How drawing can help you become a better writer
I've found I can more fully imagine scenes that I want to write about by drawing pictures of them.
May 7
I've found I can more fully imagine scenes that I want to write about by drawing pictures of them.
Poetry is a great primer for beginning a writing session. If you read yesterday’s post, Write lyrically by reading poetry, you know why author Cristina Garcia reads poetry before she writes. Now you can learn how to use poetry as part of your writing practice. Try these exercises.
Exercise 1
Capture something from your subconscious. Pick several poems to read. Read to yourself and aloud. As you hear a poem, write down anything that catches your ear — A sentence, phrase, word. Any snippet that resonates. This helps you raid your unconscious. You are discovering something you didn’t even realize you were thinking about. Take this piece of writing and examine it for meaning. You may find this meaning takes you on a path in your work that you didn’t see coming. This will inform your writing and propel you forward.
As Grace Paley said, “Write about what you don’t know you know.” Read more