Finding Inspiration in the News

Photo by Got Credit / CC BY 

You've no doubt at some point taken inspiration from the every day, the things that go on around you, whether they be in your home or during a typical errand run. But have you ever watched the news and felt there was something you wanted or needed to impart about something in a more global sense?

There is so much going on in the news, both good and bad that we feel strongly about that could be addressed perfectly through poetry. Yeats sometimes used poetry in a very political way to express his feelings about the state of politics in Ireland at the time, often inspired by his girlfriend who was a staunch activist.

You don't necessarily need to be a staunch activist in order to participate in the dialogue where it pertains to politics, world news, or even what's going on in your own community. Poetry can be a very powerful way of expressing your views. It can be a somewhat kinder, gentler approach to a heated topic that can give the reader pause and really make them think without fear of being preached to or pontificated at. Putting your words into prose gives your take on the issues a more timeless, artistic scope, something bigger than a Letter to the Editor ever could.

I'm a news junkie who ran a political satire website for a time, and so the news is an ongoing part of my life. Sometimes it's difficult to bear the enormity of the many tragic events that transpire on a regular basis, but writing about is a way of making sense of it all in my own mind, or at least coping with it. And in the case of the good news that finds its way in between the unthinkable, it's a celebration to write about.

The Pope just landed in Washington D.C.; how do you feel about it? What is your take on the madness of the circus that is the 2016 Presidential Election? Talk about it! Seriously, humorously, whatever strikes your fancy, but get your thoughts out there in prose. And who knows, it might just be a good way of dealing with Breaking News without letting the news break you.

Linda Roy is a writer, singer/songwriter/musician whose humor blog elleroy was here mixes funny with a soundtrack. She is the founder and lead singer of the Indie/Americana band Jehova Waitresses and her writing has been featured at The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Humor Outcasts and In the Powder Room, among others. She is a 2014 BlogHer Voice of the Year recipient and has contributed to several anthologies, including the third book of the New York Times best selling "Pee Alone" series, I Still Just Want To Pee Alone. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

The Stuff of Dreams

Photo: Dreaming by Toni Blay / CC BY

"To sleep...perchance to dream..." - William Shakespeare 

I've always been fascinated by dreams and dream analysis. I write down the detailed dreams I remember and I keep a dream book on my bedside table to research the meanings of the details 

of the stories that unfold while I've been unconscious. It's interesting to discover the ways in which my subconscious mind has woven together my thoughts, emotions, and often, my anxieties from the previous day's events. I find that this involuntary narrative makes for some of the best poetry and song lyrics. 

Once, I wrote a song based on a very bizarre, detailed dream I had involving a court jester, a bus ride to Europe, and a loaf of bread, of all things! 

But whatever makes up the tales your brain tells you during your REM time, whether they be serious, whimsical, bizarre or poignant, keeping a record of them and utilizing those details to inform your art can be a very powerful form of self-discovery as well as a fascinating form of "confessional" prose to share with one's readers. It's also a wonderful way to keep your work open to interpretation to the reader.

Linda Roy is a writer, singer/songwriter/musician whose humor blog elleroy was here mixes funny with a soundtrack. She is the founder and lead singer of the Indie/Americana band Jehova Waitresses and her writing has been featured at The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Humor Outcasts and In the Powder Room, among others. She is a 2014 BlogHer Voice of the Year recipient and has contributed to several anthologies, including the third book of the New York Times best selling "Pee Alone" series, I Still Just Want To Pee Alone. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.