gohn67

I'm working on revising the poems that I have written in the last few months. I'm having a lot of difficulty doing it. It's something I really want to improve on.

So I was just interested in how everyone else went about revising their poetry. Maybe it will give me some ideas on what to do.

__________________
The Frowning Dog Blog

Achilles

I tried something new recently. I don't know if it worked, or if I'll do it again. I wrote a poem that I didn't like and let it sit dormant for a while. Looking back at it, there were some good lines. So, to revise it, I took only the lines I liked and wrote a whole new poem--integrating those lines. It seemed to work for that piece. I'm actually thinking about doing it again. I'll take maybe half the lines and toss the rest, then write I new poem.

My general revising process is write, edit, post on WF (generally including more minor editing), fix more things in relation to comments, let it sit for a few weeks, and edit it again. This generally comes out with a fairly decent finished piece.

Achilles

__________________
The Palace Flophouse

When Newton closed his eyes beneath a tree
and took the apple from the serpent, he
conceived the urge of humanity, plea, plea,
procreant desire and tendency.

gohn67

Yeah, I usually let my pieces sit for months at a time. I find it easier to revise short stories, but can't seem to make changes on my poetry. I can make small edits, like maybe look for a stronger verb, adj, noun. I can't seem to make the big change, like destroy whole stanzas or anything like that, unless I felt the poem was really bad.

I think I can't make changes because poetry has more delicate structure because of the lack of words. It's kind of like playing Jenga. I always feel if I try to make a big change that the whole thing will fall apart, which mentally handicaps me from making big improvements.

Like I'm always afraid if I want to change one part it will mess up the linebreaks and the rhythm(which I base only on how it flows when I read it to myself), kind of like a domino effect.

__________________
The Frowning Dog Blog

Rico

Okay, this sounds convoluted, and perhaps is. But it works for me.

I write by hand; I can't write on a computer, so when I'm revising, I put each stanza on a separate piece of paper. Then I go through each of them as individuals and decide what image/meaning/whatever they're supposed to convey. Then I revise each stanza separately to convey said image/meaning/whatever.

Then I put them all together on another sheet of paper and decide what the poem as a whole to supposed to convey, and edit accordingly.

And continue with this process until I'm satisfied.

(Let me tell you, its a great way to rip through notebooks in days *grin*)

Achilles

That's brilliant. Although lines are interdependent, as gohn said, stanzas can often be shuffled and rearranged for the best effect. Also, I suggest cutting out entire stanzas that you don't like. Don't throw them away in case you don't like the new stuff any better. But don't be afraid to trash bad parts of a poem...just be sure to keep the gems.

__________________
The Palace Flophouse

When Newton closed his eyes beneath a tree
and took the apple from the serpent, he
conceived the urge of humanity, plea, plea,
procreant desire and tendency.

evadri

Don't worry that it will completely fall apart. You can change things in another draft (separate page/document) just to see if it works better. Keep all your drafts until you're sure you're finished. That way, if things go horribly wrong, you can revert to the previous draft.

__________________
'I'd like to think the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve.'

http://www.myspace.com/only_music