Writing Frenzies

For me, writing comes in phases.

I have fits where I'm spewing poetry from my pen, constantly finding inspiration and composing lines in my head, and then writing them down ASAP. Sometimes I do that with essays, too. Once in a great, long while, out pops a short story.

And then...bam. Nothing. Suddenly writing is a foreign language to me. How frustrating (and also why I gave up long ago on the idea of making a career out of writing).

I love those writing fits, though. They are encouraging, uplifting, and leave me hungry to write more. Having a idea blazing in my mind is my favorite reason to lose sleep (if I had to choose). I know I have to get it down on paper -- no excuses! -- when it's an idea I can't shake after a few days.

I think Leo Lionni has those ideas, too.

"From time to time, from the endless flow of our mental imagery, there emerges unexpectedly something that, vague as though it may be, seems to carry the promise of a form, a meaning, and, more important, an irresistible poetic charge." [- Leo Lionni (children's author and illustrator)]

That last phrase is magical, captivating, dead-on...and amazing.