Make Friends With Your Notebook

A Clearing

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Last night I woke up a few times with a writing idea I had planned to work on this morning. I began that work, but somehow felt it was not the right poem for this day. So I flipped through my notebook and found this draft from April.

April Notebook Draft

Photo by Amy LV

It felt more important to write about magic today, so I decided to type up the above draft to see what would happen. I played around a lot with the sound and read aloud as I worked. And I am happy I did so! 

My tip for today is to make friends with your notebook. Just stuff stuff in there: ideas, wonderings, unusual thoughts, bits and snips of poems, cards, photos, sketches, leaves, ticket stubs, stickers, recipes...anything! See, it is not easy for a writer to do all of the things in one day: think of an idea, draft it, play with the sound and structure, and edit. That's a lot to do! So a notebook can be a trusty friend who holds onto your ideas until you may (or may not) wish to turn then into drafts. I used to keep a whole blog about notebook keeping - Sharing Our Notebooks - and I am considering getting back to this as a central practice in my teaching. Our writing in notebooks helps us know what interests and charms us.

You may have noticed that today's poem does not carry a lot of rhyme. Rather, I focused on the sound, playing with short lines, each one almost contained and holding a bit of rhythm. Reading aloud as I write is one of my most important revision tools. If you don't do this now, I recommend giving it a try. Write a bit...read it aloud...revise what sounds off...keep going.

So consider it - write in a notebook just to see what you get. Revisit the writings in a few weeks to see if one of the bits may wish to grow into a story or a poem or an essay or a letter or something else. Our brains and hearts do a lot of work that we don't even know about, and a notebook can help us hang onto that thinking and love.

This week, Rose is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup over at Imagine the Possibilities with a bit about her "Snippets" log and a poem about imaginings. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I send you magic and belief in magic...

xo,

Amy

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Big Dipper - Paying Attention & Reading Aloud

Finding a Friend

by Amy LV

Students - Two nights ago, my husband and I went for a walk in the dark.  It's very dark on our road as there are no streetlights and only four homes on the road.  This means that we can see many many stars.  As we walked, we looked up at the stars, pointing to the ones we recognized, calmed by just knowing they were there.

Today's poem is about someting that is always above me at night.  The Big Dipper is always here. But sometimes I don't pay attention.  Life is full of so many things that we don't pay attention to.  But today, or tomorrow, or next week...I challenge you to pay attention to something you usually just ignore.  Look at that long toenail.  Watch the spider spin her web.  Feel rain fall and run off of your own eyebrows.  Then...write.  See what you get.

For those of you who are new here, one thing I like to do sometimes is to share my drafts, just to show how messy writing can be.  When I am seriously writing, my hand might fly across the page of my notebook, crossing out and changing words left and right.  

"Big Dipper" Drafts

(Click to Enlarge)

Photo by Amy LV

The one thing I always do when I write a poem is that I read it aloud.  I read today's verse over and over out loud to myself.  Each time I wanted to write a new line, I read what I had so far out loud. Then I listened inside of myself for a possible next line.  Then I read the poem with the new line, asking myself, "Does this work?"  If it did, I left it.  If not, I crossed it out.  Then I went back to the top to read again with the new line, listening for what the NEXT line might be.

Your ears are your poem writing buddies.  Use them.

I often find comfort in the sky.  If you like the nighttime sky and today's poem, you might also enjoy reading "Orion" or "Everynight Everywhere" - two poems also here at The Poem Farm.

On a scientific note, the Big Dipper is actually not a whole constellation.  It is an asterism, or a smaller group of stars that has a name but is not as big as a constellation.  The Big Dipper is part of the constellation of Ursa Major.  One of the great things about the Big Dipper is that if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can always see it.  It is a steady pal up there.  And if you can find the Big Dipper, you can find The Little Dipper.  And the North Star too.

Visit Wonderopolis if you would like to learn more about the Big Dipper.

This week, I feel so lucky to host four (4!) student notebook keepers over at my other blog.  Please visit Sharing Our Notebooks to peek into the pages of the notebooks of: Sydney, Julia, Peter, and Erin, all writers who are part of the WNY Young Writer's Studio community.  There is a wonderful giveaway of a book and notebook too.  Please stop by and leave a comment for these thoughtful young writers.

Laura is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Writing the World for Kids.  All are welcome to visit Laura's web home, taste this week's yummy poem treats, and enjoy Laura's new series of poems and new book announcement.

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