A Writer's Notebook, Day Two-Hundred-And-Seventy
I had written two poems, one this morning, and another this evening, each of which I think was good work. Perhaps not at my top form, ultimately, but that is not always the way of things. The best cannot be the same as what I do each day, and that is the nature of it. I was happy with those two poems, but I determined that was not enough and pushed myself to write two more. One of those was, as is often the case, a bit of an exercise, but I think the other actually did get someplace. I need to keep recognizing the value of pushing myself to do more work, and to keep my energy going.
Honestly, what is zapping me is the other stuff in my life right now, and I am quite pleased with the dedication to the practice I am maintaining. While I am not always getting the amount written I hope for, I am still doing a lot more work than in previous eras of my life, and that is a drastic and important shift. I am well aware of that shift, and the ways in which I am pushing myself are in line with that change. Indeed, I often feel that the best results I get come from pushing myself to do more work.
What's interesting, as well, is that some part of me no longer wants to do the sort of busy work poems any longer, but instead wants deeper things. I mean, I don't always feel that diving in to a piece about how I don't know what to write is needed, as a part of my mind is already working on where to go with the work. It sometimes just takes sitting and starting for a moment. Often, if I do write a piece of the sort I am meaning here, I will also write, shortly after, another poem that is more authentic to my work. It is as if that piece was already waiting, and now some part of me is not looking for an easy first answer instead.
Honestly, what is zapping me is the other stuff in my life right now, and I am quite pleased with the dedication to the practice I am maintaining. While I am not always getting the amount written I hope for, I am still doing a lot more work than in previous eras of my life, and that is a drastic and important shift. I am well aware of that shift, and the ways in which I am pushing myself are in line with that change. Indeed, I often feel that the best results I get come from pushing myself to do more work.
What's interesting, as well, is that some part of me no longer wants to do the sort of busy work poems any longer, but instead wants deeper things. I mean, I don't always feel that diving in to a piece about how I don't know what to write is needed, as a part of my mind is already working on where to go with the work. It sometimes just takes sitting and starting for a moment. Often, if I do write a piece of the sort I am meaning here, I will also write, shortly after, another poem that is more authentic to my work. It is as if that piece was already waiting, and now some part of me is not looking for an easy first answer instead.
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