I went to a May fayre today, as you do, and found myself rummaging at a secondhand bookstall. I found a treasure, a book by Ted Hughes called Poetry in the Making, from a series of BBC radio talks he gave for schools and pupils aged 10-14 in the 1960s. In the first chapter I read this ... "Imagine what you are writing about. See it and live it. Do not think it up laboriously, as if you were working out mental arithmetic. Just look at it, touch it, smell it, listen to it, turn yourself into it. When you do this, the words look after themselves, like magic ... you do not have to bother about commas or full-stops or that sort of thing." I know, trendy education techniques in the 60s! But there's this as well, which although meant as advice to teachers, is good advice to any poet of any age, I reckon. "Once the subject has been chosen, the exercise should be given a set length, say one side of a page, and a set time limit ... these artificial limits create a crisis, which rouses the brain's resources: the compulsion towards haste overthrows the ordinary precautions, flings everything into top gear, and many things that are usually hidden find themselves rushed into the open. Barriers break down, prisoners come out of their cells."

That's an interesting insight into Ted Hughes there Greg. I keep telling myself I can't write to pressure or to order but maybe that's an excuse for not trying - because writing anything worthwhile is damned hard work.

I must admit to not liking workshops but when I've decided to produce stuff for WOL comps, eventually I've managed to beat something out of myself.

I think this could probably work for most people, the only thing at question is whether the end result justifies the means. Some people are very natural poets and almost think in it, others are just literate people who love it and like to dabble.

Hope any of that makes sense :)

Just one thing about workshops, Isobel. The results don't really matter. If it produces something good great if it doesn't it's just good practice. I've written good poems out of workshops and really crap ones too. And it might loosen up your technique too. It helps to get away from the pressure of producing a great poem every time if you learn how to play with words. That's what workshops are: games, play. If they're not fun there's not much point in them.

Yes Steven - maybe I just haven't been to the right workshops - the ones I've been to hung round someone thinking up a theme and everyone writing to it. What I hate is that bit at the end when they do a read round and I've got nothing or a piece of crap.

Or maybe it's just me? When I'm out with a nice bunch of poets and a glass of lager in my hand, my mind drifts over to socialising rather than writing. I probably don't get out enough!

Great advice I think in these words Greg has posted...I was just saying the other day that the discipline of setting aside time to write,in my case at a local poetry writing group tends to surprise me because I usually come up with something,not always good or usable,but often I get a poem,or the bones of one,simply because I've exercised my brain by way of working to a deadline.'Barriers break down.Prisoners come out of their cells'.

I also surprised myself by actually enjoying 'pressure' in the few work shops which I've been able to attend. Usually my personal need to jot down ideas as they whiz by is crisis enough - when I'm lucky enough to get ideas. But the kind of tension Hughes seems to be touting for all writing experiences would strangle me. Besides, I'm not sure how often I use writing for crisis management.

Your topics are excellent, Greg.

Great quote. Great advice. I think the crisis he means is a sort of thinking crisis, over riding that ever present critic in the brain that censors words before they reach the page.

I have no critic in my brain, Freda, that censors my words before hitting the page. I use just that though, before showing the page to other persons. Sometimes, my originals could smelt iron.

This is an interesting topic. I don't do well under pressure, but that's me. I looked his book up on Amazon.com, I'll have to think about ordering a copy for myself.