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VI.  Concerning the Creative Haiku Process
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A forum on issues concerning the creative process in writing
haiku. Readers are encouraged to describe their personal
experiences, approaches, problems, joys, hang-ups, dead ends,
insights--whatever--in creating haiku.  We begin with two ideas
from DB veterans Andreas Schoter and Debbie Blohm.


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How to Make it Easy to Write Haiku
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by Andreas Schoter   (asch@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)

Here are a few pointers on how I approach writing haiku.  It's
been an interesting exercise to try and make explicit some of the
elements of the process: it's made me think about what I do, but
also it's made me think about what I ought to be doing.  In a
sense, perhaps, it's got less to do with how I write haiku than
with how I make sure I can be in a position to write haiku.  So,
as someone who abhors imposing rules on the creative process (or
on its results), here we go:

Rule One: Always carry a notebook and pen(cil).  To continue with
Bill's analogy from DB volume 1 issue 7, not having a notebook
with you is like taking your camera, but not bothering to put in
a film.  You have NO idea when a haiku moment will find you.  If
you can't record it soon after you've passed through it, then you
risk loosing it completely.

That's it, really.  On the other hand, no good guide is complete
without it's additional commentary . . .

Write down whole haiku, single lines, phrases, or whatever,
straight away.  Don't wait; it's frightening how the littlest
distractions can blow that perfect pattern of words from your
mind.  Write down everything.  If it turns out to be rubbish
later you've lost nothing.  If you don't write it down and you
forget it, then you've no idea what you might have lost.  Having
said that, writing it down doesn't set it in stone.  Write it
down to keep yourself from losing it, but then continue to mull
it over.

Writing down everything is like planting seeds for yourself
later: the flip side of keeping a notebook is rereading your
notes.  Something that seemed obvious or transparent at first may
later turn out to be a many-faceted crystal.

Haiku can be an excellent way of opening yourself up to the flow
of experience.  Sharing the places where other haijin have found
moments of light impresses me with the importance of the
everyday.  Everything is equally important.  On the other hand
writing haiku can be a excellent way of stopping the flow of
experience.
Constantly trying to capture little moments on film can mean not
only that you miss the next moment but, because you're constantly
on the lookout for that "haiku moment," you never really get it--
the expectations overwhelm it.

It's like walking a tightrope. Like tai chi, it requires focused
clarity, and focused clarity comes only from a relaxed mind.

So, always carry a notebook, but forget why you've got it with
you.


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A Haiku Exercise
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by Debbie Blohm   (bblohm@hpbs1686.boi.hp.com)

I consider myself an amateur poet, but I thought I might pass
along an exercise that I find helpful when writing haiku.

I write very quickly.  I put my thoughts down, only taking time
to count the syllables and make sure I have the required 5-7-5.
Sometimes I feel like I have written the best haiku ever, but I
could be wrong (that happens occasionally :^) ).  I put the haiku
aside and come back to it later.  Then I try to read it as a
stranger might, to see what kind of picture it evokes.  I
sometimes revise a haiku two or three times before I am satisfied
that it tells the reader what I want it to.  Once in a while I
get one right the first time.

I write haiku because I enjoy it.  I don't hound myself until
every word is perfect, because I think a person could literally
spend the rest of their lives working on one haiku.  It might
never seem perfect, and the writer might very well forget what he
or she was trying to say.  This takes the fun out of writing.
Instead of getting peace of mind from haiku you could end up with
a tension headache.

So I say, take your time, make changes if necessary, and by all
means enjoy!

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