WRITING EXERCISES

Turning Stream of Consciousness Writing into Poetry

An exercise that works for any creative writer who wants to write a poem

Stream-of-consciousness writing is nothing new for creative writers. In fact, it may be one of the very first writing exercises you ever did — way back in school when your inner workings were first bending toward creative writing.

When you do this exercise, do not throw out this writing. Save your journals, the little tidbits of paper where you scrawled your thoughts as you waited in line at the DMV, and yes, even those angry purging notes you made when Mr-not-so-perfect turned out to be a real creep.

Save all of it.

I guarantee you there are seeds there. Seeds of poems waiting to be plucked out, planted, watered, and shaped into pieces of writing that deserve their own air in this world. You, dear writer, are the one chosen to do this.

What Is Stream-of-Consciousness Writing?

Stream-of-consciousness writing is a technique you can use either in your narrative writing, say, within the context of a novel, for example, or as an exercise to get your thoughts moving and reach deeper areas of your own thinking — as a way to catalyze the writing process.

Here’s a little about how stream-of-consciousness writing is used as a tool, itself, within your larger prose writing:

Going a little deeper, we can see that this isn’t merely a way to communicate on behalf of our characters, but also a way to use our own patterns of thinking to generate what I like to call “automatic writings” that help us to break through writing blocks, stir up emotions, thoughts, and other internal content we’ve got going on below the immediate surface of our cognitive awareness, and to simply get your fingers and mind warmed up for writing.

More on this type of writing and how to do it:

But what comes out of this type of exercise, though it may appear to be only gibberish — is often gold for poems. Automatic writings, or stream-of-consciousness writing is a quick way to get to a deep and meaningful poem, a quirky or nonsensical poem, a seasonal or sensory poem — any of these!

Poetry, as we all know, doesn’t just come from the sensory world which feeds us, or chases us down and insists on our attention as this poet describes, but it also comes from within. Within the various layers of consciousness that we have going on in our very complex brains.

How to Do a Stream-of-Consciousness Writing Exercise

1. Set a timer.
2. Eliminate distractions (or set the mood with candles, soft music, or scenery).
3. Write without thinking. Just write ANYTHING that pops into your head.
4. NO EDITING.
5. When the timer’s done, set the work aside. You’ll want to clear your head completely before returning to it.

Want a seriously cool Poetry Journal to do your stream of consciousness writing in? Try this one!

How to Turn Your Stream-of-Consciousness Writing Notes into POEMS!

So, how do we take something like this, born from rambling thought and put it into a new form, like that of a poem?

Your stream of consciousness will likely look something like this:

this world is so violent

why’s everybody so pissed off all the time maybe they’ve got those dang mockingbirds screaming up their yard everymorning like i do. I wish they’d leave Maria alone. Yesterday they kept pecking her in the ass and i was getting dressed when that lady across the streed ran over there in her dang bra to get the birds off Maria

she was jumping up and down like she doesn’t even know she’s a pit

it’s too hot out here and bright too I think it will be hot again today I better put more wate out there when I put the dogs our

what’s going on in Georgia? I didn’t even know that was a whole country until I looked up the videos and that shit is tereible. people are so mean and angry and hurt all the time and sometimes I think even though I’m broke as hell and living in this shithole that I am lucky to be born here like it could’;ve been the COngo or something and …

It’s messy. A mess. And that’s ok. It’s supposed to be. And this piece will depend completely on several things:

1. Where you are when you do the exercise.
2. What state of mind you are in at the time.
3. How you’re feeling at the time of the exercise.
4. And anything that happens to you, around you, etc. while you’re writing.

Now — it’s time to get to work.

When you’re ready, sit down with what you’ve written and look for interesting phrases, ideas, concepts, or tiny little pieces of poems hidden in what you’ve written. Circle them, highlight them, whatever method you prefer.

