Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Manuscription
Probably most of the people reading this have manuscripts, either already published or seeking a publisher. I have manuscripts too: a pretty good chapbook manuscript hampered by the fact that I'm not really enthusiastic about chapbook contests/publishing, and a full-length manuscript that simply isn't ready for prime time yet. By the end of the year I think it'll be close, but that's a way off.
My main reason for bringing this up is that I always find it interesting when people talk about writing for their manuscript--either writing for a long period things that are all for the manuscript or at least having most of the poems they write just turn out to be right for it. Unfortunately for me, my writing tends to be all over the map stylistically and thematically (both because I have a lot of random stuff spilling out of my head and because I want to be good at a wide range of poetic types), and so the poems, even the ones that are okay, don't end up fitting all that well on pages next to each other.
So how do you all reconcile writing poems with writing manuscripts?
My main reason for bringing this up is that I always find it interesting when people talk about writing for their manuscript--either writing for a long period things that are all for the manuscript or at least having most of the poems they write just turn out to be right for it. Unfortunately for me, my writing tends to be all over the map stylistically and thematically (both because I have a lot of random stuff spilling out of my head and because I want to be good at a wide range of poetic types), and so the poems, even the ones that are okay, don't end up fitting all that well on pages next to each other.
So how do you all reconcile writing poems with writing manuscripts?
Comments:
<< Home
Good questions.
I'm working on a long sequence right now, and I write specifically for that sequence.
I wonder if poets write books--or if they write poems.
I suppose that you could gather your work in like-piles and section off the manuscript?
Thoughts?
I'm working on a long sequence right now, and I write specifically for that sequence.
I wonder if poets write books--or if they write poems.
I suppose that you could gather your work in like-piles and section off the manuscript?
Thoughts?
I write poems. While I have an ongoing "project" and will often look at any draft idea to see if it fits or doesn't fit with the project's theme and style, I rarely sit down and say "I'm writing for the project now".
However, I'm ruthless about the "integrity" of the project, and will sacrifice bits of individual poems if they are inconistent with the whole (eg: deleting a mature reference in one poem I'm fitting into a series addressed to my school-age kids). Or, I'll leave a good poem intact but excluded.
Actually, one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of "selected works" is that, while they're great references, they often contain too much of a poet's evolution of voice to be a consistent read for me. I'd rather read the poems in their original context.
Post a Comment
However, I'm ruthless about the "integrity" of the project, and will sacrifice bits of individual poems if they are inconistent with the whole (eg: deleting a mature reference in one poem I'm fitting into a series addressed to my school-age kids). Or, I'll leave a good poem intact but excluded.
Actually, one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of "selected works" is that, while they're great references, they often contain too much of a poet's evolution of voice to be a consistent read for me. I'd rather read the poems in their original context.
<< Home
