Creative Writing: A Poet’s Definition of Inspiration

Whidbey Island (Location of Residency)

To comment about creative writing on a day when I just returned home – after almost two weeks of academic residency, followed by a week of vacation – is tough. Don’t think my brain has landed yet, and here I am trying to interpret ‘creative writing inspiration’ on a jet-lagged day.

Think the best way to begin is with a quote. But this quote needs a lead in.

While at residency, I had the unique opportunity to hear poet-extraordinaire, Marvin Bell. It was difficult to absorb the many pearls-of-wisdom about creative writing that he’d drop like scattered marbles simply because he fired them at us quicker than my hand could write! But this one I’ll never forget. Someone in the room asked him about inspiration (no, it wasn’t me). He pursed his lips, stuck his hands in his pockets and paced the room for a moment, thinking.

Then he looked up, tapped his chest with a closed fist, and said, “Inspiration is a metabolic thing. Think of it – the word ‘inspiration’ comes from breathing…”

I could not possibly say anything more profound; at least not today.