetry, I find it harder to develop thoughts, I guess the rhyme just helps me along...

Or maybe I'm just too conditioned...

-James

[SterlingPeony]

James, what a wonderful response! Those are just the kinds of "tricks" (i.e., drawing your poems first) that are valuable to share. Thank you! It's interesting to get an inside look at your *creating* mind, as I've read so many of your wonderful 'end results.' I also tend to write snippets of information on spare envelopes, etc., so I know what you mean.

Most of the time I fall in love with the first line of a new poem, and the rest flows from there. I'll hear a word or phrase, or sometimes an idea will pop into my head, and I'll know *instantly* what type of poem will follow it.

I, too, usually write out a kind of poetic "flowchart" on a piece of paper before I write a poem. Just brainstorm and throw down any words, concepts, images that come to mind related to that initial phrase--then try to work out a logical flow of linking each thought to another. Some images or words never make the cut. Others do and are reworked until something "clicks," until it just sounds and feels right.

[Notpast40]

I usually jot down thoughts or ideas on notepads also, I even have a notebook by the shower! LOL. Yes, I know I'm strange. One thing I find myself doing lately though, is this, I don't allow myself to get locked into what was originally the idea. I have absolutely no organization skills, and have to search the house for some snippet I jotted down. A couple of lines, one or two verses, that perhaps was another idea on a different day, looks totally opposite of what I intended. I feel it is very important to save everything, every phrase or line you create, you never know in retrospect where you may use it. Just don't have 20 notebooks or more, it's confusing, I know.

[Notpast40]

On another note, I know this thread is old. But I offer the following up for advice: Just because you are highly critigued, or you feel like they ripped you a new one, doesn't mean you can't write. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try and separate yourself from your work, and see what others are trying to tell you, quite the opposite, you have to be open, and in doing so, you will indeed become a better writer. But confidence plays a big part in what you do, or what you hope to achieve. On a personal note, I never wanted to write poetry, I never read it, I still don't really, other than current writers that pen it. This is a very difficult area for me, and I tend to break the rules if I desire to do so. I am my own worst critic, so what you say matters, but, I still rely on this, "Am I happy?" I don't know if this makes sense, but for me, herein, lies the key. Be careful what you write, watch your phrasings, your punctuation, word usage, follow the flow and see where it takes you. I have over a dozen or more works sitting in the back of my mind, tidibits on paper here and there, I will either do something with it or they will continue to sit and wait. I originally wrote "A Woman Lost" over a year ago, it sucked lemons, I deleted it ,though kept it on paper, for the last couple of months it nagged at me in the corner of my mind, but I knew I wasn't ready to pen it, now granted, it isn't a fabulous piece of work, but I am far happier with it now than I ever was in the beginning. I know you won't belive this but, the night I decided to re-write it, I did it in less than five minutes. I suppose what I am trying to say is this "Don't push yourself!"

[Notpast40]

okay, clicked off too soon. Final note on my perspective: Don't push, when you push you loose your perspective, when you lose that, your ability is confined or hampered, write the piece, straight up, you have all the time in the world to go back and edit and change. So you write 3 verses, nowhere else to go, no ending, leave it, what does it matter? From time to time, pick it up, no ideas? edit what you have, it will come to you eventually. To me, there is no plan to poetry, there is only what is in your heart, and that my friend, takes a locksmith.

[Ledin]

I,too,have found myself locked in to a type of poetry writing as James,below,describes. I write four lines in each section, and ALWAYS 5 words per line. As soon as I try to break away from this comfort zone, I shiver and rework until I return to that form. I will only use rhyme, and struggle to read anything that is not. I strive to learn different genre's{sp?} in poetry writing to improve my own.

[Ledin]

I,too,have found myself locked in to a type of poetry writing as James,below,describes. I write four lines in each section, and ALWAYS 5 words per line. As soon as I try to break away from this comfort zone, I shiver and rework until I return to that form. I will only use rhyme, and struggle to read anything that is not. I do strive to learn different genre's{sp?} in poetry writing to improve my own.