what is your poetry process?

A poem by Ted Hughes and commentary.

I was going to make this a paid post… but I enjoyed putting it together so much… I just had to share with you all!

Being a huge Sylvia Plath fan, it probably comes as no surprise that I have also read everything by her husband, Ted Hughes. The Thought Fox is probably my favourite from his collection - a poem so wild, so chaotic - a real ode to the absurd journey of creative inspiration!

I like to think of this poem as the creative process in motion: a sneaky, nocturnal fox slinking through the shadowed mind of a writer who’s trying - Oh, so desperately trying - to capture his thoughts before they escape into the night.

To link to my Sunday post, I’m going to ‘try’ to break it down, step-by-step, into the five steps of the creative process.

Ready?

Let's tame this fox!

Step 1: Preparation : The Blank Page

Picture this… it’s midnight. The echo of a ticking clock fills the room. You stare down at a blank page (or screen) and you feel it… that deep, existential loneliness - you feel its presence as it sneaks up on you, a cat with its claws out…

Preparation as the first step is all about setting that scene - preparing your mind, body, spirit for the tasks about to come.

The poet sits at his desk, confronted by the magnitude of a blank page, fingers moving like they have no idea what they’re doing. Here, Ted Hughes fills a space - the fox is yet to arrive - but the stage is set.

Step 2: Incubation : Searching for ideas

Enter cunning fox, Stage Left. This is where Mr Fox works his magic. He moves…softly… delicately through the snow, shaking the branches of their frozen blankets, rubbing against leaves - maybe even your subconscious.

Behind the scenes, your mind is churning, all of that creative goodness stirring subtly, silently. This could be that moment where you wander around the house, or ponder out of the window wondering where the productivity has disappeared to.

But this is all part of the process - your mind is busy, but your body is free to do other things as the fox is working its magic in the background. You may not see it… It’s all a mystery…That’s incubation for you.

Step 3: Illumination – Eureka!

Advancement - a breakthrough. The fox appears from the bushes… your ideas come charging in - clear, focussed, unrelenting. A caffeine-fuelled explosion of inspiration. The creative process makes its entrance!

Hughes describes this in vivid detail -

“a widening deepening greenness,”

And all of a sudden… the fox makes aware its intentions. This is your EUREKA! moment. The fox is here. The fox is alive… as is your idea.

It’s as if you have been walking on a fog-fuelled January morning, when suddenly, the sun appears through the clouds - and at that moment - you see it.

Step 4: Verification – The good, the bad, the ugly (personal perception and the element of doubt)

Don’t get too comfortable just yet! Yes, the fox has arrived, you have your idea… But now, now is the time to do something with it! It begins to take shape - melding and moulding into something recognisable. You’re writing, but that inner-critic is there, leaning over your shoulder and whispering -

“You call this good?” “You can do better than this…”

The fox, by now, is still in sight, lingering maybe at the gate at the end of the pathway, maybe leaving some pawprints in the snow. A mass of uncertainty.

You ask yourself - Is this good? Should I keep going? Am I writing a load of nonsense? But you need to know fellow creative - this is the testing phase — you’re making sure your shiny new idea isn’t just a fox that ran through the garden and stole your sandwich. You press on, step by step, just like that mischievous fox.

But, the doubts are still there - hanging like shadows — lame, dragging behind you; and yet, you keep going anyway, pulling them along with you, dropping some on your way. You refine, tweak, and maybe even cringe a little. The fox doesn’t care. It’s on its journey. You should be too.

Step 5: Implementation – Finished! But am I?

You stop a moment. Look up to the window. The fox is gone. Your page is full. The idea has been captured, and the creative process is complete.

But guess what? That clock’s still ticking, the window is still looks out into a barren garden, and the world? Well, it still lies unchanged.

And that’s how the creative process ends: quietly, almost anticlimactically, like you’ve just run a marathon and ended up at your favourite café for a hot chocolate with extra cream.

The work is done.

The creative act leaves its mark, but the world just moves on.

The fox is still out there somewhere, living its life. And you? You’re sitting with your creation, wondering when you should start all over.

Sigh! Its such a good read! Something to sink your teeth into and to really think about. Hughes demonstrates that creativity isn’t some noble, epic struggle, no. Creativity is messy, it’s elusive - it is sometimes a titian fox wandering around your mind in the middle of the night, pressing its nose to the window, to the papers on your desk, stealing your sandwiches… but leaving you with something you never quite expected.

If the next time you sit at your desk, you hear that low growl of a smart red fox… go ahead and chase it - it’s a wild ride!

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I hope you enjoyed this exploration - stay tuned for Sunday’s second part of my deep dive into - ‘What is your poetry process?’ I am looking forward to seeing you there!

Love and light 🦊🖋️🦊