(Editor's Note: Ever think of writing poetry? We've asked Marc Harshman, the poet laureate of West Virginia, to provide a few tips to help new poets move forward. As the 2020 COVID-19 epidemic is leading many people to isolate, we thought it might be an ideal time to help nurture the poet in each of us.)
Donโt worry. Be happy, or, rather, just beโhappy or sad, angry or scared. Worry or donโt worry, but be. Be presentโand do. Scribble words down without forethought, and let them simply lead you forward. Call this cathartic or cleansing. Do not here concern yourself with meaning.
A corollary that seems to grow out of this first and becomes a second point isโdonโt concern yourself overmuch with form if that inhibits you. Likewise, if form helps you, well, then donโt worry, and write for yourself a straight, strict Shakespearean sonnetโor rondeau or limerick or triolet. Need inspiration for your sonnet? Follow along with Patrick Stewartโs reading of them all during this time of pandemic. And triolet? Because I just like saying the word aloud.
Donโt write, but walk. Yes, whether it is around the room, around the house, around the yard, around the neighborhoodโalbeit this latter whilst maintaining social distance. But, the point is to let your feet lead, and let your mind surrender, and follow. Let your mind be not inward but outwards, and then, afterward, take up your pen or pencil or place your now eager fingertips overtop of the keypad and let flow.
Immerse yourself in the poetry of others, be it a poet you like or even a poet you donโt like. Obviously, there are poets and poems that set you on fire, that give deep comfort, melt your heart, steel your courage. Well, let them do that, and let your own words pour forth in response, in an imitation of spirit or even of direct form.
As for my suggesting poets you donโt like or get, it may sound crazy, but for many years now I have drawn inspiration of a sort from poets I either donโt quite โgetโ or even poets I really donโt much like, but somehow the challenge or even irritation they present to me makes me grab a fistful of words and go charging forward with my own work in reaction.
Discipline? Yes, take on discipline. I donโt mean some kind of blood-drawing flagellation; thereโs surely enough suffering right now, be it the actualities of life-threatening illness to the near-universal suffering of fear and anxiety. No, simply take up a discipline youโll define yourself but that likely will include some kind of regularity. Write once a day for ten minutes, for a half-hour, for an hour, whichever.
For many, having the same place, same time, same notebook and pen, same lamp as company for your laptop on your lapโthis sameness seems to help. And this regularity might include various other self-invented rituals. Maybe you want to start with a period of reading from your favorite poet or a poet that irritates you. Maybe it starts with listening to music, watching a dance. Maybe it follows that walk.
Another corollary point rises up here, and thatโs simply to let the other arts inspire youโoften a starting point for my work throughout my life. As I tell young writers, immerse yourself in all the arts. Iโll leave you with this bit of advice given to a young girl named Alice:
โThere is no use trying,โ said Alice, โI cannot believe impossible things.โ
โI dare say you havenโt had much practise,โ said the Queen. โWhen I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes Iโve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.โ
โLewis Carroll, from ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Sign up to receive a FREE copy of West Virginia Explorer Magazine in your email twice weekly.ย Sign me up!
