I've spent the morning immersed in the Letters of Ted Hughes trying to soak up any writing advice.
"If you write whatever attracts you, and you write it as hard as you can, and as rich, then you can't miss...[j]ust write it off, in your own way, and make it stand up off the page and jump about the room" (p66)
"Insofar as poetry is convincingly the real speech of a real person, it seems to happen "off" the page. I think that's fairly true" (p373)
"poetry is simply the name we give to a certain kind of writing...inner concentration, inner listening, dependance on the spontaneous mind rather than on cultivating & remembering mind... So rather than saying 'study writing', I was saying 'practice writing', as diving to depths has to be practised.
The whole business closer to athletics than to aesthetics, perhaps. hence my no words about 'technique'" (p483)
"My definition of 'poetry', almost, excludes anything coming from the ego under the ego's control" (p628)
"The deadliest thing is for a writer to develop too fixed a 'style'. The ultimate, to my mind, must be the naked voice of that inner being" (p636)
"A feeling is always looking for a metaphor of itself in which it can reveal itself unrecognised" (p678)I'll add more as I finish the book, but these quotes speak immensely to me, especially the 'practice writing' as opposed to 'study writing'. I think too much about how to write and simply don't 'practice' enough, fairly obvious advice really...
11 comments:
One good thing about, for example, writing a Poetry Bus poem every week. It's kept me writing this year through times when I wasn't much in the mood. And some of the results have surprised me which is always good.
x
good point, rachel, maybe it's time for me to step on board!
You might want to check out his book Poetry in the Making: A Handbook for Writing and Teaching. I seem to recall some good stuff in there but it’s been a while since I read it.
It's a good, interesting read (lots of times I find collected letters a tad tedious).
Oh, and I agree with Jim about Poetry in the Making! Was originally written for a children's radio programme in the 60s (I believe) and has some great things in it.
Oh, and yes... it's always practicing. I like the act of doing things because I can and because I've said I have to. :)
hi jim, I've actually got poetry in the making, in the bottom quote he was referring to what he said in that book, need to dig it out for read.
hi david, a friend is giving me guitar lessons and my poor wee pinky is on fire right now lol, so yes, it always comes down to practice, doesn't it?!
Great quotes! Keep them coming.
And jump on the Bus.
they are good aren't they! and I may jump on the bus...if I pluck up the courage!!
That pinky will soon come under control! :)
Here's one of my forced analogies:
"You're in charge of your pinky, your pinky ain't in charge of you. And you're in charge of your language, not your language in charge of you."
And another: it's better to write rubbish straight for the bin than it is to write nothing to go nowhere...
I have a vague memory of having this pinky conversation with you on facebook! lol. that's exactly what I'm trying to enforce in me - that's better to write rubbish than not to write at all.
So we did! I forgot about that... but yes... find yourself a piano (proper piano) and do some five finger runs backwards and forwards. Should build up some strength in the thingy. :)
(And I used to do 15 minute sonnets - any subject, just write a sonnet in 15.)
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