How to make haiku, Step 2

Step 2. Brainstorm

Remember the things you have seen, as if the images were frozen in place for you to review at your leisure, examining what it is about them that draws you, or intrigues you, or makes you look twice.

What did your other senses tell you when you saw this? What season does it represent? Is it winter but warm, either in fact or emotionally, psychologically?

Step 2 is the brainstorming stage, where you try to translate your observations and feelings into language. It is when you put down the words. Do not hold back. Do not judge what falls onto the page.

At first, you may have excess words, an embarras de richesses. While haiku is brief, this is not the time to hold back. This is not the time to count syllables.

You may have a paragraph, or even a page. You may have only one line, but ten different words that fail to satisfy the sweet spot, and you keep trying on new ones for size. Write as much or as little as you need to write. Get all the words out.

They are your clay.

Does this method seem familiar to you, or foreign? What is your creative process?

My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand. I hope you'll take a look (move cursor to title and click), and see if Ameriku art suits your decor, or gift giving needs.

Ameriku Ltd produces nature-oriented art prints, posters, greeting cards and other items, based on my original haiku and photography.

Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. When you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure the work meets my high standards of quality.