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X. The Haijin as Photographer -- Bill Blohm (bblohm@hpbs1686.boi.hp.com)
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One of the main problems with beginners writing haiku seems to be
grasping the concept of what a haiku is. Let me re-phrase that:
how a haiku is would probably be more accurate. Few have
problems with the 5-7-5 structure. The problem seems to be one
of composition rather than idea, structure, or purpose.
So, for all you struggling haiku writers out there, here is an
analogy that you should be able to apply immediately. When
working on your haiku, consider the photograph. No, I don't mean
take a photograph of what you are trying to write about. Rather,
consider how a photograph works. A haiku should work the same
way. Indeed, you could say that a haiku is a photograph of a
scene or event in words rather than in film.
The idea in both is the same: to take a picture and use that
picture to generate a specific response in the reader or viewer.
In the haiku, the 5-7-5 syllable structure corresponds, if you
will, with the camera and film proper.
With the camera, the beginner will point and shoot, the more
advanced photographer will compose and shoot. The beginning
photographer focuses on the camera. He points and shoots, and
begins to tie together what he is doing with the camera with what
he gets in the photograph. And so he grows and learns the
various elements of photography. The advanced photographer waits
for the right time. He finds the right light, finds the right
angle. He changes, if possible, unwanted elements in the scene.
And he composes for a specific response from the viewer. He
begins to be struck by the world around him, attempts to capture
it to evoke the same awe, pleasure, emotion in the viewer. For
better or worse, consciously or unconsciously he begins to see
everything in the light of his camera and how he can use that to
say what he wants to say.
So, too, it is with the writer of haiku. The beginner focuses on
the 5-7-5 structure. Gradually as he writes and observes the
effect of what he writes on others, he begins to wait for the
right word. He finds the right elements of the scene to
emphasize. He changes his words until he thinks he will evoke
the desired feeling in the viewer. He composes his lines for a
specific response from the reader. He begins to be struck by the
world around him, attempts to capture it to evoke the same awe,
pleasure, emotion in the viewer. For better or worse,
consciously or unconsciously he begins to see everything in the
light of his haiku and how he can use that to say what he wants
to say.
In writing the haiku, like taking a photograph, the important
thing to keep in mind in both is that you want to evoke a
specific response. Just as in the photograph you can not say
"this is what I felt", so it is in the haiku. You want to
compose the haiku/photograph to transmit these feelings. In
writing haiku, you have the ability to use words, but if any part
of your feelings is expressly written into the haiku, it is no
longer like a photograph, and hence no longer a haiku. Now it is
more like an audio tape, and is a poem. You need to capture the
scene in words in the exact same way you would with a photograph.
You want to evoke a specific response from a photograph, you
compose and shoot many photographs until you find the one,
perfect photograph that evokes what you want to say. So it is
with the haiku. You write the first brief impression of the
scene. Then you write and re-write, perhaps keeping that first
one in front of you to remind you of what you are trying to
express. If you are lucky your first attempt at this haiku is
it, just as sometimes the first photograph captures exactly what
you want.
And one final reminder. Just as the photographer has to be there
to take the photograph, so too does the haiku writer have to be
there to write about it. Haiku is supposed to be the writer's
photograph. It is meant to be about something the writer has
himself seen or experienced. Remember, the haiku is, after all,
the writer's camera and film.
So, if you are bogging down while trying to understand what makes
a haiku and what doesn't, think of the photograph and how it is
used, what it contains, and how it is created. Then write your
haiku to do the same. If you keep this analogy in mind, you are
pretty much on your way to writing haiku.
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