So many of my favorite poetry moments this month have come through reading the excellent interviews in The Poetry Makers series at the Miss Rumphius Effect. I especially love the quotes on poetry and writing I'm getting to add to my collection. Some of these come in the section where the poet is asked to share their own favorite quotes, but many others just jump off the page in the midst of the conversation. Here are a few I've especially enjoyed chewing on:
“Poems are not meant to be solved; they are meant to be savored.” --Allan Wolf
"I write so that I might become a better reader." --Allan Wolf (isn't that a delicious reversal from how we usually hear it?)
"I have a little notebook in my back pocket and a pen in my front pocket at all times. I actually get a little panicky when I’m without them." -- Allan Wolf (I resonate with this one!)
"...poems are for noticing, for wondering, for describing something so interesting you want to capture it in words, save it forever, share it with the world, make people see what you see, feel what you feel." -- Heidi Mordhorst
"...it’s fun for me to go through three or five or eight drafts of a poem. I like to watch it change and muscle me into where it wants to go instead of where I think I want to take it. Some people like to drive poetry around. I like to be poetry’s passenger." -- Ron Koertge
"My basic approach when I write is to waste no words." -- Charles R. Smith Jr.
"Fingers hover over the keyboard, brain chases down words, lassoing them like stray calves. Thesaurus, rhyming dictionary close at hand. If I get stuck, I push away from the desk – take a nap, eat some chocolate, take a walk. Shake the words loose. Return to the desk. And, to steal Ms. Yolen’s line, keep B.I.C. (Butt In Chair) until I’ve got something." -- Stephen Swinburne, on describing his writing process.
2 comments:
Wonderful quotes all! I especially like the ones by Allan Wolf and feel like I really resonate with all of them. And as to the third, I went to Walmart today and neglected to bring my notepad and pen along, and then had to go diving in Mom's purse, because inspiration struck and luckily she had both! :-P
Yes, I especially liked Allan Wolf's quotes too. I could have jotted down more of the things he said -- I like how he thinks about poetry/creative process!
I'm always afraid I won't have my little notebook handy when inspiration strikes. I don't ever worry about needing a pen, not if I'm with D., as he carries not just one but several -- always.
I'm fond of Jane Yolen's "B.I.C." comment too. :-) Sometimes that's the most challenging part!
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