Learning to go with personal satisfaction as a measure is an important way for me to get past the inner critic. I also have a commitment to testing exploring and sharing as part of what I do here – if I’m going to write about writing with confidence I’d better practice the same!

Melissa thanks so much for your comment – and for the article you wrote that helped me find my way into this. Some guides I found were over-complicated and were getting in the way of me getting started, yours showed me the way in. Working with my hands on the tangible words was deeply satisfying in a way I can’t yet explain, and I long to do more of it (and then show others how).

Karen I think I will make myself an ebook of the comments that you have written for me here. They are so precious to me, I feel you know me so well, and yet you also see things I’d never acknowledge in myself. Thank you thank you x

What an interesting way of approaching the poetic art form. As I write and think I find myself drifting towards things that resemble poetry, but I usually pull back because I don’t feel knowledgeable about form or comfortable with execution. But so many ideas gain power with meter and spareness. The form pulls.

I also like how you measure your effort by personal satisfaction. That’s probably a big element of why anything I’ve done in this direction tends to land in the bin rather than up for view.

I’ll be interested in seeing more of your ‘found poetry.’ Thanks.