The Stuff of Dreams

Photo: Dreaming by Toni Blay / CC BY

"To sleep...perchance to dream..." - William Shakespeare 

I've always been fascinated by dreams and dream analysis. I write down the detailed dreams I remember and I keep a dream book on my bedside table to research the meanings of the details 

of the stories that unfold while I've been unconscious. It's interesting to discover the ways in which my subconscious mind has woven together my thoughts, emotions, and often, my anxieties from the previous day's events. I find that this involuntary narrative makes for some of the best poetry and song lyrics. 

Once, I wrote a song based on a very bizarre, detailed dream I had involving a court jester, a bus ride to Europe, and a loaf of bread, of all things! 

But whatever makes up the tales your brain tells you during your REM time, whether they be serious, whimsical, bizarre or poignant, keeping a record of them and utilizing those details to inform your art can be a very powerful form of self-discovery as well as a fascinating form of "confessional" prose to share with one's readers. It's also a wonderful way to keep your work open to interpretation to the reader.

Linda Roy is a writer, singer/songwriter/musician whose humor blog elleroy was here mixes funny with a soundtrack. She is the founder and lead singer of the Indie/Americana band Jehova Waitresses and her writing has been featured at The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Humor Outcasts and In the Powder Room, among others. She is a 2014 BlogHer Voice of the Year recipient and has contributed to several anthologies, including the third book of the New York Times best selling "Pee Alone" series, I Still Just Want To Pee Alone. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

OctPoWriMo 2015 | Free your emotions

One of the most powerful aspects of poetry stems from tapping into your inner self. When you let down your guard and allow yourself be vulnerable, it opens your mind up to so much more. It can give your writing wings and authenticity.

I'm normally a person, who keeps my feelings in. I don't' necessarily share how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking unless I feel close to a person. I keep things at a surface level and I'm not even sure why. It's just the way I deal with the world, I suppose. With poetry, I can expose my inner-workings, my feelings, my thoughts, impressions, and interpretations. I don't feel shy or awkward. Not anymore.

This amount of openness can be a little bit off-putting at first. It might feel conspicuous, slightly uncomfortable. But with poetry as Linda was telling us yesterday, things are open to interpretation. You may be talking about one thing and the reader could see it a totally different way. Her experiences colors what she reads. By honoring your truth, allowing yourself to permission to feel and write about it, you can help your readers find their truths.

 It's emotional freedom at its finest. If you give yourself permission to let go.

.Tamara Woods was raised (fairly happily) in West Virginia where she began penning poems after a boy broke her heart. She shares poetry, short stories and writer interviews on her blog, PenPaperPad. Her writing has been featured in Mamalode, In the Powder Room, and many others. She is the editor for The Reverie Journal, which will be releasing it's first poetry collection early October. She also hosts #writestuff TweetChat where writers talk about writing every Tuesday at 9 pm EST. She is a hillbilly hermit living in Honolulu with her Mathmagician.

Poetry - Your Muse - And Dance

"Dance came first, the words came later. It was dance that freed my words, freed my soul." ~MDragonwillow

You knew that I would be talking about this, I talk about it every year - at least once. My Muse is just happier with music and dance and gets my poetry flowing!

If you have hopped over to my blog recently you know that I have been making a lot of changes. I am finally claiming my dancing self, completely.


I.am.              The Dancing Muse.              

There I said it.

Dance is an integral part of my writing and poetry process. Today I am going to share some of my favorite music mixes on YouTube that I write and dance to. They inspire me. I can't be still when I am listening to them, even when I'm writing I'll stand at my writing station and bounce, bop, tap, and sway to the music.  No it isn't a desk, it's a rolling kitchen island I have in the dining room because I often would rather stand than sit, though I have a bar stool for when my feet say they've had enough.

Even if I am sitting on the couch typing, as I am now, my feet are moving on the footstool while I rock my shoulders back and forth as I type. The music dances in my blood and my body and fingers (typing) get pulled along.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, that you find yourself up and moving to the music, and then pulled to the page to download the words that are hopping to come out. Even if you detest my music, I hope you find yourself either going through your own music or checking out different mixes on YouTube for you to dance and write your poetry to.

Dance, write, repeat! My Muse loves it!


This is "2 Hours of Celtic Music" and no I don't dance for two hours (though there have been days that I have danced more than two hours over the course of a day) but I often have it playing in the background as I type.

