Good work, I suppose, is work that others find value in. It can also be subjective, and in my case (as well as many other artists') that's the more relevant criteria . . . since no one else is reading our work. This is not to say that the work created isn't always created with the expectation that someone will read it, and, therefore, it's important to make work that others may value, too.
(By the way, I really love a good cup of coffee . . . and by some magical confluence my coffee maker has brewed some really fine coffee this afternoon. I should probably stop writing and go sit on the couch and enjoy sipping.)
Lately (over the past month since I embarked on blogging), I've been using the blog posting software as an odd sort of muse. It has encouraged me to "free write" . . . which I define as composing with limited pause for editorial decisions.
I like to think that I've earned some ability to skydive like this through years and years of labor. I have toiled over, revised and rewritten, and discarded so much. It's exhilarating to just dive out of the imagination's warm fuselage and see what comes out before I hit the ground.
I'm sure the thrills accompanying such a method of composition will be replaced in time with sheepish regrets and some embarrassment over having posted such rough work in a public place. But, for now, I have to say that it's liberating.
I'm falling through some familiar landscapes, but I'm also finding myself turned upside down and thrown into cloud banks and electrical storms that I'd consciously steer clear of if I took the time to compose in my accustomed approach.
What will come of all this? Some work. Whether that work has value, it's difficult to say. Though, if you don't produce work that feels innovative and charged, there's not much chance of actually accomplishing writing a poem with those characteristics.
So, I'm going with this theory, for now. Blogger has given me a means to let the imagination rip. I am going to take that chance!
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