Here’s a little more about how to turn your stream-of-consciousness writing mess into a coherent piece you can be proud of…

Creating Writing from Your Stream of Consciousness Pieces

1. See if you can find any themes that may birth more intentional writing pieces.

Clearly, I have several themes going on with this piece:

• Political news that’s upsetting me
• Poverty
• Petcare
• Sensory stuff — it seems to be summertime
• Living in a small neighborhood
• Comedy — the bra-clad neighbor fighting birds off of a poor defenseless pitbull dog

Fun Fact: A prose-y version of this SOC writing, chosen from one of the themes, became my very first blog post — ever! It’s still quite messy but I preserved the SOC feeling within the piece, another option for using this type of writing exercise:

**Strong themes, not for younger readers…

I hear ya. So much of this world is violent, angry, selfish…when people ALL hurt the same, over the same worries, the same struggles…lies hurt all of us. Betrayal…it bends our hearts backwards every time. We all get so tied up in our own suffering so much that we forget how miraculously we landed exactly where we are.

I could have been born in war-torn Georgia, caught between peoples with similar faces who fight to eliminate each other… Russia standing by selling commodities and enjoying its power.

Instead I was born white. I had two parents. I always had a bed to sleep in.

I could have been born in the Congo. I could have set out on foot to get firewood (in place of my husband going…I knew the men waited for him in the woods to kill him)…I could have been gang raped and sewn shut like so many women in a place where cruelty is more abundant than food.

I am fortunate. I have.

And today, I remember to be grateful.

****author’s note: This was a stream of consciousness piece that I wrote years ago, but still find relevance in it’s message. I hope it evokes in you some hope for BETTER for the community around you, wherever you are.

2. Look for what I call “gold nuggets” in the automatic writing.

• Phrases that stick out to you — highlight or circle them!
• Words that are interesting.
• Trains of thought that catch your eye.
• Outliers — sudden intrusions of completely off-the-wall thoughts. These can be really cool to capture!

Let’s see this in action — see the bolded parts below:

**Strong themes, not for younger readers…

I hear ya. So much of this world is violent, angry, selfish…when people ALL hurt the same, over the same worries, the same struggles…lies hurt all of us. Betrayal…it bends our hearts backwards every time. We all get so tied up in our own suffering so much that we forget how miraculously we landed exactly where we are.

I could have been born in war-torn Georgia, caught between peoples with similar faces who fight to eliminate each other… Russia standing by selling commodities and enjoying its power.

Instead I was born white. I had two parents. I always had a bed to sleep in.

I could have been born in the Congo. I could have set out on foot to get firewood (in place of my husband going…I knew the men waited for him in the woods to kill him)…I could have been gang raped and sewn shut like so many women in a place where cruelty is more abundant than food.

I am fortunate. I have.

And today, I remember to be grateful.

****author’s note: This was a stream of consciousness piece that I wrote years ago, but still find relevance in it’s message. I hope it evokes in you some hope for BETTER for the community around you, wherever you are.

3. Now, using these themes and little nuggets of inspiration, you can begin writing. Either use them for inspiration and write, or pick a theme and literally align the phrases (fitting that theme) into a poem. Arrange the bold pieces, move them around, and add only what words are necessary to make the narrative make sense:

People ALL hurt the same It bends our hearts backward that we landed exactly where we are.

I could have been born in war-torn Georgia Witnessing people with similar faces Fighting to eliminate each other Russia standing by, selling commodities, enjoying power.

But, I was born white. I had two parents. I always had a bed to sleep in.

I could have been born in the Congo Or some other violent place. Set out on foot each day to get firewood While cruel men wait in the grass; Gang raped and sewn shut in a place where Cruelty is more abundant than food.

But, I was born white. I had two parents. I always had a bed to sleep in. I am fortunate. I have.

I remember to be grateful But I am confused, angered. People ALL hurt the same It bends our hearts backward that we landed exactly where we are.

Now, give your poem a title, and do any further editing and voila! A poem!

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