Comments on:

By: jeannine

jeannine — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:27:00 +0000

Thanks for all the inspiration ideas!
And Mary, there’s nothing to be ashamed about in liking classic rock.
Muser – bad jobs are the best for inspiring poems!

By: Muser

Muser — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:35:00 +0000

Collecting odd phrases heard or read–or looking at common phrases from an odd angle; making lists; asking myself why I’ve never written a poem about [fill in the blank]; strange or bad jobs remembered; writing some words and letting them pull the line into the next lines, almost like a fish under water tugging he line. I enjoyed your post very much. Thanks.

By: cogresha

cogresha — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Miyazaki Movies always make me want to write!

By: Penultimatina

Penultimatina — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:19:00 +0000

A good, strong dose of classic rock is all I need.

*blush*

Driving around on a cloudy day and listening to the radio helps, too. Especially when it's classic rock.

By: Joannie

Joannie — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:57:00 +0000

Poetry readings and reading poetry, reading everything (although I know that I should read more nonfiction, and I don't).
Motion, on the bus, on my bike, not so much when I'm driving--probably a good thing. The sky, yes, always.

Collin mentioned travel, which made me realize the difference between things that inspire me to start writing (the things that get me into that zone) and things that I write about. Travel inspires me, but the poems don't arrive until weeks or months or years after the adventure.

By: jeannine

jeannine — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:16:00 +0000

Oh yes, music, poetry readings (I agree, Karen, they are different than reading a book,) travel, rivers – you guys are good! I’d forgotten all of these!

By: Radish King

Radish King — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:35:00 +0000

The river, the sky, Bach, love, hate. But mostly reading. Everything.

By: Collin

Collin — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Definitely films and music. Travel has always been a big motivator and reading poetry and going to open mics and readings, too.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:24:00 +0000

Mmm. Lots of things inspire me, actually. Reading poetry, about half the time. Poetry readings or recordings, about half the time, depending on what kind of attention I pay. Highway driving, especially at night. Highway driving while listening to recorded poetry. Certain music. Science and nature documentaries, especially when they use the specialized vocabulary of their field. Browsing in bookstores or libraries, just reading titles. The weather, when I listen to it closely.

Oddly, the surest-fire inspiration source I can think of is going up to the tenth floor of the main library on campus and reading a few MFA poetry theses. I read them fairly quickly, and don't worry much about whether I like them or not; something about the unfinished, unpolished feeling of them seems to give me a way in that I can't always get from a published book.

(Yes, MFA-holders ... some poet may sneak around in the library of your alma mater and read YOUR thesis sometimes, too. You just never know. ;) )

By: Karen J. Weyant

Karen J. Weyant — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:04:00 +0000

It’s weird — but poetry readings inspire me more than just sitting home and reading poetry. Venturing into fields “outside” of poetry — nature or history — helps me. But I agree with Sara: conversation, with poets and nonpoets alike, inspires me.