I have a suggestion. It is generous to help a sister or brother-poet out and rewrite their poem with edits, but this could cause potential danger. It is dangerous to rewrite the whole poem because a lot of our personal styles can get lost in a big rewrite.(The poem isn't ours--so we don't know it's subtleties, motivations, etc.)) I think it might be best to, at least at first, ask questions about certain lines to get a sense of what the writer is trying to do with this or that word or phrase. Like what Alina did for my "closet" line- she asked 'why.' What do you think?
xoxox not-mean mollye.
4 comments:
M,
I'm with you. Rewrites can be risky things. I don't know if I'm repeating myself (I can't remember if I've discussed this with you guys) but when I took a workshop with Dean Young we didn't focus on tiny word edits or on how we would rewrite the poems but on what effect the writer's choices had on the readers. When we encountered moments that stood out or felt out of place, we pointed them out to the writer. We asked why this? Why here? What could be lost or gained if this were removed or changed? Etc. Anyway, it's not a perfect system but it really helped me read and critique poems differently. Let me know what y'all think.
G
It's also important to single out 'wow' moments and let the writer know when something's worked, too, and why. We're not here to be Negative Nancy's either. ;p
G
G,
I agree with both comments. That's great advice from Dean Young. I didn't know you worked with him. What's he like? Conversation next time at Loup? Hey. Where are Alina and Ben on this?
mmmmmmm, m.
ben mirov is a poop
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