Text: Excerpt from Triggering Town by Richard Hugo
This text is fantastic. Richard Hugo conveys succinctly the principles of creative writing in a simple, yet captivating, manner.
Below I'll describe the techniques that Hugo provides in this excerpt.
Write from experience - A great poem flows not from abstraction, real or imagined experiences grounded in a writer's life.
Think small - Starting with a small and local idea allows for expansion, whereas large subjects cause the mind to contract quickly, destroying the possibility for creative expansion. As a philosopher myself, keeping this in mind is vital as I write.
Place/Setting - Focusing on "where you are" is a vital "source of creative stability" and is a platform for growth.
Don't explain - A creative writer should not explain; simply detail.
Germanic language - Poly-syllabic words should be used sparingly and intentionally, because they soften "the impact of language", and avoid the visceral response Germanic mono-syllabic words often trigger.
Triggering/Generated Subjects - A poem can (should) have a triggering subject which starts the poem and remains "fully in view", and a generated object that stays hidden till the end, but remains the impetus for the poem altogether.
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