I enjoyed workshops because I got to hear everyone else’s interpretation of my poem. It’s so interesting to hear all the different opinions about certain lines, which really helps me decide on whether to reword things or not. Especially people’s thoughts on formatting I used – I didn’t even think of how using double columns could be misinterpreted, which is why I ended up changing it for the final draft.
I really enjoyed hearing the poet’s perspective on a piece. Understanding the inspiration and feelings behind some pieces from workshop can change your initial interpretations a lot. However, I think this also highlights a beautiful aspect of poetry and how subjective it is. Your story can invoke so many feelings depending on who the reader is and how they can relate to it.
Having the small group workshops allowed me to greatly revise my poem. The main benefit for me in this case was how I was able to bounce off ideas from my peer reviewers and gauge their enthusiasm by asking them how they would feel if I took my poem in any given direction.
I enjoyed our earlier discussion in class about the tricky nature of feedback in poetry, and found the reading from today, “The Energy of Revision,” very helpful, as it expanded my thinking on the possibilities of revision within poetry, which I hadn’t realized were so limited. These questions from the reading all made me think of the editing process in an entirely different way:
Is there joy, depth, muscle, in the music of its saying? Does it follow its own deepest impulses, not necessarily the initial idea? Are whatever digressions it takes in its own best service? Does each of its moments actively move the poem toward its full realization?
Often when I’m editing essays or nonfiction/fiction pieces, the process is intuitive, but also carefully trained. I instinctively can point out what works and what doesn’t (to me) and give advice on where to go next. With poetry, it felt different because poetry can be anything at all, and it felt like a beast I did not know how to tame. But these questions treat poetry like it’s a sculpture waiting to be carved out of a stone block, or a song that you have to carefully listen to in order to follow the melody and understand it. Like the poem is the leader, and you’re the follower. It makes the editing process much more intimate and intimidating but also it’s freeing in a way. In knowing that all you can offer is your own subjective understanding, you are liberated from advice that is meant to prescribe a certain method or way of thinking, and are held only to giving advice that stays true to where you believe the song is heading (or needs to head), so to speak.
I think the small group workshops helped me to rethink the intention behind the line breaks: I was able to try shorter lines and a prose poem, and even though I ultimately decided that the longer lines achieve what I want most, it was good to confirm as in class I did find the idea of turning it into a prose poem, especially, to be compelling.
I found the small group workshops and the larger group workshops very helpful; not only because I was able to get feedback on my own piece, but because the feedback from peers on the large group workshop poems were things I realized I could use to look a bit more critically at my own piece (even my own words for others ended up being advice I can implement in my own poem). I’m still finding myself struggling a bit while revising and editing my poem, but I do think I feel a bit more confident now. I’ve also toyed with the idea of overhauling and rewriting my poem if I can’t get past this mental block, which I didn’t consider doing until last class.
The small group workshops were very helpful because it gave me an understanding if readers whether or not understand what I am trying to convey in my poem. Apart from the small group workshops, I enjoyed listening to other people’s poem and hear how my peers interpret a poem differently than me.
It was difficult to figure out which feedback to incorporate in my writing but having a whole group tell me what were confusing points helped me narrow down concerns I had about my piece. It is hard to identify specific points that I find out of place so for a bit, I would stare at my paper wondering what should be changed to improve it. It was nice hearing what others had to say.
I enjoyed workshops because I got to hear everyone else’s interpretation of my poem. It’s so interesting to hear all the different opinions about certain lines, which really helps me decide on whether to reword things or not. Especially people’s thoughts on formatting I used – I didn’t even think of how using double columns could be misinterpreted, which is why I ended up changing it for the final draft.
I really enjoyed hearing the poet’s perspective on a piece. Understanding the inspiration and feelings behind some pieces from workshop can change your initial interpretations a lot. However, I think this also highlights a beautiful aspect of poetry and how subjective it is. Your story can invoke so many feelings depending on who the reader is and how they can relate to it.
Having the small group workshops allowed me to greatly revise my poem. The main benefit for me in this case was how I was able to bounce off ideas from my peer reviewers and gauge their enthusiasm by asking them how they would feel if I took my poem in any given direction.
I enjoyed our earlier discussion in class about the tricky nature of feedback in poetry, and found the reading from today, “The Energy of Revision,” very helpful, as it expanded my thinking on the possibilities of revision within poetry, which I hadn’t realized were so limited. These questions from the reading all made me think of the editing process in an entirely different way:
Is there joy, depth, muscle, in the music of its saying? Does it follow its own deepest impulses, not necessarily the initial idea? Are whatever digressions it takes in its own best service? Does each of its moments actively move the poem toward its full realization?
Often when I’m editing essays or nonfiction/fiction pieces, the process is intuitive, but also carefully trained. I instinctively can point out what works and what doesn’t (to me) and give advice on where to go next. With poetry, it felt different because poetry can be anything at all, and it felt like a beast I did not know how to tame. But these questions treat poetry like it’s a sculpture waiting to be carved out of a stone block, or a song that you have to carefully listen to in order to follow the melody and understand it. Like the poem is the leader, and you’re the follower. It makes the editing process much more intimate and intimidating but also it’s freeing in a way. In knowing that all you can offer is your own subjective understanding, you are liberated from advice that is meant to prescribe a certain method or way of thinking, and are held only to giving advice that stays true to where you believe the song is heading (or needs to head), so to speak.
I think the small group workshops helped me to rethink the intention behind the line breaks: I was able to try shorter lines and a prose poem, and even though I ultimately decided that the longer lines achieve what I want most, it was good to confirm as in class I did find the idea of turning it into a prose poem, especially, to be compelling.
I found the small group workshops and the larger group workshops very helpful; not only because I was able to get feedback on my own piece, but because the feedback from peers on the large group workshop poems were things I realized I could use to look a bit more critically at my own piece (even my own words for others ended up being advice I can implement in my own poem). I’m still finding myself struggling a bit while revising and editing my poem, but I do think I feel a bit more confident now. I’ve also toyed with the idea of overhauling and rewriting my poem if I can’t get past this mental block, which I didn’t consider doing until last class.
The small group workshops were very helpful because it gave me an understanding if readers whether or not understand what I am trying to convey in my poem. Apart from the small group workshops, I enjoyed listening to other people’s poem and hear how my peers interpret a poem differently than me.
It was difficult to figure out which feedback to incorporate in my writing but having a whole group tell me what were confusing points helped me narrow down concerns I had about my piece. It is hard to identify specific points that I find out of place so for a bit, I would stare at my paper wondering what should be changed to improve it. It was nice hearing what others had to say.