LET WORDS GIVE BIRTH TO WORDS

All the experts say it: aside from reading, the best thing you can do to capture the Muse is invest in a nice journal. And use it! The thing that has worked best for me in terms of journaling is to record favorite lines and passages from whatever fiction I'm currently reading. From Barbara Kingsolver's book Prodigal Summer, I got "All secrets are witnessed." I later used that as the epigraph for a poem titled "First Day of Winter" that was published by Birmingham Arts Journal and will be included in my next book. The key is to write it down. Otherwise you'll forget who said it, or how exactly it went, or that it even made an impression on you in the first place. Another tip: invest in some of those little sticky "book darts" for marking quotes as you read!