This post is about creativity and how it pertains to writing-stories versus poetry. I have been writing poetry since I was ten, the freedom of free verse allows words to flow without being edited or altered. I will usually come up with a title or a general theme, the words would flow through a basic initial impetus but would create their own meaning from a subconscious state. If I know or realize what I am writing, the flow is gone and I tend to ramble between images and colors without a clear agenda.

There is a fermentation of ideas that seem to write themselves, collected from various snapshots from multiple images and ideas from the previous days or weeks. If I stop to realize the process or even write down any words or ideas, the idea is usually broken and the flow is interrupted.

I have recently realized the same process with short stories with even a more dramatic departure. I have always had some sort of concept or idea where the poetry will flow toward, with the short stories it seems they have their own beginning and end but I am not always aware of the final product. It’s kind of like watching a movie as you are writing the script. You are playing in a scene and writing the process and atmosphere but you only have small bits of information to work from and the more I write the clearer the final process begins. Again, I feel it is a subconscious state that I write in and the connections and comparison are not often clear on the initial thought, symbols and ideas become images and lessons that seems to create themselves, I just sit back and watch as the story creates itself.

How do you create words, do they flow subconsciously or do you craft them from a conscious state? Do you see a difference between the two forms of expression? Any input would be greatly appreciated.