"Writers need to be like Zen students. We require Still Pond. That is, psychic space in which nothing else is happening. If you're a frantic scheduler, it's likely you're carrying around the Burden of Being Everything to Everyone." -Heather Sellers, Chapter after Chapter.
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I've been reading poetry lately in an effort to prime my writing pump. (Which must be working to some degree because I am writing--of course, that could also be due to having writing group (which means I have to have something to share) or Spring Break)
I came across Billy Collin's poem, Purity. At first, I liked it because it was funny. Funny to me anyway. It starts off talking about his favorite time to write--"in the late afternoon, weekdays, particularly Wednesdays."
Then the poet goes on to detail exactly how he goes about writing. Always interested in hearing about someones writing process, I read the poem very seriously.
Get a fresh pot of tea--Hey, I do that!
Take off clothes--okay, that's a little weird. Cold, too. But whatever works.
Remove flesh and hang it over a chair--Oh, so, this is metaphorical. He probably doesn't really take off his clothes, either.
"Finally I remove each of my organs and arrange them on a small table near the window."--I like how he doesn't want "their ancient rhythms" interfering with his writing.
So he's now ready to begin, nothing but a skeleton at a typewriter--whew, what's the pub. date on this? 1991. Okay, yeah. Bet he uses a computer now.
And then comes the stanza that cracks me up:
Collins goes on to explain how he writes "extraordinary love poems, most of them exploiting the connection between sex and death."
I think about that for awhile. Sex and death. The primitive drive for life, or continuance of life, and the unavoidable journey toward death.
The poem continues, and the poet talks about how he eventually removes his penis too. "Now I write only about death, most classical of themes in language light as the air between my ribs."
It doesn't come to me until later that Collins is talking about the process writers undergo of getting outside of themselves, their own preconceived ideas, thoughts, experiences. And maybe, truly the hardest part is getting outside of our perception as males or females. I suppose I see things in a certain way because I am female--and often I am unaware of how that influences what I perceive.
Do you think it is important to try to step outside ourselves as we write? To take off our clothes, hang up our flesh, remove our organs--maybe even our sex organs? Is this even possible?
I came across Billy Collin's poem, Purity. At first, I liked it because it was funny. Funny to me anyway. It starts off talking about his favorite time to write--"in the late afternoon, weekdays, particularly Wednesdays."
Then the poet goes on to detail exactly how he goes about writing. Always interested in hearing about someones writing process, I read the poem very seriously.
Get a fresh pot of tea--Hey, I do that!
Take off clothes--okay, that's a little weird. Cold, too. But whatever works.
Remove flesh and hang it over a chair--Oh, so, this is metaphorical. He probably doesn't really take off his clothes, either.
"Finally I remove each of my organs and arrange them on a small table near the window."--I like how he doesn't want "their ancient rhythms" interfering with his writing.
So he's now ready to begin, nothing but a skeleton at a typewriter--whew, what's the pub. date on this? 1991. Okay, yeah. Bet he uses a computer now.
And then comes the stanza that cracks me up:
I should mention that sometimes I leave my penis on.Okay, that picture in my head is so funny I have to go down and share it with my husband. He thinks it's kind of weird. Mildly amusing, but weird.
I find it difficult to ignore the temptation.
Then I am a skeleton with a penis at a typewriter.
Collins goes on to explain how he writes "extraordinary love poems, most of them exploiting the connection between sex and death."
I think about that for awhile. Sex and death. The primitive drive for life, or continuance of life, and the unavoidable journey toward death.
The poem continues, and the poet talks about how he eventually removes his penis too. "Now I write only about death, most classical of themes in language light as the air between my ribs."
It doesn't come to me until later that Collins is talking about the process writers undergo of getting outside of themselves, their own preconceived ideas, thoughts, experiences. And maybe, truly the hardest part is getting outside of our perception as males or females. I suppose I see things in a certain way because I am female--and often I am unaware of how that influences what I perceive.
Do you think it is important to try to step outside ourselves as we write? To take off our clothes, hang up our flesh, remove our organs--maybe even our sex organs? Is this even possible?
3 comments:
Okay, Sarah, this requires some thought. We must step outside of ourselves--not sure about removing body parts--in order to write. Stepping out lets our imagination soar and our shroud of vulnerability drop. (Taking off our clothes?)
Whether we can shed our sex influence depends on our inner yin and yang. The more we reflect our stereotypical sex traits, i.e. masculine men and feminine women the harder it is to shed that influence. Is it easier for you to deal with male or female characters? Or do we give characters attributes we would like in a member of the opposite sex?
Interesting topic. Curious how others see it.
The shedding of flesh--the physical? Maybe that means we can write without being distracted by the physical stuff.
I like the taking off clothes = becoming vulnerable. Writers need to be able to be vulnerable, I think, in order to write the stuff that touches all humanity.
Writing male characters is harder for me. I suppose in some ways I write my male characters based on men I know--or yeah, maybe men I would like to know. :)
The removing body parts--Billy Collins talks about removing the heart so that its ancient rhythm doesn't interfere with his rhythms. I think maybe we need to make sure our writing isn't all heart OR all head. It has to appeal to both.
I think good writing is a fine balance between personal and universal.
I was thinking about this poem again the other day. Maybe the hardest part of me to shed is the Mom part. That's what makes it so hard to write at home--I'm surrounded with things I should--as Mom--be doing.
When I go away to write, it is easier to shed my responsibilities--as mom, sister, friend, wife, daughter, librarian.....
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