Day Five: Revision Strategies

 Yesterday we looked at several revision strategies. The first ones, that I refer to as "macro" revision strategies, are specific to poetry:

• Start at the end -- Rewrite, starting with the last line of your draft. Use as much or as little of the original draft as you want, working backwards or not. 

• Chose one to three of the lines from a poem you are not happy with and start over incorporating those lines.

• If you are totally frustrated with what you have and flummoxed as to what to do, go back to the post on Image poems. Chose one of the alternative topics and create a new draft in order to move forward with the assignment. 

Then we practiced some general micro revision strategies by working through some examples. The techniques that we practiced included:

• Adding similes, but avoiding cliches
• Replacing "weak" words with more specific words
• Attempting to replace "to be" verbs
• Showing rather than telling
• Remembering the tone you are attempting to create

Returning to revision specific to poetry, I suggested considering the draft's line breaks with the following checklist of possible considerations:

• Use // to show new line breaks

• Use your mind, eyes, ears, and lungs: Consider your intentions, the look or form of the poem, what sounds right, and where you need to pause when reading aloud. 

• Stop on strong words: words that are important, significant, or evocative.

• Don't slice on weak or lazy words. Don't slice on conjunctions, prepositions, interjections, or adverbs unless you are attempting a specific effect such as suspense, surprise, or humor. 

• Remember that line breaks and stanzas are your poem's form, both in sound and meaning.

• Editing considerations: Generally in free-verse poetry, the writer punctuates like she would for sentences; no need exists for capitalization at the beginning of every line or commas at the end of every line. 

Homework for March 9: chose one draft from what you have done so far (Chain poems, Image poems, and Where I'm From poems) to revise, edit, and publish as a draft by typing it up in Word to share. We will share typed drafts on Tuesday by screen sharing. A Word document open on your desktop, can be easily shared on Zoom. I will review the process on Tuesday. 

To Prep for March 9's Smell-a-Rama: Each set of writing partners will need:

• Small paper plates
• A lemon and a zester
• An aromatic herb, fresh or dried (i. e. rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)
• Freshly ground coffee or opened pod
• Vick's VaporRub or mentholatum rub or ointment (popsicle stick or stirrer if needed)
• Freshly crushed or pressed garlic