Each year I teach a poetry class at Smith College. The writers expect to analyze published poems as well as create their own. They are surprised when I tell them that their first job is to notice the world rather than other writing. “You are detectives,” I tell them. Notice what is around you. Notice what you never noticed before. Notice what is new to you and what is as familiar as your old socks. Pay attention to what you hear as you walk from classroom to classroom, what you smell as you head downtown, what you taste when the air gets damp, what you feel on your fingertips when you open a door. Being awake and alive to what is around us is the first and most important job of a writer. These sensations are the primal elements of how we know we are sentient beings and how we can communicate to other sentient beings. If the responses to these questions find their way into poems or other writing, then that writing will have living energy. It will not only ground the reader, it will transport them physically and emotionally. Elemental sensory experiences are the basis for great metaphors. I offer you, as awake and curious writers, to notice your world too. What have you never noticed before? Be attentive, be a private eye to your own world of imagery. Then translate those observations into your own unique similes and metaphors. Try it. It’s your secret until you tell.
Upcoming Events
Malibu Retreat February 4 – 7, 2019 All writers welcome, no matter the genre or experience level. This is your time to celebrate your writing! https://www.writingfulltilt.com/retreats/
Online Weekly Workshop January 7 – March 11, 2019 6:30 – 9:00 EST. Need a workshop to come to you? This is it! https://www.writingfulltilt.com/online-workshop/
Weekly Workshops in Amherst: Tuesdays 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.; Thursdays 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.; Fridays 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Join other writers for adventurous writing and profound listening. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/workshops/
Photo Prompt
