Creative Gravy: Stream Poetry

Brain Baster: Making Creative Gravy

Part II

"Flock of Snails" Molly Roberts 2008

Yesterday I started jotting down a few thoughts on gardening Inspiration, how to get your creative gears going and the usefulness of "setting the scene". This post will focus on the use of writing prompts as a simple but killer tool for getting Switched On! I know that at first this may sound counterproductive, "I want to make STUFF not do homework. I'm a crafter not a poet." When I first began seriously creating art I thought pre writing for projects was a load of bunk, but using writing prompts has become one of my tried and true go-to's for planning, brainstorming and fleshing out ideas. If yesterdays post was "pouring the juices out of the pan", today is adding the "flour" to the gravy! Let's thicken it up! :)

Gravy Maker #3: Stream of Consciousness

I love this one for several reasons:
1) Super easy.
2) You can do it anywhere and anytime.
3) It makes for an awesome warm up and often gets rid of any "gunk" that might be keeping you from making: being broody over a spat, being sick and crabby, being distracted by other tasks, etc.

This is the Drian-o of the journaling world! It's ALL on the table! Babble it out! If you have difficulty starting, just draw consecutive loops with your pen until something comes to you. It can be anything: what you ate for breakfast, what you dreamed about, a mystery stain on the floor. Sometimes it helps to time your stream of consciousness writing so you don't fill up pages for days or give up after 30 seconds of brain fade. I think 5 to 10 minutes is comfortable, but it's up to you. You'd be surprised where your mind leads you when you take it off it's leash. :)

"Skelly Rider" Molly Roberts 2008

Gravy Maker #4: The List

Sometimes when we get stuck or have the opposite problem, TOO many ideas and a lack of focus, it can be helpful to create a list of things we DO respond to. This can help you get a better idea of what your visual language is, or how it is your mind, heart and eyes connect the dots. :) By knowing what it is that does resonate with you, you can better choose images, words, movements, sounds, pallets, styles or even a general that best express your ideas. This list can be as broad or as specific as you fancy! It may include objects, colors, seasons, textures, flavors, scents or full scenes. For example, someones list might look like this:

"- pink
-winter--sparkly snow
-happy pictures (light)
-peaceful songs"

or it might look like this:

"Blue black crows scouting in bare trees,
voluptuous forms,
dirt,
cobweb,
skin of sticks.
October Dragonfly wings.
Nuclear Firefly Green..."

When you have a list it's like a bank, you can pick and chose from it anytime you wish. When you have a full fleshy list of all the things that make your senses sing it will be nearly impossible to not be gushing with fascinating fantasies to take to your studio, writing desk or ritual space!

"Luna" Molly Roberts 2008

Gravy Maker #5: Poem Form

This is an easy exercise that can be done anywhere! The prompt makes you look at sensory details to tune in your observations and step up the senses. The form is as follows:

I see...I smell...I hear...I touch...

For each line you write three observations: two things that you actually see, smell, hear or touch and one thing you sense figuratively. For example:

I hear...
the creak of sagging floorboards
the sigh of a foundation settling
the hushed whisper of tenants long gone

Easy-peasy-orangy-squeasy! It's not really meant to be a poem per say, but could easily be transformed into a earnest-spirit-saturated literary gold by removing the prompt headings. Do this in every room of your house, a coffee shop, your backyard, a winter beach, in the tub, a community garden, the laundromat, the mouth of a forest--wherever you can take a pen and paper! This can be really meditative and grounding while at the same time giving little thoughts little sparrow wings. All of these exercises are simple ways to jog the imagination, tune your sensual abilities and give quiet parts of you mind and spirit a chance to speak. If anyone does these, I'd L.O.V.E. to see what you create!

This weekend I'll be posting the third installment--silly studio warm ups that are sure to get your divine daydreams doing the fandango! Until then, soak up the Moon beams!

Many Blissings & May The Muse Be With You!~*