I guess I am not sure how many have read the Forest Poem below. If you have, you may notice that it has changed a couple times already since first posted. Over the next week or two I will continue to revise it in an attempt to improve it (haha, maybe it will go the other way?) I don't plan on this piece being the killer of all killer poems, I know it won't, is not meant to be, but I hope to bring it to a level that provides a breath of inspiration while also being an interesting read. We'll see?
I love revision!! I almost always revise my poems at least a few times and hardly ever write (share) improv pieces. Maybe an exception is when I write Haiku. I will sometimes leave an instant haiku to a friend in a blog or email as my little piece of poem candy, usually written on the spot in response to the things I am reading/replying to. I find the revision process facinating. Sometimes, when things are right in our head, a poet can go outside of his or her mind and really look at a piece as a reader might. This is a difficult task, to disconnect one's self from our own poem but it is crutial to success in revision. I always try to get that first draft on paper in my journal, encompassing all the thoughts and/or using the notes I have written prior to starting, then build from there at a later date after the piece breathes a bit. Instant revision is not a real good thing normally either in my opinion.
Receiving rejections is a good thing sometimes. Yes, it may bruise the poet's ego maybe, but it should also serve as a motivation to potentially look at a piece deeper and revise it for improvement for the next round of submissions.
The poem below has had at least 10 revisions so far (and it still stinks...lol) and I probably spent about 8 hours with it total. I wrote it in 2006 originally.
My record for hours worked on one single poem is 125 hours. This was over a 1.5 year period total. I am still shopping it around, trying to find it a home. It's an experimental piece, 13 lines long and so far, I have received 3 fine rejections. Smiles!
I think I average about 5 hours per "finished" poem. I wonder how much time others spend? (promp)
Oh well, keep writing and reading poetry!!! and of course... revising.
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4 comments:
You are difinately right,Calder.Rejection as not for one's self but as another point of view or critic gives us improvement. And I upload my philosophy everyday,it sometimes says "similar to previous ones"but it's always growing.
Revision must be there always,but I may suggest you to save previous ones too,it's also interesting to see past stuffs,isn't it?;-)
Have a great day!
Wow, again I'm awed. When I took Creative Writing-Poetry in Cal State, I discovered that the greatest pleasure of them sometimes was honing them down to their essence -- like sculpting an image or emotions. Hope -- hoping, hoping, AGAIN -- to crank down the momentum of my days and take a deep dive with words again. Thanks for sharing them <3
Hi Maya, again, thanks for stopping in my friend. You are pretty smart for being so young. Heck, I am 47 and it took me many years to get to a level of conciousness that you are at. Take care of you, and have a good weekend!
Smiles!
Thanks Letty! I hope you can make the time to write more but heck, we all are so busy, it's all just a matter of priority and what makes us the happiest. I am pretty much addicted to poetry so I don't have much of a choice, but I am loving it too and it's a good thing!
Hugs!!
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