Form, Balance, Flow

I have spent the last several months researching and studying the history of both the haibun and the haiku.

For those of you interested in reading a very brief understanding of these two writing terms, I have added this information today into the Ligo Haibun section (tab) at the top of this blog.

From the research, I learned the narrative (prose) portion of the haibun began it’s life, hundreds of years ago, as mere jotted down notes and comments in the journals of Japanese travelers. Later to be used for the purpose of assisting with the composition of the haiku (poem) of his experiences.

Eventually these notes evolved into what became it’s own literary style of work along with the haiku and thus the haibun was created and began to evolve.

I have kept a journal for much of my life. It was recommended to me, when barely out of my teens. And it became a life style habit of mine.

I’d write my thoughts, of the previous day, first thing in the morning (on days I didn’t work) or my thoughts, of the day, that evening when I would retire.

The interesting thing is I always felt the need to summarize my thoughts at the end. And yes, it appears that I was doing my own version of a very rough form of the same methodology of how the haibun originally came into being.

It didn’t take me long to realize, that I enjoyed the haibun style of writing because I was very much at home with it. Perhaps in a less refined style, I have still been writing in a similar way, in my own journal, for years.

My advice to those (and I do encourage you to begin to keep a journal for yourself) who write, is to give a try to writing a haibun. Join the Ligo Haibun Challenge. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Proceeding on:

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(some hints)

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~ free yourself from a preconceived mindset of what you want to accomplish when you write ~

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~ be there, in the moment ~

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~ start with your own creative energy and think about how you feel about what you want to write ~

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~ with the image in mind, view your interpretation of how you’d like to present it ~

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~ write ~

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My personal view:

The haibun: A meaningful narrative – ‘the body‘ and the haiku – ‘the heart’ of the piece. It is a work of art, a song in “word expressions” relating to your emotions/feelings in the form of a short story, opinions or series of thoughts. The haiku – the essence.

“In summation, to me, writing a haibun is about extending yourself within the form/balance/flow of the haibun (writing style), which can, in turn, expand the value of your presentation.

In other words you have the ability to improve both yourself and your writing skill as well as illustrate how powerful the haibun, itself, can be – through your own written words.” Penny L Howe, 2013

Thank you,