collaging words

some writing practice as play

When I want to write, don’t know what I want to write about but i want to keep practicing, collage poetry has helped a lot, and keeps me off my phone, mostly. It helps me play, doing something without feeling a need to be great at it. Like the act of painting, seeing colour, smelling the paint and feeling the splodge go from the pot to paper, that’s what counts and not what image is created.

I use the free magazines and papers that circulate Glasgow (The Skinny, stylist, metro etc) so it’s free. I flip through the pages and skim read the articles until the words, sentences and phrases pop out to me. Ones that sound funny, seem poignant to something happening in the world right now or sound lovely. Then cut. Cut the whole line out and place it in a pile. Go through each page of the magazine or paper and don’t flick back through.

When you have a wee pile ready start to place your phrases out on paper or a table to mix phrases together until something works.

These might not make much sense, they might be a first draft for future lines or poems. Like taking notes, continually writing something. Practice.

Or you might end up with something silly.

Here’s a few examples below of my notes from my writing group session. Its lovely to have the time to try. Creating more and finding myself more playing about.

Desire

A desire path is a living record of collective

blossoming from somewhere between

past and perpetuity. 

I love yew

To step closer to death,

I think it's environmental change

that will sow the seeds for a

sexual thriller

pond

Barriers of access could be 

stagnancy

Queer people wanted more

from the aftermath of the break-up 

and to see what comes out of it. 

that’s hot

the fidelity is fucked…

it’s hot