A Writing Challenge-Haiku Bits
I am a grateful writer, blessed in so many ways. I'm grateful to be inspired by life every day and accept a personal challenge today to try a new form of writing.
I am a grateful writer, blessed in so many ways. I'm grateful to be inspired by life every day. I'm happy to be able to write upon a whim, and joyous to be able to write in so many forms and genres. My usual path leads me to playful rhyming poetry, which I scribe for everything from children's stories to adult poetry and often, personal poetry to express myself. I also write various length prose pieces, and I write stories, in several genres, both in short story form and for full-length novels.
Being part of several writing communities these days, (though mostly online due to my current location), gives me such connection and support and often inspiration to grow as a writer. Recently, I have come upon a writer or two that are creating Haiku pieces.
Admittedly, I am a woman of many words, at least in my head, and easily on my pages. I live mostly these days in a more silent people world after my last move. Having moved out of the hustle and bustle of city life with a swirling social scene, I now bast in the beauty and glory of tall mountains, plentiful orchard trees and sunny, blue skies. I hear birds over cars, and live with sunshine in quiet days over my usual plentiful and crowded social events. (Although I certainly miss some of that, too, from time to time.)
Seeing the Haiku pieces...short, written in a specific formula of syllables, and in only 3 lines, I saw as a challenge, and decided to try and write some. For someone who uses multiples of words and phrases with which to express myself or draw a reader in, the short simplicity of a Haiku was much harder to achieve than I had imagined.
This Japanese form of writing style has a set of guidelines that are short, sweet and to the point. Expressing your message in 3 lines, set as 5-7-5 in syllable count, with a seasonal reference, and a couple of other elements, I can tell you, is much harder that you think it is to write. Challenge accepted, so, I sat down to give it a try.
My first 3 attempts made me laugh as I got them down and reread them back to assess, for I realized my first mistake. I had written them in the wrong syllable formula. Instead of a 5-7-5, in their 3-line form, I had written 3 Haiku attempts in a 7-5-7. Yes, I did that. Trying to go back and rework them was even harder. Fingers out on my device, I immediately tried again to get a few down. I reworked a couple, scrapped the rest, and kept trying, by then writing a couple more.
Sparked by several wonderfully worded Haikus in an author's blog post, I felt inspired to challenge myself to write a Haiku. (Writing an actual Haiku is something I have not done since my college writing days many moons ago.) Mother Nature had her hand in this, too, after I woke up to a dusting of fresh snow atop our mountains in a time when our snowpack has been far too low for our sustainability and seasonal growth of the local crops, fruit trees and winery vines.
I hope you enjoy this first shared Haiku, and I will post more. For interest, I will include a photo that shares the feelings of my words for your additional enjoyment, with today's post including the view out my window with the fresh Spring snow. (I will refer to these posts as my 'Haiku Bits'.)
The lesson here is that there is always room to grow in your field, room to learn new things and room to challenge yourself every day. This was mine today. I see every day as a new opportunity to enrich my writing and create something new. You can, too, in whatever it is you do. Go for it!
Cheers! Lise
*****
Spring Is So Grateful
A dusting of white
Gracing our mountains and hills
Spring is so grateful
