ON MY WRITING PROCESS

Almost every morning, I spend deliberate time—likely with a candle burning and an echo of a singing bowl ringing—in quiet solitude. First I work a reflective art journal, usually making a collage related to a word of the day. That visual art leads into reading a daily poem, doing a simple mindfulness meditation, and then, finally, playing with words on the page. My two favorite teachers for these practices are Molly Remer and Nadia Colburn.

These days, many people work straight from a computer, but I still like to scribble longhand in a pretty journal. Find a blank page intimidating? I reduce that dilemma by adding collage ephemera to my writing journal, as well.

Once I create a poem that is starting to take shape, I type it up on my phone and then email it to myself. This process allows me to see my thoughts in a more tidy way, lending clarity to potential revisions—and it leaves me a “paper trail” of the various versions I try out along the way. If I concoct something I especially like, I might even type it out on fancy paper with my trusty electric typewriter for extra novelty and concreteness.