Slowin it down
March 7, 2010
The ear of a poet
The twist of a phrase
Viola! Eureka
The meter and phase
A little rhymin’
A little timin’
A little pausin’
Do Ya wanna chime in?
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Hmmm, I see no comments to my first two posts. And I see I haven’t posted a “blog entry” in X months which in web time is LIKE FOREVER!
Sooooo….
It seems that it is a hard thing not to rush when inspiration strikes. Yet I have heard about who does …where Angels fear to tread. 
I muse…
If inspiration is a external thing you by definition can’t control it. If it’s internal… then that falls to our “self control”, and if that be not strong then, well. I muse further that the heart of a poet is fed from all stimuli and the brain of this poet may be too scattered to control it.
But messing with musing aside… My previous 20 years of writing experience told me not to muse, I felt sure it was just one of those things. When it’s ready, it’s ready.
Now, I have taken a road less traveled to me. I intentionally tried a change of tact. I have been working hard not to be prolific, or at least not to be prolific quickly, and publishing those lyrics on this blog.
And it occurs to me, I have never been so fluid, and inspired, to write as over the last 3 months. Everyday I “get” something new and I am being disciplined in the capture of it. But not in the completion of it.
And, it helps to slow a writer down (at least like me) if there are lots of other things in the way. Day job, baby, wedding, birthday, dentist, taxes, bills, sleep, church, wal-mart, lather, rinse, repeat.
But the background of the songs in the queue (previously jotted down) keep humming right along. So the new one today gets a few lines and a quick recording just to capture the idea. Then the other 4 that are stewing in the pot get some work, maybe a little seasoning. If it takes a week or two to “finish one off” that’s okay. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
I have really tried to apply this approach to my last page post – Am I rock?.
That one took a while. The premise was simple. Will I go? But the rest, kept coming and twisting. And it ended up with two chorus parts and a lot of words. But I didn’t cut it off like I have before on other pieces. The juxtaposition of the gifts a Christian has, that we’ve been given, and the darkness that is still out there took up long chunks of text. But in the arrangement they are strung together quite quickly. I told myself, that’s okay. Because both of those worlds we are called to go to.
And I didn’t rush it. I pounded it out on a blackberry. That helps slow down the flow, if you know what I mean.
What have you found that helps you “know” when one of your pieces is done? Do most come in a flurry and done?
Do most take a good amount of time?
Love to hear from you.
God bless you!
