R.T. SMITH ON THE MUSE

Every once in a while over at EWN, folks get tired of reading the same old interview questions and so, we turn over the questioning to EWN members instead.  Recently we did this with acclaimed poet and short story writer, not to mention Editor of Shenandoah, R.T. (Rod) Smith. 

The following comes from author Bonnie Jo Campbell:  "Writers like Robert Owen Butler talk about all good writing coming from the unconscious.  He (and others) go so far as to say that writing that passes from one's intellectual faculties is junk --- in other words, if you've thought about the story, it's ruined.  How do you feel/think about such theories of writing?

Rod's response:

I can't tell the difference between the intellectuals and the unconscious.  Not that I usually have to ask "do I wake of sleep?", but my academic training, knowledge of cooking and shooting and driving -- all of which I acquired to some extent while focused and cerebral show up in my dreams.  And sometimes things I dream or imagine play a roll in purportedly logical rhetoric.  Better example:  let's take Doc Watson.  Where does his knowing the song leave off and where does his sense of a new way to bend a note take up?  I think the great adventure of practicing an art is that you understand some things about your unconscious and you begin to have hunches about your knowledge.  Your instincts get "educated," your resources deepened, your categories scrambled.  I'm back to talking about formal poetry and improvisation in a way, the development of a craft and enticement of inspiration.  The serious fisherman aspires to know his lures and flies, as well as the great mysteries.  The muse is not a sucker for cheap tricks.  That's what I think today.  Thank you all for wondering.  I think I see the shore.

By the way, those of you thinking of nabbing that line, THE MUSE IS NOT A SUCKER FOR CHEAP TRICKS, for t-shirts of some other sloganeering - Bonnie Jo and R.T. are currently working out a copyright agreement already!