See how Paul Muldoon does it!

Thanks to this Sunday's Observer newspaper, I've discovered a remarkable new website called 'Quickmuse'.

On this US-based site, anyone can watch a professional poet compose a poem against the clock. That may sound more mechanical than musical, but it's a fascinating process to observe. All that we don't see are the poet's fingers on the keyboard as the words appear and disappear along with their fleeting ideas and second thoughts.

The most famous poet to take up the challenge so far is Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon, who was tasked with creating a poem about the unnaturalness of poetry, or rather the effort to make the unnatural seem as inevitable as nature. As with all the poets, he was given fifteen minutes. Unlike most of them, he took every second to deliver his poem 'The Aim'.

This reminds me of a technique I've used in the past, generally known as 'flash poetry', where the idea is to write as quickly as possible, having been given three words which must be incorporated in the poem, but no set theme.

The diversity of subjects arrising in this way is astonishing when a large number of poets take part. Astonishing to the poets, too, as the idea is to not think consciously about the poem, but to let the words (and the subconscious) lead the way. If you're trying to write poetry but are stuck for ideas, this is a method well worth trying. Get someone else to nominate the words, though.

Meanwhile, take a look at www.quickmuse.com