writing

The Fading of the Day

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Inspired by the song On the Turning Away by Pink Floyd; I paused to write this poem

Light is changing to shadow

And casting it’s shroud

as the day fades to gray

and then shifts from gray to dark

before we long for the promise of a new day

we need to cling to the dark



even when it is dark, it's not dark yet

as it is always darkest, just before the dawn

as a new day beckons with promise, on the morn



the shadow shroud enfolds the world in gray

and teases with a promise, as the gray flickers to dark

with the dark is a promise of a new day

when the morning slivers slice back the dark



that sense of expectation, that it is never dark

there is always a new beginning

no matter how dark yesterday felt

today can be the brightest day yet

as we continually move through the cycle of life

light dark light dark …. light

© 2015 Michael D Emmerich

Learning from Creative People – Bob Dylan

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I have been making a concerted effort of late to spend at least an hour a day reading books on creativity and/or interviews with creative people (mainly writers, artists and musicians); to understand what inspires them, how they work, where they work, and how they tap into their creativity to access the ideas/inspiration which allows them to write with such beauty and intensity.

A hefty tome that sits on my desk at present is “Song Writers on Song Writing”, the expanded 4th edition by Paul Zollo.

http://www.amazon.com/Songwriters-On-Songwriting-Revised-Expanded/dp/0306812657

It covers every genre of music form blues to pop and rock, interviews with 62 musicians/song writers. What is so interesting and inspiring for me, when reading the interviews is to discover that not all the writers just grab the lyrics from the air, some of them really anguish over them. Leonard Cohen took 3 years to write Hallelujah!

I have spent the last week, reading the Bob Dylan interview over and over again; I am a huge Dylan fan, have almost his entire song collection on vinyl and mp3, plus all his song lyric sheets and numerous biographies. For me he is a musical genius and one of our greatest living poets. Van Morrison agrees with me re him being our greatest poet 🙂

His comments on the environment that one needs to be creative ties in with what I read in the War of Art; one needs a peaceful, invigorating and stimulating environment to write. Although he does go on to say:

“Some songs are better written in peace and quiet and delivered in turmoil. Others are best written in turmoil and delivered in a peaceful, quiet way.”

He also says that he does not consider himself a professional song writer, and he clarifies this by saying it has always been more con-fessional that pro-confessional. That got me thinking about my writing, and what aspect/perspective am I writing from, i.e. inward or outward looking, and just how naked does one want/need to be, how close to ones “soul” must we dig, when one is writing?

Dylan refers often to how songs “come to him”, which brings me full circle to the muse/genius train of thought. Even if that is the case though you need to be receptive to the “arrival” of the inspiration. This is an area of my creativity that intrigues me, especially as I am science, logic and process driven. Despite this I too am finding ideas coming to me at strange times of the day and night.

Well that’s enough of my musings today, but I will be back with more ramblings and thoughts on making the entrance hall welcome for the muse/genius to arrive, and spoil me with his/her thoughts/dreams/visions.

Eternity is in love with the creations of time – William Blake

Busy, Busy…

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I am going to be so busy the next few days, moving countries between now and next week; packing up a house, moving my cats and then also my wife and I are packing our suitcases and jumping on that jet plane. We will get to our destination first, cats a few days later and our container of possessions within the next 4 to 6 weeks. I am going to miss blogging regularly over the next 7 to 14 days as I was just getting into my new writing routine.

My daily routine of writing, and my creative hours meant to be logged at my desk are going to fall by the wayside, but I will be keeping my notebooks with me (reverting to pen and paper – which I still prefer) and eventually within the next week or two play catch up here on the site. The positive is that I will then be setting up my new writing studio/office, complete with white boards and black boards for all my mind maps that I create when I write, plus a new calm and serene writing area, it will be very stimulating.

I am hoping to post a few completed haiku’s plus the completed short story “A Groom’s Tale”, until then please enjoy my other posts and feel free to comment or add your own Haiku’s.

Bon Voyage to you all

 

 

Linking Music to Writing

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Music makes my world go round, as they say; and depending on my mood and what and where I am (and doing), I listen to different musical genres, music plays a role in my relaxation, work and exercise, so why not with my writing. This post is all about linking a theme song or a few songs to a particular piece of writing.

I am currently working on 2 pieces of literature, both fiction, the one piece is very closely linked to personal experience. Whilst mind-mapping the two “books” and also doing additional research, my thoughts kept going towards what music would assist me in my thinking process and then my mind went on one of its well known tangents … just ask my wife:)

If my books were a “movie” what would the title/theme song be, and what other music would be apart of the production.

I am not sure if this tangent is one of my ways of procrastinating (when I am supposed to be churning out my 1000 words a day) or another way to find further inspiration and motivation; which will allow me to explore the writing process at a deeper level. Let us just say for now, it is a way to find further inspiration, and if that is the case here are the songs that I would intertwine with the respective projects that I am currently immersed in:

Triage:

Theme Song:

Pay in Blood – Bob Dylan (Tempest) very dark song

During the Movie/Book as a refrain:

Shine on you Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd (Wish you were here)

Closing Credits:

To One in Paradise – The Alan Parsons Project (Tales of Mystery and Imagination)

10 Years After:

Theme Song:

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong (its a powerful uplifting song but if you have watched how it is used in “Good Morning Vietnam”…then that is the feel I am gong for here… the juxtaposition of the feel good with the evil that men do)

During the movie/book as a refrain:

Cavatina – John Williams (theme song from the Deer Hunter)

Closing Credits:

I Talk to the Wind – King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King)

Well that’s my brief overview of words, music and inspiration, I would love to hear from others out there if you have explored similar avenues when looking for further inspiration when sitting down too transfer the thoughts from your muse to paper.

Thoughts on feeding ones muse/daemon/genius

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What is the best “diet”to feed ones muse…

Reading other writers works, poetry and texts on creativity and inspiration

Playing word association games; write the first word that comes into your mind and then try and associate other words/phrases to that word… and then just writing/journalling

Must return to this as I move forward in this adventure

 

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