Why And How I Write: CyranoWriter’s 7+ Years Of Poetry, Prose, Photography And Creativity

More than 7 years ago, in January, 2009, I heard a poet read at President Obama’s first inauguration. I thought: “I can do that!” And so I started.
Making a goal of writing and posting a poem or creative piece every day, I put my creative thoughts into this blog. Most are short poems, which I try to make into Haiku (they are in the sense that they are 5/7/5). Some are longer. Some are free verse. Some are prose pieces. Some are silly. Most are serious and observational.

All of them feed my soul.
(Here is a great piece from Dead Poets Society / Robin Williams)

During the more than 7 years since then, I’ve written more than 6500 poetic and prose pieces. Along the way, I’ve discovered / invented three different types of electronic media poetry: ConTEXTing, IMprov, and ImproVerse. Each of these three has to do with an electron delivery method (phone texting, Instant messaging or IMing, and improv voice recognition.)

Some of the pieces are “romantic” in nature (I’m currently single, have been for nearly a decade, so these writings talk about the pathos of that state). Others are observations of either nature or human nature. Many deal with the issues we all face daily. And still others are just thoughts and musings, prompted by my observations of what is happening around me. Some are augmented by my photography. Most are left for you, the reader, to visualise in your mind. All of these reflect how I see the world, and what living and observing and just being means to me.

My hope, my dream, is that people will read my work and “see new”. They’ll think about how they see or what they feel about the things I see and feel. And, most importantly, I hope my writing, day after day after day after day, will inspire others to simply see, to observe the amazingness happening around them, and to capture it in whatever form or style they choose.

People tell me “I used to write. I wish I could write more. I need to write more.” To them — to YOU — I say: “Do.” Because, 7 years ago, I heard another poet. And then, I did.

PS: My work is in chronological order, with the most recent writings immediately following this post. If you are looking for a particular subject or topic, type in some key works in the “Search” bar (above right), and it should bring up all my writing related to that topic. “Prince Charming” seems to be a popular search!

How to Start Writing: Revolutionary Blogging Thoughts With Borrowed Haiku

I’ve been thinking for a long time about doing a workshop on creative writing. One of the first lessons I’d have would be on “just do”. This was brought home forcefully today by a friend of mine. I wonder how many people (including myself) feel the same way as she did, at the beginning of the writing process:
“I’m not a writer. I never have any good thoughts and I’m not creative. But one day I was driving in the rain and I had this thought… and I wrote it down.”
“What was amazing to me is that I even wrote it down, that I thought it good enough to write down. But it felt good to create.”

Here’s what she wrote originally:
It is raining and in it I find solace, warmth and understanding.~ me

I commented that’s the way 90% of the world is: They have thoughts, but they are afraid or embarrased to write them down. Why?
Then I showed her something: With a little tweeking, her thought became a haiku (not that it’s better as a haiku… I think it’s brilliant as it first came out). But it points out the creative process: We have a raw thought. We capture it. We think about it. We tweek it. We publish it.

It is raining. In/
rain I find solace, warmth and /
deep understanding.

OR

It rains. I stand there./
In rain I find solace, warmth /
and understanding.