Revision is difficult because all the magic is there in the first draft.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I almost never disagree with you, James, but this is very much not true to my own experience. Often enough the first draft is nothing but warm-up; sometimes the first draft has nothing but a single phrase where the real poem exists in seed form. The magic, as often as not, is in the revision....
2 comments:
I almost never disagree with you, James, but this is very much not true to my own experience. Often enough the first draft is nothing but warm-up; sometimes the first draft has nothing but a single phrase where the real poem exists in seed form. The magic, as often as not, is in the revision....
Joe, I probably should have put a disclaimer on that one: "Your results may vary."
To refine my point somewhat, I mean more that 'first presentable draft'. The one you might actually read to someone or send to a friend.
The core or structure of the poem being basically resolved, though it may be several versions away from 'finished' (or abandoned).
Jim F
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