Update

Hello everyone,

I've been busy this week with work etc. but have continued writing poetry. With that in mind, I thought I should possibly share with you what approach I personally took to writing and compiling pieces. Also, if anyone wishes to know about creating volumes, chapbooks etc. I could share thoughts on this too.

So first of all what do we have? We have a horrible blank page and a lack of cogent ideas. The way I got over this step was to think of a scenario or narrative of some sorts to fit with a general message/idea. It really does help when you have a beginning, middle and an end. With that, try to think of concrete things to include, i.e. use imagery so, for example, a woodland. With your scene-setting image, you can then think about what emotions emulate from this image and how they fit with your narrative. To take the previous example of a woodland, you could decide to write about tranquility.

So we have a woodland, we have a general outline e.g. Start in middle of woods ---> Find path to a waterfall ---> Go up the hill to the top, discovering animals on the way ----> See a peaceful viewpoint to conclude the narrative. With this, each stanza should convey an idea, an image and an emotional reaction to that image, remembering the old adage of writing fiction: SHOW DON'T TELL. Describe physical reactions that denote the emotion for maximum effect, using metaphors and similes, but don't overdo those, especially if they are too cliche. Just remember to describe following those general rules but remember to have fun doing it. Break the rules occasionally, see what effect it has. you never know, it might just surprise you.

As you work your way through the story, use mystery on the way to keep the reader engaged, but remember to tie up the loose ends when the poem finishes. There is the exception of course that you may wish to explore an aspect of the poem further, but ensure that when the poem ends, it conveys what you set out to do so the reader is satisfied and when that is done, they may wish to read the sequel to that poem where a small aspect is continued or possibly, the character continues his/her quest for new reasons. For example, in The Steppe, the imagery included a tower/castle as well as the obvious steppe that the title implies and conveyed a message of majesty, with an undertone of the place not being real but inside the head of the protagonist. This theme was explored in the Steppe Part II: Revelations where, upon travelling to a forest he meets a woman who tells him so, leaving no doubt in the reader's mind and providing the real message of the piece.

As for compiling works, the obvious task is to create a flow from one piece to the next. You can group them in any way you feel is best including: Theme, voice, imagery, perspective (1st/2nd/3rd person) etc. Just remember to read them to ensure that they aren't too disparate in any of those criteria and whatever other criteria you may wish to apply. Try different orders, drop certain poems, include others, add more to the end if possible or use more works as 'bridges'. To be honest, the editing and compiling of Distant Lands was trickier than the actual writing of the poems, but maybe that was just me. In any case I hope the above information helps and would love to hear back from you.

See you soon.