The
starting point of writing a haïku is amazement, the moment of surprise.
It must then be written down immediately, "on the subject",
to keep its purity.
However, this very conception is debated in Japan :
| Here
is Soha Hatano (1923 ~ 1990 ?) : "My haikus are not founded on a trifle such as emotion. When I produce a haiku, words come to me at the very moment I see things. I wait for neither emotion nor surprise. Haiku is like sports. A competitor doesn't think about anything during the game. His trained body functions unconsciously. In the same way, haikists must train their mind so that words might be always ready. If one waits for an emotion, the words will " evaporate. " |
Apriorism
about objects and situations must be forgotten, one must see things as
a child.
One must describe simple things , with simple words in a simple style.
Some typical errors
-
making a description that is simple but devoid of emotion
- too much religiosity or intellectualism (concepts are too complex, words
are rare)
- making a narrative description (prose)
- explaining everything without allowing the reader to discover or imagine
- using metaphors
- using an obscure language that requires too much thinking for the reader
to get the meaning