doggerels

Logo - small image of a Jack Russell dog with a silver pencil in his mouth.
a
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a small collection of my
poems, stories & sonnets

Step 1 – MY INSPIRATION

I write about a range of subjects – from the humorous to the sad loss of family and friends. Sometimes an idea just pops into my head – the image below relates to two sonnets about my ripped jeans! At other times, I feel compelled to write.

Step 2 – The Story

This step is linked very closely to what inspired me in the first place. Most of the details are true though there might be the occasional embellishment.  My husband never dressed up as Freddy Mercury wanting to break free – he couldn’t find a pair of stilettos to fit his size 12 trotters. He does like to do the hoovering though (my poem ‘Lockdown 1 2020’). And then my 85-year-old mother would never have flung a punch at a police officer (‘Christmas 2020 – Part 1’).

Step 3 – The format

A few years ago, I thought why not try writing a sonnet for ‘Kinky Diva’? Since then, I’ve written 8 further sonnets and it doesn’t get any easier because of the strict parameters. But also because I don’t have the time (‘September 19th 2022′) or the story merits more than one sonnet (so twice the pain). It’s a challenge, but not always appropriate to the subject matter.

Step 4 – The research

I enjoy this part of the process  – it may relate to the poems themselves or to some of the images I’ve used. It can involve finding synonyms for certain words, rhyming words, checking facts or learning things I know nothing about. For example, I mention a Triumph Stag in my poem ‘Getting Old’ but I now know that it would have been an MK1 model! Yes, it was that long ago.

Step 5 – The build

This is probably the most difficult part of the process. As the story evolves, step 4 (research) is ongoing and lines I’ve created sometimes don’t fit. At this point, it pays to go away and resume with a fresh mind. This pause may take an hour, a day, sometimes a week, sometimes longer! Being a perfectionist, I like to get things spot on.

Step 6 – The finished poem

I doubt that any of my poems will ever be a finished product and achieving my desire to get things ‘spot on’ may be impossible. A tweak there, a comma here, sometimes a different word? But nothing too drastic.