Paint a Picture

"How astonishing it is that language can almost mean

and frightening that it does not quite.  Love, we say, God, we say.  

 . . . we write and the words get it wrong. We say bread and it means according 

to which nation.  French has no word for home, and we have no word for strict pleasure." 

- Jack Gilbert from the poem, "The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart."

"A poem should not mean

 but be." 

 - Archibald Macleish 

Write without pounding the reader with meaning in a story or poem.

Focus on staying in the action of the moment.

Paint an event in light and dark imagery. Let the reader discover its essence.

Show an emotion or state of mind avoiding the use of its word: frustration, joy, despair, satisfaction.

How would you define home?

Do you believe in "strict pleasure"? Show it in visual and sensual images.

Observe the contrast of colors. Try for a rainbow's taste.

Hear the music of leaves and respond.

Write into a "why"?

Jump into the middle of a situation and write yourself out of it.

Avoid judgment. Let the words shriek.

Notice empty spaces.  Fill them with words.








Paint a picture.