I recently wrote a poem for class. It was a fine poem reflecting on thoughts about a made up incident about something partially founded in reality with traces of a deeper meaning. Despite the poem's poignancy, I found, as Mr. Allen forewarned, the process to be very rewarding and interesting.
The process consisted of working through my work with Mr. Allen's guidance. Adjusting word usage, context, order, and meaning according to his advise, and my own sensibilities. Throughout, I tried to manage word efficiency and rhythm with the necessity of managing meaning. I did this by rewriting and rewriting phrases, as well as editing specific word order and location to maximize efficacy.
What I found surprising about my method of work was how, despite approaching the problem with a goal and rough idea of hwo to work through issues, my ability revise the poem came down to thinking, trying, and re-thinking individual phrases. Is there a better way?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
There may be a better way for you, but for some people, this could be the best way. Or maybe there is no best way. It's so hard to know when you've got something "right" in your poem, especially after rewriting it so many times. Editing a particular phrase in a poem can be very difficult to do without messing up something else. There's a delicate balance to keep. Good Luck!
Post a Comment