11.14.2010

magic in creation

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....

JforJames said...

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