snip snip-I'm a butcher!

I think this is a great topic for discussion here. I think about this a lot too, but I might not be aware of it. Accordingly, I'm going to blab on for a while. Here are some of my thoughts:

- The three most important things to me are
1) that feedback is a gift freely given and should be graciously accepted;
2) there is no obligation on the poet to act on that feedback, and it shouldn't be expected; and
3) the poet and critic should each assume the other is acting with good intentions.

- I think honest feedback is important. If one thinks the poem would work better restructured or cut down, then it's valid to say so.

- A form is just one tool in the kit; the poet's decision on how to structure a poem is just that: a decision, same as choice of words.

- The poet may have achieved precisely what she intended, and it may not appeal to the reader at all.

- The poet may not have even thought of the possibilities the critic is thinking of, and the feedback could be a revelation.

- On the other hand, there may be something in the poem's construction that the critic didn't see. That doesn't make the criticism invalid or unwelcome. It might mean that the reader understands the poem better over time.

- As a reader, I try to read the poem as it's presented, not how I expect or want poems to be. I don't always succeed.

Alfred Noyes' poem The Highwayman is kind of a classic, right? WHen Phil Ochs put it to music, what he did to keep it from being ridiculously long for modern ears was essentially to omit every other verse. The story comes through just fine.... so whose version is better, Noyes' or Ochs'? I'd say they're just different, serving audiences with different stylistic preferences. That said, two more comments:

1. It *is* true, IMO, that the most common mistake poems have is including words that don't add anything.

2. I really, really hate when I write something like a sonnet or other formal style and someone comes in and tells me to cut syllables, thus betraying total obliviousness to the meter I've got going. (Telling me I have too many or too few syllables for the intended meter to work is very welcome crit!)

As I've said before on this subject, I have to make a poem make sense to me. I do sometimes over-cut, but if nothing else, I think it may give the writer a different perspective. We can all get a bit myopic about our own work and seeing how others see it, good, bad, radically different, is helpful to me.

Having said that, I think Rob has laid out the groundwork nicely. If we can remember those rules and be gracious givers and receivers we will all benefit.

I don't think it really matters what style a person who gives me a critique is, I look at their advice, and if it fits and improves my work, that's all there is to it and I take that advice to heart.

ultimately, you are the captain of your ship, it's not like you have to follow every line someone tosses you.

Sometimes you will find wasted words. These I focus on. Sometimes, you just might not like the writer's style or turn of phrase. These words are precious to the author. I never touch them.

I focus on articles that aren't necessary for the most part. Simple stuff like that.

Awesome topic.




Mike