What Do I Do When I Find Myself Stymied By A Writing Prompt?
I sleep on it and I wake up with the story formed in my subconscious and ready to emerge into my conscious and ready for writing
I have engaged in Diana C.’a 30-day poetry challenge — a challenge that Noelle’s self-imposed challenge inspired (discussed in the second linked story by Noelle).
Noelle writes:
If I was going to write a poem a day, I had to stop trying to write a good poem. Trying creates a constriction within me. I can feel it. Instead, I started nurturing my relationship with creativity, with my muses, with the source of all inspiration. This meant truly surrendering and opening myself up to whatever idea or image or phrase the universe wanted to send my way. If I didn’t feel inspired when I sat down to write my poem…
I learned long ago, 5 months I mean — long relative to my seven months or so writing on Medium, never to force my writing.
I cannot stand 99% of the advice I see given about writer’s block. I have seen just one story so far with which I agree, written by A Rustic Mind (Manali Desai).
I commented:
This is the first WB article I have ever clapped for. You get it and I should have expected that you would. “Blocks” are a message, from ourselves (subconscious or soul — take your pick) or the universe, that there is something else we should be focusing on at the moment, and like other signals to be decoded, once one figures it out, the block may be lifted even before the other issue is fixed as long as it has been spotted and is not ignored.
I afford myself latitude when it comes to keeping to strict adherence with 30 poems in 30 days. I think I just skipped a day. Yet, twice I wrote one tanka responding to two separate prompts (I eschew externally imposed structures).
Day 19: Love is multifaceted Day 20: Doing what makes the heart sing
Sex like love diamond Many angles to explore We are fucking hard Yet passionate kissing while Enterlocked makes my heart sing
See Convergence for my decoder ring.
This tanka is inspired by the thoughts behind the day-18 and day-21 prompts: “Wisdom is loving the whole” and “A path that marries science and spirituality,”
Wise ask right questions Wise alchemize the answers Wise see many truths Emotional foundations Balance and support structures
See Syncresynthesis for that decoder ring.
Tanka technically constitutes two poems in one anyway, so at this point, I see myself as actually ahead of the schedule — just saying.
I sleep on it and I wake up with the story formed in my subconscious and ready to emerge into my conscious and ready for writing
I have employed this writing method several times during this challenge. For the prompt “letting go of the herd mentality,” this emerged:
I have left the herd By wondering wanderers I hope to be heard To affect mentality Does a shepherd need a flock
Rebecca Romanelli answered my final question with a resounding no:
Personally, I don’t think a shepherd needs a flock. If we live our lives with personal integrity, people will take notice and realize they need to follow their own dreams.
Rebecca is a fabulous writer by the way. Here are two of my many favorites:
I agree with Rebecca’s answer, as flocks seek instruction and I seek to guide by example.
Esther George answered my tanka completely in:
Esther discusses the magical connection between my tanka and her story here in my and Anthi Psomiadou’s (hands down one of the best poets on Medium, and a wonderful meaningful engager who receives the same from so many readers, and it is fucking ridiculous that she did not receive a $500 bonus) pub ChannSpirations and Coincidences:
Synchronicity would have it that the universe delivered messages to and through the authors without the knowledge of either author who wrote their respective articles on the same day. The authors did not realize that they were involved in a conversation with each other and the universe. The poet posed a question and the essayist was answering him at the same time and neither knew at the time yet instantly saw it when they read each other’s pieces. I organized this story in such a way as to reflect that.
That gives a whole new spiritual meaning to the concept of co-authorship, which Keri Mangis proposes here as a great method of synergistic writing:
Ok, I’ve rambled on enough for now 😉
In Rama I create,
For more on Anthi’s and my pub, ChannSpirations and Coincidences, please see: