I might tweak small things without making a new copy, but if I'm going to tackle major edits I always create a page break and paste a new copy of the poem below the first one... and so on, and so on. I've got some really long documents for a single poem!
I think we handle editing poems in almost identical ways, Tara. For me, too, small changes within a draft don't get tracked, but if I start making "major" edits, I copy the poem and paste it lower in the doc as a new draft. (As I accumulate more and more drafts, the definition of "major" changes. Sometimes later drafts will only be a word or two different from the previous draft.)
But I don't have separate documents for each poem. Every poem and draft are all in one big long document separated by headers. Sounds crazy when I type it out, but I like being able to do a global search and see where (and when) I may have used similar words or phrasing before. For me, it helps my poems stay in conversation with each other over time.
Also, my poems are really short, so that keeps the document manageable. 😂
I've been trying to figure out how to organize all the drafts from the February Poetry Adventure. I wrote most of them in the Notes app so I'm putting them into a document, all together...but then I think I should make each of them a separate document because the fact that they started out as part of the FPA doesn't necessarily matter now that it's over... back and forth and back and forth... and next thing I know I've decided to clean out a closet or drawer because that suddenly seems simpler than organizing my poetry! Argh!
This poem makes so much sense to me. I think dishes on holiday or when I'm at someone else's house don't seem daunting because there is a finality to the process. I will be done them for good by the end of the evening or the end of the weekend. But at home, they go on forever.😶
I wrote three stanzas of the sestina this week, but they're not giving me any feelings. I I like my words though. So I'll start again and see how it goes.
As for edits, both poems and stories are always open to edits for me. The words aren't sacred, the meaning is. So if I figure out a way to more clearly share that, I'll edit forever. But I do keep all my old drafts as well. Just in case. :)
I know exactly what you mean about the sestina and the lack of emotional engagement. Sometimes that exacting structure can be great. Other times you feel like you've wrung all the blood out of something by making it fit the scheme. There's a magic middle in there somewhere, but it can be tricky to find. I'm feeling the same way as you this time around, so I need to shake something up....
Loved, loved, loved this poem! Thank you for confirming that wanting to sometimes break the dishes at home is in fact not an intrusive thought and just a natural response to a monotonous, ever-green task. SOLIDARITY, sister! ❤️🤣
Thank you so much for the shout! I am so grateful, always, for your support. Also, realizing only just now I should have probably made them a thread instead of individual posts for easier reference. The internet is so challenging sometimes. 🤣 Sending love to you as your ruminate on you sestina.
So glad you like the poem! Yes, to hating the dishes. In fact I should be cleaning up from lunch right now, but I am not.
Re: the post/thread/note issue, during the February Poetry Adventure, Petra Hernandez published a post to which she then added the link to the Notes each day. Maybe that would work?
Also, I like how the poem had the same ruminative (is that the right word? Now I’m doubting it) feel that one gets when washing dishes by hand.
Also, I do the same thing! It’s such a pleasure to keep a spare, foreign place looking so nice ;). I am a vintage Pyrex collector and we use some of it as well, so there’s always some deeply crusty handwashing at home that literally sits next to the sink for weeks 😳.
I think ruminative is exactly right. Of course, I believe it comes from ruminant - the term for an animal the chews a cud. As unflattering as that might be, I find myself ruminating often at the kitchen sink. 😁
I love the “borrowed view” line. Beautifully done.
I’m with you on the editing. I love to work a poem til finished, then revisit 1-3 months later. Usually the edits that happen after being removed for a while are magic. And even after publishing, an edit is always welcome!
Thank you. And I love hearing about another writer's process. I tend to keep editing forever, but I'm always a little afraid I'll screw something up. Thus the obsessive version preservation!
I get it. Do you preserve a new version every time you work on one? I’m more stage by stage. Every time I think it’s done, I keep that one, then build on it for a while, then keep.
But there are times I will compare the new vs old and know in my gut which one to keep and which one to delete
Thank you. This poem awakens memories of countless rental kitchens. I’ve been cooking and washing in one for the past two months. And I remember that unwashed vase at home that once held flowers. As for saving early versions, Elizabeth Bishop did and I was grateful to see her first stab at “One Art.”
Thanks. There is something so centering about staying in a house or apartment on holiday. I hate hotel rooms and I just love the feeling of settling into something that resembles "real life" on a trip. I like stocking the fridge, doing laundry even. And sometimes that view out the kitchen window, or a back alley out the bathroom window, is the thing that sticks with me the most about a rental.
