I've very little time lately between clients, work, and class prep to get to my own poems. But today I did. Finally I put a satisfactory closing line on a poem I wrote in 2006 (!) that has sat rotting unpublished because I couldn't capture that last line. Then I knocked off some changes (judicious trims) in a newer poem I've been hammering at for about four months, and now I think it's finished.
This didn't take but 45 minutes; however, I was focused. I feel good. Proud of myself.
Paging through the completed poems I saw that the best one was sent through 14 drafts; that the second-best went through 11 drafts, including one severe cutting job at draft #9, plus an extensive detailed workshop critique at draft #5. Who said writing isn't work?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Well-done!
ReplyDeleteI am hearing good things about your class from Kenny. I wish I could be there.
One of my big To-Do List projects is to go through old poems and decide if they need revision or to be permanently retired.
As you probably know, Sylvia Plath completed every poem she wrote. That's quite a task!
I hope we can get together soon. It's been too long.