The Blog Tour - writing

Thanks to Sue Moules for tagging me with some questions about my writing.

What am I working on?

Too many things!  I am currently promoting my latest poetry collection, The Thought of Fresh Rain.  I am really pleased with the poems in it and as an object.  I am also trying to find opportunities to read poetry in public- this is something I have only been doing for a couple of years and I want to improve.  I've written a few poems that will be going in my next collection.  And I keep thinking about a short novel about lost love which I want to write.

How does my work differ from others in the genre?

A lot of poetry is about creating stories using techniques to add drama and interest to the sound of the words.  I don't really do this - to me, poetry is a kind of speaking thoughts out loud, and I like to try to capture that single moment of insight, using a few simple words.

Why do I write?

I'm not driven to write, but on the other hand, it's not hard.  I find that I can move quickly from having a thought, recognising that it is interesting, and then putting it on paper.  I suppose my mission is to show that even a quiet and gentle life can produce work which speaks to others.

Writing prose, I do find tough.  I like outlining but hate the filling in.

How does my writing process work?

I'm open to ideas at any time.  I find driving and walking to be activities with the right combination of new things to see and lack of distractions to set me thinking, and every now and then I encounter something that strikes me as interesting or profound.  I write quickly into a notebook, not worrying about the words, just trying to get the thought down; often I have no clear idea of how the poem will develop or end.  Then once it's finished, I set to work on editing it down to the pure essence, chopping out unnecessary words and lines, and trying to make the phrases sing.  Rewriting is quite brutal - a 10-line poem I wrote in January is now down to a haiku.

Downtime

Fallow days

between years

time to pause

I'm passing on this Blog Tour to Caroline Gill  and Madeleine Sara Maddocks.