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Agnes Krampe

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How do you work on your poetry?

Blog Posted by Agnes Krampe: 4/5/2017 5:59:00 PM

I am still trying to develop a routine that gets me to write consistently. I know I need to make time without distractions (the computer is definitely one, and as much as I love to read on Soup, it's also time I don't spend actually writing). So I was curious how everybody is working:

Are you a full time writer and devote an entire workday to poetry?

Do you set aside a certain amount of time each day to read and write? How much for each?

Do you use whatever scraps of time are left over in your busy life to write for a few minutes here or there?

Do you take classes, attend workshops, work through workshop books?

Do you carry notebooks wherever you go?

I try to spend some time most afternoons after work. I carry a notebook when I am hiking, an dthat is when I have most of my ideas. I should spend more time walking outside and observing. I don't read enough poetry; I just buy more books.

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The
Grahamburglar

Date: 4/20/2017 7:18:00 PM

My approach is a very laissez-faire sort of thing. Sometimes, I'll be sitting around picking my nose, and I'll think, perhaps I have time to forge some word combinations. So then I brute-force a poem into existence. Other times, I'll be waiting in a drive-thru line at Taco Bell (I know, Bueno is better than Bell) and an idea jumps into my brain, so I grab my little leather book and my trusty Waterman Hemisphere and scribble as fast as I can to keep up with the ideas that are scampering around like roaches in my head. Sadly, I do not have the luxury of hours to spend each day, but perhaps one day...but until then, intermittent phases will likely be my norm.

Joanna
Daniel

Date: 4/9/2017 9:37:00 AM

Hi Agnes, I begin each day with a small prayer that God would help me write for His glory:) since I joined my new job last month, my writing time has come down, but I carry a small diary with me to jot down my thoughts while travelling in the bus:) sometimes God gives me the words in the stillness of the night, which I note down the next day:)

Charmaine
Chircop

Date: 4/8/2017 12:05:00 AM

Hi dear Agnes, I do not have a particular time of day whe to write.I can do days without writing a line,or days when ideas start popping out of the blue.Sometimes I'm driving my girl to school and a thought appears out of nowhere..I scribble it down on paper or on my phone memo page,then work on it later.My best way and place to write is when I'm on my own in complete silence.Yes,silence is the best key for my inspiration,and if I'm one with nature even better.Excellent Blog dear.

Jan
Allison

Date: 4/6/2017 5:59:00 PM

I never sit down and force myself to write ... if the muse is there then i find the poetry will flow. I can get inspired at any time of the day or night and always carry a notebook or a scrap of paper to throw down my lines and I confess as I writer of 'poop' poetry for the first time ever I actually wrote one on the loo when I was at the hotel this week - oh what a confession lol:-) hugs jan xx

Jan Allison
Date: 4/7/2017 2:32:00 AM

Hmmm well I was on the throne lol - but no I was in the hotel lol:-) hugs Jan xx

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/6/2017 7:35:00 PM

Did you wear your tiara?

Chris
Green

Date: 4/6/2017 12:34:00 PM

I write most of my poetry early in the morning before the distracting noise of the work day comes about. I do work on poetry throughout the day at my office, usually tidying up a few I have started in the morning. My only goal to start the day is to write my good morning soupers poem prior to my office opening. I do have a 40 minute drive in that I use to formulate ideas and pre-compose stanzas in my mind. I really have no set rules about when or where except the weekends are reserved for other hobbies. I very seldom venture into poetry or onto Soup for that matter on Saturday or Sunday. And if inspiration hits me on the weekends, I try to remember it, but never write it down.

Chris Green
Date: 4/6/2017 1:02:00 PM

I just find the mornings so peaceful and the time I am most creative as far as poetry goes. I don't concentrate very well and trying to do anything while constantly being interrupted is not something I am very good at. :)

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/6/2017 12:48:00 PM

Hm, that's a thought. I have not tried to write in the morning; I need my mind free of immediate concerns, and when I get to work at 7:40 get ready for class and run through a few tasks on the computer. I do manage to sneak in a few reads in short breaks at work, but don't think I'd have the right headspace to write myself.

