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RE: Poetry Editing 101: Session Seven – Words Don't Grow on Trees: Full Stop

in #writing6 years ago

Another great session. Conservation of language can be difficult at first, especially to those who are used to writing other things (e.g. academic papers for uni). It's necessary to find the balance between the rhythm and the conservation. I have recently read some poems in which the lines were a bit too long, and it is a shame that a beautiful metaphor or message can be weakened by useless words filling the nonexistent gaps.

As for the rest, I like how you presented three styles. I know you said nobody will criticise you for using the first, but when reading, I know that it does affect me. There's a bias and I tend to dislike that first style. Maybe it is wrong to 'judge' on things such as capitalisation; however, I also study psychology and realistically, we all will have subconscious biases before reading just based on the layout and styles. I tend to prefer the second style, however, I have used the third style as it works perfectly for certain poems. I once read a whole poetry collection using the third style (maybe it had a little bit more punctuation, but no capitalisation) -- it was divine. It really works for some poets, as long as the style of the poem fits the writing style.

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Yeah, I agree with this. I'm also quite averse to the first style. It really makes poems look and read much heavier, though it's potentially a useful gear to switch into if you want to bring that to the page.

I tend to use the second style but, on occasion, switch into e e cummings mode when I feel the work warrants it.

Thanks for reading and for your insightful comments.

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