I’m guessing that most semi-serious, not-so-committed writers like myself go through periods where time set aside for writing wanes, production slows or stops altogether, and thoughts of approaching the pen/keyboard inspires despondency. When I have a break from writing, it’s likely that most of my spare time has been spent reading instead of putting my own thoughts down. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but can begin to feel stifling after so long. So, once my “break” has lasted however long, I tend to think that if I’m finally going to write something, it had better be good. No, it had better be great. The blank page is intimidating. And I wonder things like maybe I’m a much better consumer than creator of literature and art. Because I can be so good at appreciating brilliant, beautiful things.

But eventually I’ll come out of the slump, feel inspired, and need a goal to get things going. My favorite goal has been to write a poem everyday for a specific length of time. I like to call these postcard poems because they need to be small enough to fit on a postcard. And there has to be no pressure for them to be good. When I sit down for a daily poem, I always think of William Carlos Williams, who was also a family physician. I once learned that he used to write a poem every day—sometimes even on his prescription notepad—and it didn’t matter if they were exceptional or not, just as long as he was writing every day (a couple of his poems come to mind as perfect postcard poems: The Red Wheelbarrow and This is Just to Say). I am not so steady, but know I can stick it out for about a month.

I feel like I’m at the end of some such writing break/slump. I’m ready to pick a month in the near future and write everyday. During one bout of postcard poems, I actually sent my sister-in-law (a fellow creative writer) the postcards every day. She kept them for me and now they’re stashed with my letters or journals somewhere. I would love to do this with a writing buddy where we are both sending each other a postcard everyday. Any takers?

Here’s one from last November, when I happened to be piecing a quilt:

Blue square

I have patched it together
geometrically
because I like neatness
and objectivity

but the hues don’t quite go
are a little off
because it is a more subtle way of letting go
of saying I mean it,
I don’t care—
in a secret,
calculated
sort of way

2006

{Image from artellaland.com}