Writing as inquiry

Like many creative endeavors, writing poetry is often considered an act of personal expression. Some have said that it is also an act of inquiry; that poets use their writing skills to make meaning. In order to study this claim empirically, I conducted an exploratory study to characterize the cognitive processes of poets as they go about their normal business of composing a poem. In this study, I ask: In what ways, if at all (and to what extent), has the process of writing a poem functioned as a process of inquiry for these poets? I also study how, if at all, the poets perceive that sustaining a practice of writing poetry has impacted their meaning making in other areas of their lives, and their perceptions on whether they have conducted inquiry through their writing practices. I examine the poet responses in light of trends found in other data from the study. I recruited published poets and asked them to compose a poem using a think aloud protocol, and ended each session with a qualitative interview to gain a more complete sense of how the poem came into being, as well as to obtain the poets' perceptions on how they normally go about the process of writing poetry. I developed analytic questions to support the research questions, and coded the data for these themes, looking for trends while richly describing the poets' experiences in light of the research questions. I found that it was common for poets to conduct inquiry on the content of their poems (including the subject matter, theme, and emotions). The poets also conducted inquiry on the manner of expression of their poems. There were a number of ways in which the poets perceived that sustaining a practice of writing poetry affects their meaning making in other areas of their lives. In addition, several of the poets related perceptions that suggest that they conduct inquiry during their usual writing practices.

Suggestions are given for applying these findings to aid novices in approaching the task of writing poetry, and directions for future study are discussed.