Ask the Author: Doug Stanfield
Answered Questions (3)
Doug Stanfield
I pick up a book by someone I admire, which these days is usually Harrison, and by the third or fourth poem in he's given me the gift of an image or an idea that my mind grabs and starts spinning something off of. I don't copy, but I am inspired by writers to learn how to be as good as they are.
Doug Stanfield
Read voraciously, widely and with an eye for technique and attitude. Learn to be both a reader, enjoying a book or set of poems for themselves, but also learn to develop a slightly detached editor's eye and ear. Then try to imitate the best. Don't be afraid to take chances, learn from failure and keep plugging away.
Doug Stanfield
By reading really good writers. Currently reading Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser, but others, too, including the old masters Sandburg and Frost, ee cummings, and others.
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