Which is more important?

[justcloudy]

I think for me it depends on the poem. Sometimes there's a story I want to tell and then I sit down and try to figure out how to tell it. Those poems are usually more... frustrating... for me to write.

Usually what happens is a line pops into my head and I just find it lovely. Sometimes it is quickly followed by a few more, sometimes it's just one line. I write them down and leave it. A while later (hours, days, months-- depends) I look at it, and sometimes it works nicely and sometimes I have no idea what it's saying, even if it sounds nice. So then I start to shape it. It's like when you doodle and draw an initial shape, and then have to decide where to go from there. At that point I try to match the rhythm/sonics of the rest to the first bit, and that determines whether it'll rhyme or have a strict form or whatever.

Sometimes I get attached to those first two lines even if they don't belong to the rest of what I ended up writing, and cutting them is necessary but painful. So then I end up with a poem that kinda came out of nowhere.

So yep, that's my general process... far from a perfect one. ;D

AJ I totally know what you mean though, when poems get edited so much they lose their heart. Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone, but when so many people are suggesting different things after you post something, it's easy to get lost...

-justcloudy