 

And this is when I really need to stir things up, James Asher - Tigers of the Raj (full album)




I recently (sometime in the last few months) discovered Epic Music Mixes on Youtube and this is one of my favorites. 2-Hours Epic Music Mix | The Power of Epic Music - Full Mix Vol. 2




Hope you have fun listening, dancing, and writing!

Count Down: 3 Days until OctPoWriMo!

Time is going by quickly, are you ready for this poetry challenge, will you be sharing your poetry on your blog? Make sure if you are on Twitter that you share your poem posts with the hashtag #OctPoWriMo so that other participants can find you. You can also share and chat with us on Facebook in our Writing Poetry Group.

Morgan Dragonwillow: Writing rebel, stress relief explorer, recovering perfectionist, cooking as therapy, poet & author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of #OctPoWriMo, and you can find her at, A Poet's Kitchen, cooking up simply delicious meals. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.
You can find her on Google+

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Finding the Words When They Feel Lost

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don'tgive up.” ― Anne Lamott

Sometimes when the words feel lost, it isn't about having writer's block, doubt, or fear. Sometimes it is about being so closed off, the words can't come through. You can be so locked down that your words can't find a way to the page.

Art by Morgan Dragonwillow

The page isn't the enemy, it is actually the only place that won't talk back, argue with you, or try to make you be something that you aren't.

You can tell the page anything and everything, your deepest secrets, your deepest longings and it will always be there for you, ready to listen.

We are less than two weeks until OctPoWriMo begins, this is a reminder that you can spend the month breathing onto the page your every thought in whatever form you wish, share or not share, just show up at the page.

Three of my favorite tips from last year:

1. What Poetry Tools Do You Have?
2. Why I Was Scared Away From Writing Poetry When I Was Young
3. To Writers Who Don't Think They Can Write Poetry

OctPoWriMo, where the rules are thrown out the window. Show up to the page and let the words flow.

Count Down: 13 Days until OctPoWriMo!

Morgan Dragonwillow: Rebel dancing with words, intuitive cook, recovering perfectionist, poet & author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of #OctPoWriMo, and you can find her at, A Poet's Kitchen, cooking up simply delicious meals. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.
You can find me at Google+

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OctPoWriMo Count Down!

If this is the first time you have found us, OctPoWriMo is an October Poetry Writing Month. It is a poetry challenge to write a poem a day during the month of October and link up your poetry here for all of us to share and support each others poetry journey. You can find inspiration through our daily poetry prompts or write from your own prompts.

We are so excited about OctPoWriMo this year! Last year we saw over 14,000 visitors during the month of October, that's a lot of visitors! Who knows how many we will have this year.


We are officially in the count down to OctPoWriMo! We have a great group of poet volunteers that are going to be helping out here with tips, prompts, reviews, and more leading to the first day of October when the challenge begins!

Julie Jordan Scott, who has been with me since the beginning with her wealth of poetry experience!

Amy Phelps McGrath, who joined us last year and contributed so much!

Tamara Woods, who has decided to join us this year and I'm very excited to read her contributions!

And of course me, Morgan Dragonwillow, the creatrix of OctPoWriMo.

You can find out more about each of us either by clicking on our names and going to our websites/blogs, or by going to the Creatrix and Contribtors page.

During September:

We will be sharing poetry tips, our favorite poetry books, poetry journeys, and possibly guest posts during the month of September leading to OctPoWriMo. 

There are two ways you can participate during September:

• You can begin to get to know the other participants by leaving a comment with a link to your favorite poem (either from last years OctPoWriMo or another poem on your blog).
• You can share in the comments during the month of September any poetry type post from your blog.
• You can write a guest post with your poetry journey, your poetry process or anything else about poetry.
• And of course you can chat with us on Twitter using the hashtag #OctPoWriMo and on Facebook in the Writing Poetry Group

If you are interested in sharing a guest post email me at morgan_dragonwillow@hotmail.com.

Something new!

We are offering Indie Authors a special deal this year to showcase their poetry book covers for the month of September and/or October. Check out Indie Authors Promo for more information.

Count Down: 30 Days until OctPoWriMo!

 

Morgan Dragonwillow is a poet, survivor, rebel dancing with words, lover of all things magical, recovering perfectionist, and indie author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam and creatrix of #OctPoWriMo. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't. 

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