Did another full round of edits on A2O this weekend. Started looking at the comments collected thus far. First set didn't have too much. Many people have suggestions or changes but I can only make the ones that result in me going, "oh yeah." If you can help me say what I need to say better, then that is good. But I can't end up saying your things for you.
I feel good about the comments; they seem genuine. I am really grateful for people actually reading this thing and making an effort to care, to help it. It has been stuck inside my head for so long; it is sort of painful to let it out into other people's hands and good that they are handling it, if not gently, then with affection or a sense of duty.
It is also really interesting to see what people love or hate about it. Most people like it at least a little (or profess to). And what people hate works for me. It's usually what I want them to hate. It is a new thing for me to write poems with intentional irritants. What is hard for me is making sure that I don't overedit. I don't want this book to become too smooth. I want there to be things that rub raw, that show their seams. That is what I would say to people who are looking at friends' manuscripts: it is okay not like things as long as you have reasons. People don't always write poems for you to like them, and your reasons for disliking them may tell the poet whether what they're doing is "working" or not.
I also like it when people's comments are exactly opposite. "I love poem A" "Poem A sucks!" That makes me feel like I'm really doing something right. It makes me more worried when everyone says they love something. It was that way with "Mayport" and the drunken sailors. Nobody has ever said they didn't like them, which makes me think they don't risk enough.
Fixed my permalinks. It was a slow process. HTML is a zen practice for me. Much trial and trial and error.
posted by Reen |link| 0 comments
