Technique or instinct.

[Neville Briggs]

I heard a saying on the radio which I thought was worth meditating on for bush poets.

The music composer John Cage said " You can't analyse and compose at the same time, they are two different processes "

What do you reckon he meant ?

[Stephen Whiteside]

In a sense, though, rhyming poets have to analyse and compose at the same time, because they have to be conscious of the rhythm and the rhyme even while they are making up the story. I reckon musicians are just soft!

[Neville Briggs]

I think it is something like that Marty and also something like Stephen has said
I suppose whatever suits each person is how to go. It just seemed an interesting opinion to think about.
I think part of the answer is that we have to put in the hard yards until the technical stuff becomes almost instinctive and then we can be creative and the technique sort of comes along almost naturally. Just my thoughts, a lot of things work that way.
Remember the days when we were learner drivers, thinking about clutch and braking and changing gears etc, now I assume most of us do all those things almost by instinct and (hopefully ) concentrate on the task of driving along the most efficient and safest track.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Yes, I suppose that is true, Neville. I can think back to the bad old days when the rhyme dictated the poem if I really try, though it's pretty painful, so I generally avoid it - not that I'm not still occasionally guilty of it!