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User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Try writing exercises. I do them when I can’t write. I’ll take out a book and circle words to make a found poem. I’ll take out the dictionary and put my finger in randomly. Then, I try to write a line using the word my finger touches. I’ll look around a room and make a list of the nouns I see and try to make metaphors using them. Reading is the best thing. I’m inspired by prose as often as poetry. Look at paintings. Sometimes I get ideas from them. Listening to music (especially with good lyrics) helps. Just fill your head with all you can. Something always comes out for me. Another important thing is to write reguarly. I write something every day. Sometimes it’s just a line or two, but musicians and artists practice their craft regularly, so writers should too.

User	Sandburg | 2004-12-25 |
Subject	untitled
Message	J is right about the reading. Even if you think about a story you read at an earlier time. Poems have been written about paintings, statues, books, movies, other poems, architecture, cities, particular historical events, historical figures including saints, presidents, authors, explorers. The list truly is endless. Imagine Rhet Butler in a retirement home, divorced, broke, wondering how his life might have been if he had married Scarlet, from Gone with the Wind. See how the idea would work? Challenges work well too. One time you pick, next time your partner. Write a poem about a dead frog. Write a poem that includes these four words: Perpetuity, Sanctity, Zeal, Amalgam. Write a poem titled Yoke of the Damned. Write a poem about Cleaveland, Ohio. Again, an endless supply. There are sites online that automatically generate four random words, by the way, or an entire opening line. You can take the first lines from several different newspaper stories in todays paper and arrange them into a poem. Title it December 25th, 2004. You can take lines from a dozen or so poems by one author and arrange it into a poem dedicated to that author. If you don’t have any ideas yet, I don’t know what else to suggest! I do have one final plan. You join the Sandburg poem of the month club. Each month you send me fifty bucks and I send you words, wonderful words like salamander and radiant. The words are all arranged in alphabetical order and you just pick the ones you want and build your poem out of them. Pay no attention to the name "Webster" on the front of the list, he’s a copycat, it’s my damned list. Remember, fifty bucks...

User	Juliets_dagger | 2004-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Try sitting down and writing down each thought that comes to your mind, to sort of "clean out" your mind. Look for inspiration around you. Writing should not be something that you feel troubled in doing. Just let it come to you, don’t force it. One of the best things I think a writer can do is read continually. Reading expands the knowledge of a writer and can provoke new ideas. And really though, sometimes it’s just best to give your writing a rest for a little while. Everyone needs a little rest now and then. Much love.

User	Sandburg | 2004-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Oh, one other thing too, don’t get hung up too much on what you write. Not everything has to be Pulitzer Prize caliber. If you write every day some of the stuff will be ho-hum, some will be genius. Just let it flow and let it go. Don’t sit and not write because you don’t have something immortal in mind.

User	Sandburg | 2004-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	This may sound silly but go do something else. A lot of people think trying hard to write is a substitute for having something to write about. You need some fresh experiences to inspire you. I always have a few new poems come to me after a trip, but even a jog or a bike ride will help me. Probably work for you too.