Flow
Today I'm handing you over to a guest presenter, Australian Sarah Temporal, who has appeared here once before in the same capacity. As soon as I read this article on 'flow' at her blog, I was excited by it and asked if I could use it. I didn't find it until quite some time after she posted it, but it's not a topic that will soon date.
Sarah's primarily a spoken word poet – though I think her writing also works beautifully on the page – and she means this post from her blog to focus on oral performance, or 'slamcraft'. However I think the concept of flow is also important to the poem on the page, imparted and experienced visually.
Of course, ideally a poem will work both ways, and I know that many of us, in addition to blogging, contributing to literary magazines, and publishing books, do also attend poetry readings whenever possible, recite our work on YouTube, or add SoundCloud presentations to our blog posts. So, either way, I trust you'll find something valuable in Sarah's ideas.
I'm going to send you over to her blog now, with a quick click, because her article is interspersed with videos and things which you'll get a much better experience of there. Go!
Then, you may very well wish to leave her a comment there, but please come back here too and share your responses with us all.
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Musings’ is presented for study and review. Poems, photos and other writings
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Very interesting, Rosemary. I have a spoken word coming up on Monday night. It does make such a difference, how we read our poems. I had to learn to slow right down.
ReplyDeleteYes, it needs to be so much slower than conversational delivery.
DeleteLots of good advice!
ReplyDeleteYes, she knows her stuff. :)
DeleteI enjoyed this article. I suppose I'm in the flow when I'm writing, though the words don't necessarily appear quickly, the process swallows me and time disappears. I am most in the flow when I'm drawing or painting but writing has its own pace and I'm definitely in "the zone" somewhere where my subconscious mind comes alive.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once described it to me as being 'when YOU disappear'.
DeleteA most excellent article and share, Rosemary!❤️ I enjoyed reading Sarah's ideas and especially resonate with what she has to say in "Listening as a flow state."
ReplyDeleteOh yes, now that you say that, I am thinking it shows in your poetry.
DeleteQuite interesting. To be in the flow state requires much dedication to what we are doing. I think if the subject is interesting to the doer 'flow' happens quite naturally. Thanks for the post Rosemary. A nice article.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it is indeed to do with being engaged.
DeleteSarah's Post looks fab, Rosemary and - indeed - something I have long had at the back of my mind to explore. I shall try to carve out a bit of time tomorrow or Monday (at the latest) to give it some undivided attention. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteVery much enjoyed delving further into Sarah's post. It truly widens my ideas about writing poetry to include a whole new facet … one that I will endeavour to keep in mind as I construct new poems. I suspect that I may have, occasionally, been tapping into some of the devices that Sarah points out - but unconsciously. I think now that I am aware of them, I will employ the techniques more effectively. It's all rather fascinating.
ReplyDeleteLoved the quote: 'And I’ve realized that I’m not longer writing poetry I’m setting up good silences' - and very much related to it. Loved the exercises at the end of the article and see them as prompts to keep in mind.
Wonderful! Delighted you got so much out of it.
DeleteMany thanks Rosemary for this brilliant share, and introduction. I enjoyed Sarah's post. I resonated with the "flow" as it's what I regard as a meter when writing a poem with a rhythmic sound.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the readings from both poets. And I'm definitely intrigued by Slamcraft. I'll be perusing her blog, she has wonderful resources for poets to improve their craft.
Great! Glad I have pointed you to somewhere of value to you.
DeleteI am very late responding to people's comments, as I had to be away from home last weekend and found it was difficult to get on the internet.
ReplyDelete