Erik
Savage

Date: 4/6/2017 11:55:00 AM

When I was younger, I had a friend who was a fairly well known painter tell me that inspiration is a discipline. I try to devote a portion of each day to writing. For me it is a good thing. I recently picked up a really nice fountain pen at a thrift shop that is truly a pleasure to write with. I never before realized what a difference a pen could make to my desire to write. I carry a small notebook to keep track of observations that strike me through the day. I tried using my phone, but it is just not tactile enough. I love paper. When a poem comes it fills itself out quite rapidly. I will usually then put it aside for a while then come back to it later with fresh eyes.

Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 4/6/2017 8:09:00 AM

Great blog! I write fiction and poetry. Less than two months ago, I chose to write a novel in less than three months. I'm over a third done and approaching the half way mark. I usually spend an evening on the weekend adding to my outline. I spend an hour each morning doing what must be done around my home, make a tea, then dive into my novel. My daughter is seven, so things rarely go as planned. There are holidays, sick days, professional development days for the teachers, and (here in Canada) snow days (in the winter.) Poetry also intrudes, comes to me because it must. So, I do carry a tiny notebook in my purse, jot down a word or a single line. This weekend, I'll be writing a poem in two days for CV2's Two Day Poem Contest. Only a few years back, I would have wrinkled my nose and thought, "Two days? Why does it take two days to write a poem?" Now, I get that a poem can take weeks, months or even years to get right. Hubby is taking our girl out, early Saturday, so I can spend nine hours just getting a first draft done. The contest is cool. It requires you to use 10 words in your poem; the editors are known to select some pretty funky words. Now, back to your questions... I am a notorious researcher. I love delving into subjects and must restrict my time on the internet. I like to read literary journals and give myself two hours a week to study what is currently being published in poetry magazines. I think all writers discover what works for them, and if they are feeling less productive than they'd like to be, they tinker with their schedules and find a way to just "get the words out." You WILL find your natural rhythm. Cheers!

Charlotte
Puddifoot

Date: 4/6/2017 4:26:00 AM

sporadically, i'm all over the place! lol i usually have about ten poems on the go at any given time, and i just add bits to them as and when...i believe that a poem only releases itself when the time is right, and so i have poems that i've been working on for months, even years, in various stages of completion...for me, writing a poem is almost like making love, i don't want it to end, i want to prolong it, so i tend to spin it out lol...i'm not a fast writer, so it's a case of fitting in the writing around everything else, often writing in the small hours when all other jobs are done...i am superstitious about my writing, i write in certain notebooks, use certain pens etc lol

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 4/6/2017 8:27:00 AM

Some countries call them "composition books." Usually seventy sheets. My current one is stitched. I can spend an hour in an office supply store testing pens! It needs to write smoothly, no blotching, and I love the ones with soft grips. I had a friend who HAD to write her novels on yellow legal pads. Whatever works!

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 4/6/2017 8:24:00 AM

I'm not alone!!!! I like to use elementary school notebooks to write out ideas. I like the size of the paper, the fact there are less than a hundred sheets in them, and somehow these small notebooks let me run wild. I feel like a kid, free to doodle and cross out and circle things. Silly, right? But it works for me...:D

Charlotte Puddifoot
Date: 4/6/2017 7:25:00 AM

funny isn't it? i use spiral bound A4 lined notebooks, a certain brand if possible, and i can't use any other pens except black rollerball ink ones! lol

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/6/2017 7:18:00 AM

Oh, I can relate to the using certain materials! I must have notebooks with high quality white unlined pages (lined or graph paper simply does not work), and I write with very sharp wooden pencils (dull pencils or ink do not work). Some poems have been lingering in an unfinished state for months, and in some cases, a year, but I also enjoy doing the occasional quick write for a contest challenge where I don't take the time to polish and revise (contest would fill up before I'm done). I view those along the lines as practicing etudes on the piano; they are not the concerto, but keep the fingers limber.

Darren
White

Date: 4/6/2017 4:20:00 AM

That's an interesting question Agnes... I usually spend early mornings and late evenings writing my own poetry. In between I translate poetry from Arabic. I have little notebooks everywhere I go, because the silliest of moments inspiration hits and I need to write it down instantly or I forget what it was... I learn from poets everywhere, here on Soup I have a few teachers. But I do let my own poetry develop without forcing myself, or else I'm afraid I will lose myself somewhere . For translating this is different. I am doing an MA in Arabic poetry, so you might say I more or less do this for a living too.

