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Five Ways To GET INSPIRED!


by Kirsty Logan


1. Get Out There And Take Some Photos!
The beach is a great place for inspiration. Stones are particularly lovely when plucked from the water. Look out for oil slicks: right at the edges, the sea will be flecked with rainbows. Seaweed makes delightful shapes, and there are always pretty things in rock pools. Think of your lens as your pen, and write poems about the things you see.


2. Travel To Somewhere Fascinating, Even In Your Own Back Yard!
Try to see your own neighbourhood with fresh eyes. Use someone else's if you must: a friend's child or an elderly neighbour. Ask them what they think about your hometown. If you do not agree with what they say, try to stay calm. Try to just walk away.


3. Turn down alleys without checking them first. Tear the hems of your clothing: just a little, enough to raise questions and lower gazes. Chew zigzags in your thumbnail then drag it down your cheek so that the blood bubbles up. Pour the contents of bottles into your eyes to make them water. Stumble home and sleep on the back step. If you hear your spouse get up in the night to look for you, stay silent.



4. Inject liquids into your veins. Share your body. Cut your mother's face. Steal your brother's baby. Use scissors on your nipples and pliers on your toenails. Hang your neighbour's dog from their rope-swing. Hide girls in your basement until you forget they were ever there. Chew glass. Keep a gun at your ankle. Shriek words into the night. Hate.


5. Get out there and live, fellow writer! Living an exciting life means you'll have plenty to write about!

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