Sometimes a single line of poetry can act as an impulse for you to start writing. Something - an image, a comparison, or a mention of someone's name, strikes a cord with you, and makes you feel that you must pursue, develop, and share whatever it is that overtook you. That's why reading, and more broadly speaking, living in a general state of art bombardement, is crucial to developing writing skills. Art reinspires you every day. Today, I want to share with you some word-based sources of inspiration that have reinspired me and may also help you!
1. POETRY - a magazine published by The Poetry Foundation It's a contemporary poetry magazine which features the work of great diversity. There is room for form, free verse, and experiment. This makes it almost inevitable that you find something you love in every issue! The diversity also keeps you on your toes, as it requires your mind to change gears as you're reading. If this is the first time you hear about this publication, go to @poetryfoundation where you can find some of their content now!
2. FOLLOW BLOGS ON WRITING, especially daily blogs. This is a great way you can immerse yourself in the world of writers, their everyday victories and struggles, and get a daily dose of inspiration for your own art. One of my favorite daily blogs belongs to Seth Godin, an inspirational speaker and author of multiple fantastic self-help and marketing related books such as 'The Dip,' or 'The Icarus Deception'. You can find his blog at http://seths.blog
3. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE In other words, try reading what you don't normally read. If you're a fan of non-fiction, go for fiction. Make bold swaps. Instead of Oscar Wilde, read Edward Abbey, or instead of Bertrand Russell, pick up something by Kazuo Ishiguro. All of these present you with different genres and issues and challenge you to be a fuller, more aware writer yourself.
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