“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” Recently I received a forwarded email containing the above quote attributed to Vincent Van Gogh. [1]  Given my readings of the translated letters from Vincent Van Gogh (VVG) to and between his brother Theo Van Gogh (TVG) and my acquaintance with VVG’s art, this sounds like [...]

EEC = Empower+Encourage+Challenge The purpose of creating a learning environment is to enhance the opportunities to successfully inculcate ideas and once instilled, earnestly foster their application.  Unimpressed, some years ago, with the experience of attending present-day confrontational, slash’n’burn, or Cuisinart-style poetry critique groups or workshops, I looked for ways to change that dynamic. Experience told [...]

It was Texas, the summer of 1957.  Buck Rogers and other space pioneers were only in the movies, or on the still-largely black and white world of television.  Two monumental world-view, game-changers were yet to happen:  1) the launch of the USSR’s Sputnik on October 4, 1957 was three months away, and 2) NBC was [...]

On the Use of “Big” Words Often wordsmiths, (my sister refers to me as a wordsculptor), those regular users of words who have acquired a varied and mature vocabulary come under fire for the use of certain words that may not be in ‘regular’ use in the vulgate of the vulgus. (Vulgate and vulgus, two [...]

a letter to a fellow writer… Normal vs Paranormal & Universal Truths I woke up this morning thinking about character conundrums and flashed on one of the points I told you I had made to the ‘students’ I talked to… that of ‘the universe is both infinite and finite; it contains only what you can [...]

The Six Fidelities of Poesie: expression, idea, voice, style, original intent and process are not the six principles of how to write a poem or the six essential elements of a poem, but rather six principles of how and why we write poetry. — Six Fidelities of Poesie Author’s Note: Caveat on Quoting Oscar Wilde. [...]

My seven (7) Organizational Points for Writing a Novel: 1) Time, 2) Time Graph, 3) Computer, 4) Number of Words, 5) Character Graph, 6) Set or Location Graph & 7) Notes File — What You Probably Don’t Want to Know: but I’m going to tell you anyway (advanced writers may skip this part) I am [...]

Sound and Meaning in Narrative and Dialog “As a little consideration will readily show, language exists on two levels.  There is the level of sounds, of which a limited set exists in any particular language, and which may be represented by a writing system.  The sound and shape of words is the most basic foundation [...]

In Milton A. Cohen’s book about the paintings and poetry of E.E. Cummings[1], PoetandPainter,[2] chapter on “Seeing Around” Form, “Seeing Around” Poetic Structure, page 139, he states: “As the speaker’s mind jumps nervously from one thought to the next (he suffers from insomnia as well as anxiety), his fragmented thoughts move in and out of [...]

Part One. Finding and Using The Poetic Frame The poetic canvas is the blank page which contains three frames. Poets commonly consider only two frames, when they should be utilizing all three; in particular, the third frame. In all of art, the painting or writing to or off the edge is discouraged as a matter [...]