Sunday, August 16, 2015

Day 4, 7/16/15



Our day four morning started off with lots of productivity since we critiqued four writers' works: Svea, Mary, John, and Carolyn. Once again, one of the wonderful parts of aTi is that you can see the diversity in writers' works. Svea's poem was titled "Texts From My Sons" and featured small snippets that almost any parent could recognize or relate to, with stanzas having the starting line of "Something happened." John's pieces, on the other hand, seem to resemble stream of consciousness works, but many of them had the reoccurring character of Howard. Carolyn's pieces often have elements of dark humor in them (hearing them read in her voice is incredibly enjoyable). Mary's pieces are mysterious---this is totally too simplistic of a word to describe them, but it is the word that currently comes to mind.

We also spent the morning sharing several resources, some academic and some just for fun. Case in point: The Rat's Ass Review, an online publication in which Svea had her work. By the way, my current goal is to be published in The Rat's Ass Review. How phenomenal would that be?

During the afternoon, we worked on a writing prompt featuring poetic forms such as villanelles and sonnets. Even though poets have used forms such as these for centuries, I detest them. I detest these forms because they tend to pose a challenge for me. Yes, I guess I am just lazy.

I decided to go to one of my favorite writing spots on campus (a concrete bench in the middle of a grass field in front of a mansion...yes...that's a lot of prepositions) and try writing a villanelle.



  Writing the villanelle was frustrating. There are two ending lines in villanelles that repeat several times. Since these lines repeat several times, it is imperative that they are meaningful. Now, I NEVER write nature poems. I live in northern NJ; the nature we appreciate is concrete and girders at malls. Being outside on "my bench" helped inspire me to write about nature. It all started with a bee circling me. I ended up writing a villanelle about an insect circling me. I changed the type of insect to "wasp," just because, to me, it has a more interesting sound than "bee."

Below is draft #1 in which the repeated lines "A wasp circles me" and "But I still feel free" can be seen. I struggled with whether I wanted to write "A wasp circles around me" or "A wasp circles me." The group helped me decide on the latter. "Circles around me" would be redundant. I also have posted draft #2, although honestly, there are not too many changes. I like posting written drafts because it gives people an idea of the struggle of writing. Words do not perfectly align on the page. There's indecision.

Overall, writing the villanelle was frustrating, but it was also very worthwhile. I would try writing one again another time, although I definitely would like to read several more of them to help me better grasp (memorize) the form.












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