Comments on: poetry book club: four books to break writer’s block

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:00:34 +0000

A great article, Jessica. I haven’t read any of these books. ‘Inspiration Sandwich’ seems like one I’d be drawn to.

I stop writing when I am too hard on myself, when I start telling myself that everything I write is horrible, that I should just burn it all. When that happens, I go back to writing morning pages, free writes a la Julia Cameron, just resting on the page.

There are some writers who aren’t always in poetry mode. It requires a sort of mythic thinking that can be hard to sustain for long periods of time. Meditation helps me regroup and re-energize when I feel blah.

By: Meme-a-licious « 9 to 5 Poet

Meme-a-licious « 9 to 5 Poet — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:26:40 +0000

[...] from Blackeyed Susan’s, left me a really lovely comment over on my monthly article for Read Write Poem (check it out), and then left a meme prompt for me here. The questions in this meme are [...]

By: Philip Thrift

Philip Thrift — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:59:00 +0000

the poetry dictionary
second edition
by John Drury

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:02:55 +0000

I have “The Practice of Poetry” but it doesn’t much do it for me, I find the ideas too difficult. I am better with prompts that are just a word or two – I find Natalie Goldberg’s books very good. The latest “Old Friend from Far Away” is about writing memoir but I believe her prompts work well for poetry too, since a lot of poetry is drawn from our own lives.
I also have “The Poet’s Companion” by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. I’ve looked for Poemcrazy in our library but they don’t have it, and I’m reluctant to order a book from an online bookstore unless I’m sure I’ll love it.

By: susan

susan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:17:33 +0000

Correction. I do know about the rhyming dictionary. I met and spoke with Sonia Sanchez and she recommended having it on hand. A bought a copy for our library.

By: susan

susan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:16:11 +0000

Jessica,

I was reading at your blog recently and now reading your post here, I confess I am relieved to hear a poet/writer I respect struggles with her work. For some reason I need to know someone who can write suffers like I do. I regularly read your blog even when I don’t comment.

Back to your question, when I’m stuck, I read anthologies or collected works like the Collected Works of Audre Lorde (I think she is amazing), I read fiction (I read 65 titles between January and now) do more prompts just so I’m writing something, and I blog so that I’m writing every day. I believe I not only experience writer’s block but I simply lack discipline. Still, I am learning that staying connected to words and those who write them helps me keep from becoming stuck longer than if I were isolated.

Some of my favorite reads include, How To Read A Poem and Fall In Love With Poetry by Edward Hirsch and I like to read literary criticism for students. I have a favorite series designed for high schoolers. Poetry For Students provides a lot of information without being overly formal. I haven’t read any of the texts you mention. I’ll be looking for them. I have a few other reference texts I haven’t looked at in a long time and I will now thanks to your post.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:52:03 +0000

I’ve never seen any of these books but they all sound good. I usually find a large poetry anthology or dictionary or the Random Word Generator to get a list of up to 13 words.
The list is usually enough to shake up my brain a little. To have these words isolated so I can think about their sound and sense connections to other words is a valuable step to getting me writing.
(The Random Word Generator can be found at http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx)

By: kimberlee

kimberlee — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:27:42 +0000

Poemcrazy is the best book for me. It just totally speaks to the parts of me that need it. For me, it is the Magic 8 Ball… I can open to any spot and it gives me an answer or soothes a spot I didn’t realize needed soothing.

Another good tool is the Weekly. I don’t know if they are in every area, but they have one in Seattle, Tacoma and Eugene. They are sort of a mish-mash of social commentary, reviews of the arts and other cultural stuff. There is always something lurking in the pages that will spark an interest in me. Even if it is just a word or phrase… I glean tons of ideas from just a quick read.