The best advice that I can give any aspiring poet is to this one: write poetry that matters. Some people would say that this limits the creativity of the poet and I am not saying to only write poetry that matters but it should be your ultimate destination. There are things that can be written that will inspire us or move us into that place where we can achieve or greatest poetry. We believe in the practice of freewriting which means to grab a piece of paper, sit somewhere and write whatever comes to mind. This type of writing is like an unlocking mechanisms to free the thoughts that we try to hold back.
And that is the most interesting part of freewriting, is finding out what is it exactly that we are holding back. How much of a distraction has the world been that we lose sight of the things that are important to us. We can get bogged down in things that make absolutely no sense. When we sum up our day, can we say exactly what it is that we have accomplished, or who we inspiring, or how we were inspired.The day is what it always has been, an opportunity to make a difference in our lives. And the ultimate measure of that is to look forward to our days including the struggle and pain.
So the question ultimately becomes if you want to write great poetry, see your life through your struggle and pain and push through it to what ultimately matters. There is an answer inside of you that wants to be found and this is where your search begins.
