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Spontaneous Composition
Williams, perhaps out of necessity, developed a spontaneous writing style. He was a very busy doctor, delivering thousands of babies. You can imagine someone in the waiting room, and Williams gets a hit of inspiration and jots down this quick poem on the back of a prescription pad. After a couple of decades of doing this, the process is – if not perfected – at least polished to a certain degree. He taught himself how to recognize that poem welling up, perhaps with a starting phrase or image. He learned to trust that hit and go with it. The key is in the process with which he was creating – in the moment – the form and content. He was not as dedicated to that original take to the extent Olson would be, but a harvesting of that quick burst is what Williams' process was about. His escape from hell was undoubtedly that heightened state of consciousness the act of composing spontaneously gave him, which is why I have likened this to a hit. Certainly it was a respite from poor, sick patients, but it was more than that. It was reality heightened into a different, deeper state of consciousness that becomes addictive in the most positive sense of that word.
