Saturday 31 March 2012

Recommend a good poetry creative writing book?

Someone asked me on facebook  if I could recommend a good poetry creative writing book. I said:

No. Read a poem and wonder how or why the person wrote it. Imagine yourself doing the same thing. Then do it. Keep doing that many, many times. At the same time, read, read, read. Read what people say about poetry and poems. It'll all come together. Don't look for quick results. Don't look for formulae. Try to find out what you really think about things. Keep a notebook of any phrases, words, ideas come into your head. Read your own journal. Use the phrases as 'start-lines' and see where they go. Any thought you get while you're reading is important because it's full of 'writerliness' ie it's already 'packaged' as a bit of writing-like stuff. Treasure it.