11-05-2010, 12:42 AM
Hi Liz,
If the poem is posted to a workshop or a critiquing forum I have no problem offering whatever I think will make a poem stronger. Giving online suggestions can sometimes come off abrupt. It would be much better if we were all face-to-face talking about the poem. Being separated by continents we don't have that option (but we trade it for the gift of being exposed to writers we have no business even meeting because of the distance).
If the poem is published or posted somewhere just to display what someone has written yeah then it would be rude to offer line suggestions.
It's all about context.
My belief is that NO ONE gets better without critique. If I did not have honest feedback with yes rewritten lines to show me what they meant I would still be ten years away from where I am now. Critique is a gift. Yes it's also painful. It's humbling. In the beggining, if you embrace it you can sometimes over-rotate and have trouble trusting your own instincts. You may be too quick to apply every suggested change. But in time, you know what to use and what to blow off. It is as you say: your poem, your vision, your words. If someone makes a good suggestion you consider it, maybe incorporate it, but you still do it in your own words.
When someone gives me a line restructuring that I don't agree with I try to go beyond what they've written and think...what do they seem to be trying to tell me: Did they chop out a lot of words? Maybe they think they're redundant or that the pacing is too slow. I then ask myself is any of that true? If it is I fix it. If it isn't I thank them and blissfully ignore it.
The truth is it takes a long time to cure yourself of bad habits critique helps you do that. So, I'm cool with anyone rewriting my lines. I just know that I'm not obligated to do any of their changes.
If you don't want that level of interaction then I'd stay away from workshops for a bit (though I'm not suggesting you not post here
), or when you post a poem I'd say something like: What I'm specifically interested in knowing: Does this come across clearly? Or how's the punctuation?
I think most of us have felt exactly what you're feeling with this type of process.
Just my take,
Todd
If the poem is posted to a workshop or a critiquing forum I have no problem offering whatever I think will make a poem stronger. Giving online suggestions can sometimes come off abrupt. It would be much better if we were all face-to-face talking about the poem. Being separated by continents we don't have that option (but we trade it for the gift of being exposed to writers we have no business even meeting because of the distance).
If the poem is published or posted somewhere just to display what someone has written yeah then it would be rude to offer line suggestions.
It's all about context.
My belief is that NO ONE gets better without critique. If I did not have honest feedback with yes rewritten lines to show me what they meant I would still be ten years away from where I am now. Critique is a gift. Yes it's also painful. It's humbling. In the beggining, if you embrace it you can sometimes over-rotate and have trouble trusting your own instincts. You may be too quick to apply every suggested change. But in time, you know what to use and what to blow off. It is as you say: your poem, your vision, your words. If someone makes a good suggestion you consider it, maybe incorporate it, but you still do it in your own words.
When someone gives me a line restructuring that I don't agree with I try to go beyond what they've written and think...what do they seem to be trying to tell me: Did they chop out a lot of words? Maybe they think they're redundant or that the pacing is too slow. I then ask myself is any of that true? If it is I fix it. If it isn't I thank them and blissfully ignore it.
The truth is it takes a long time to cure yourself of bad habits critique helps you do that. So, I'm cool with anyone rewriting my lines. I just know that I'm not obligated to do any of their changes.
If you don't want that level of interaction then I'd stay away from workshops for a bit (though I'm not suggesting you not post here
), or when you post a poem I'd say something like: What I'm specifically interested in knowing: Does this come across clearly? Or how's the punctuation?I think most of us have felt exactly what you're feeling with this type of process.
Just my take,
Todd
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson