What is an “Inventory of Weird” and how can it push your writing to the next level?

Rob Carney explains exactly what he means by “Inventory of Weird” in his Evolution blog post for his series Old Roads, New Stories: A Blog Series on Terrain.org. The blog posts are short and full of poetry wisdom. This one focuses on how to watch for the weird and then how to let it creep into your writing and stay there. Carney provides several examples, ranging from movie quotes, to Frank O’Hara and Keats, to personal experiences, how he incorporates those experiences into concrete imagery for his own work–and then let’s the weirdness just be. Before he gets to Keats he says, “I try to remember to notice things like that. And I try not to cross them out of my poems. And I like to imagine other writers resisting that same self-doubt.” All of this comes together as a sort of evolution.

Rob Carney's fourth book 88 Maps was just released by Lost Horse Press (distribution by University of Washington Press). Other books and chapbooks include Story Problems and Weather Report, from Somondoco Press. You can also read his poetry in Terrain.org: 4th Annual Contest Winner and Issue 30. And listen to a new radio interview with Rob Carney.

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