Darren White
Date: 4/9/2017 2:40:00 AM

Do you manage a decent translation of your own work? I have one very small Dutch poem, which is a regular word play poem, and it's completely impossible to translate. Not even if I try to pick words in English, completely different, but with the amility to tear apart. I'll soupmail you the original, IF you understand Dutch :)

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/7/2017 6:56:00 AM

I did feel this invisible boundary, too. I thought that translating would help me ease into writing in English, but on the complete contrary, I was only able to translate once I had found my voice in English and felt comfortable writing original work; I am now finally able to work on some 16 year old German poems.

Darren White
Date: 4/6/2017 8:26:00 AM

(3) Translating poetry is an art within an art. In my bio I compare it with being Houdini. You're chained to the original but try to free yourself to deliver poetry.

Darren White
Date: 4/6/2017 8:24:00 AM

(1) I used to write poetry in Dutch, and only 10 months ago decided to switch to English. That has its chanllenges, as you undoubtedly must know.

Darren White
Date: 4/6/2017 8:24:00 AM

(2) The majority of my poems is still in Dutch, but I was very young when I wrote those, and I lost them, apart from a few that were published in an anthology. I am not even going to try to translate my Dutch poems into English. It is as if there is an invisible boundary there that prohibits me to :)

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/6/2017 7:13:00 AM

Cool! Translating is so difficult. I am German and have been living in the US for a total of 18 years. My English was perfectly fine for teaching college classes and everyday life, but I had a huge block about poetry and was unable to translate even my own poems for a decade. You have a wonderful field of study!

Doug
Vinson

Date: 4/5/2017 9:14:00 PM

No "rhyme or reason" to it, heh heh heh. Many professional writers set aside some hours every day or close to it, to write - that's priority #1, and there's a lot to be said for that. No classes or workshops for me, though not against them. Work full-time, but on certain days can write almost 100% of the time. Usually let the Muse get fired up on her own, but have sat down and cranked out some poems, as for contests. No notebook, but 99% of the time can use a sheet of paper, the back of something else, etc., to write if stuff comes. Lots of times a line or two will pop into my head, drunk or sober, and I'll at least write it down so I don't forget.

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/6/2017 7:10:00 AM

Oh, absolutely - when the muse comes it is fantastic. I have written some poems very quickly because of inspiration. But for revising and making a decent poem really good, I need to make time and just sit and do it. And sometimes, the muse just gives me a line and a phrase, and those percolate for months before I finally do something with them.

Doug Vinson
Date: 4/5/2017 9:17:00 PM

Agnes, totally agree that the spontaneous Muse is unreliable. Still, for me, there's no comparison - either it's *on* or it's not, and while some progress can be made by sheer determination and diligent effort, it's nothing like when the Muse is really saddled up - when stuff comes so fast you can hardly write or type fast enough.

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 4/5/2017 6:09:00 PM

this is a great question to ask folks!! Here is how it works for me. AS I work four and a half days a week, I really have little time to write like some here do. So I have to utilize my weekends. Sometimes I might stay up extra late and work on a poem like from 10 till midnight or 1 a.m. My hubbie likes my attention during the evenings so I have to wait until he goes to sleep, which is often by 10. Once in a while I can lay out in the sun in the late afternoon after my job and write then! I love writing on my deck. I love having the pen in my hand. On my bed or on my deck are the preferred spots, but once in a great while, I compose a poem driving , and jot it down at the lights!!!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/6/2017 9:28:00 AM

I would do that but it would be too great a struggle for me at the light to figure out how to do it. haha

Agnes Krampe
Date: 4/5/2017 7:53:00 PM

I have done that, too - writing at the stop light. I also have used my phone to record phrases that popped into my mind when I was out and about without pencil and paper.

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/5/2017 6:26:00 PM

Try not to write till I am stopped at the light. haha The plight of those who have no time during the day for writing!!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/5/2017 6:10:00 PM

I compose it "in my head"!!

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