A common tip in writing books is to find inspiration in other mediums. I have found inspiration in music often– I’m working on a poem right now that I want to be in the blues tradition, and I’ve written a few short stories inspired by and about different songs, or with lyrics interwoven through the text. I have a neat anthology around here somewhere in which each story is inspired by one song– my favorite is one by Jennifer Belle inspired by Paul Simon’s “Graceland.”
Yesterday my sister and I went to see a wonderful exhibit of Edward Hopper’s paintings and etchings, and I found myself scribbling in my notebook as I wandered through the different galleries. Did you know that he always kept telephone poles in his paintings, but never the wires, so that they were only compositional elements and not functional? The glimpses into the private lives of female city-dwellers, the look through windows into windows, and the empty landscapes that still seemed vital– all of it was lovely and I drank it in, even though I didn’t much about him before that exhibit.
I think at least one poem will come from that experience, and it reminds to look to other arts to inform my own. If you haven’t tried it, I would highly recommend a trip to a gallery near you, thinking all the while about your own artistic or creative work.
