Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Hugo Poem and Personal Process: Katie Belton

The Triggering Town was very helpful in guiding me to not care so much about what the reader is going to think after reading my poem. I learned that if I'm honest with myself and write about my passions or interests, I'm going to write good poetry. When the first poem was assigned, I had not read the Hugo's theme/idea of not being afraid what the reader thinks yet. I had immedaitely thought of a dream I had recently that I wanted to write about, but then thought to myself that maybe I shouldn't because of how violent/sexual/vivid it was. After I read that section of the book, I wrote the poem about my dream, because I wanted to go with what my mind was telling me to do without any fear. The Triggering Town has inspired me to be a fearless poet.

My poetry writing process usually consists of collecting thoughts from experiences that have happened during the day, or consists of writing while people watching. People watching is one of my favorite things to do (not creepily..) at a restaraunt or while working. I serve tables so I get many opportunities to see strangers communicate passionately daily. When it comes to writing the poem, it always helps me to sit in my room with the fan on, down comforter over me, candles lit, and occasional glass of wine. It may sound corny, but the smells of the candles usually help me relate the smells to feelings or memories I've had.

2 comments:

  1. I totally dig what you are saying Katie. I too, enjoy people watching because it gives me ideas of how to discribe every day activites or interactions with others through a different perspective. I also enjoy drinking wine and reading/writing poetry. Two buck chuck all the way baby.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with what you are saying about people watching. I totally find myself doing the same thing on a normal basis and that is how I often find inspiration for my poems.

    ReplyDelete