I might tweak small things without making a new copy, but if I'm going to tackle major edits I always create a page break and paste a new copy of the poem below the first one... and so on, and so on. I've got some really long documents for a single poem!
I love the craft talk here!
I think we handle editing poems in almost identical ways, Tara. For me, too, small changes within a draft don't get tracked, but if I start making "major" edits, I copy the poem and paste it lower in the doc as a new draft. (As I accumulate more and more drafts, the definition of "major" changes. Sometimes later drafts will only be a word or two different from the previous draft.)
But I don't have separate documents for each poem. Every poem and draft are all in one big long document separated by headers. Sounds crazy when I type it out, but I like being able to do a global search and see where (and when) I may have used similar words or phrasing before. For me, it helps my poems stay in conversation with each other over time.
Also, my poems are really short, so that keeps the document manageable. 😂
I've been trying to figure out how to organize all the drafts from the February Poetry Adventure. I wrote most of them in the Notes app so I'm putting them into a document, all together...but then I think I should make each of them a separate document because the fact that they started out as part of the FPA doesn't necessarily matter now that it's over... back and forth and back and forth... and next thing I know I've decided to clean out a closet or drawer because that suddenly seems simpler than organizing my poetry! Argh!
This poem makes so much sense to me. I think dishes on holiday or when I'm at someone else's house don't seem daunting because there is a finality to the process. I will be done them for good by the end of the evening or the end of the weekend. But at home, they go on forever.😶
I wrote three stanzas of the sestina this week, but they're not giving me any feelings. I I like my words though. So I'll start again and see how it goes.
As for edits, both poems and stories are always open to edits for me. The words aren't sacred, the meaning is. So if I figure out a way to more clearly share that, I'll edit forever. But I do keep all my old drafts as well. Just in case. :)
I know exactly what you mean about the sestina and the lack of emotional engagement. Sometimes that exacting structure can be great. Other times you feel like you've wrung all the blood out of something by making it fit the scheme. There's a magic middle in there somewhere, but it can be tricky to find. I'm feeling the same way as you this time around, so I need to shake something up....
Yes, searching for that magic middle. :)
Loved, loved, loved this poem! Thank you for confirming that wanting to sometimes break the dishes at home is in fact not an intrusive thought and just a natural response to a monotonous, ever-green task. SOLIDARITY, sister! ❤️🤣
Thank you so much for the shout! I am so grateful, always, for your support. Also, realizing only just now I should have probably made them a thread instead of individual posts for easier reference. The internet is so challenging sometimes. 🤣 Sending love to you as your ruminate on you sestina.
So glad you like the poem! Yes, to hating the dishes. In fact I should be cleaning up from lunch right now, but I am not.
Re: the post/thread/note issue, during the February Poetry Adventure, Petra Hernandez published a post to which she then added the link to the Notes each day. Maybe that would work?
https://open.substack.com/pub/petrahernandez/p/february-poetry-adventure-prompts?r=dvsrv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
That is such a great idea, thank you!!!!
I wash the dishes every day after dinner and I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with me for not wanting them to break... 😅
I also try to keep all the versions. Sometimes I look back on old poems and am surprised (in a bad way) by what I cut.
I know! Sometimes I put something in and take out again several times. So weird.
Also, I like how the poem had the same ruminative (is that the right word? Now I’m doubting it) feel that one gets when washing dishes by hand.
Also, I do the same thing! It’s such a pleasure to keep a spare, foreign place looking so nice ;). I am a vintage Pyrex collector and we use some of it as well, so there’s always some deeply crusty handwashing at home that literally sits next to the sink for weeks 😳.
I think ruminative is exactly right. Of course, I believe it comes from ruminant - the term for an animal the chews a cud. As unflattering as that might be, I find myself ruminating often at the kitchen sink. 😁
😁 same here.
I love the “borrowed view” line. Beautifully done.
I’m with you on the editing. I love to work a poem til finished, then revisit 1-3 months later. Usually the edits that happen after being removed for a while are magic. And even after publishing, an edit is always welcome!
Thank you. And I love hearing about another writer's process. I tend to keep editing forever, but I'm always a little afraid I'll screw something up. Thus the obsessive version preservation!
I get it. Do you preserve a new version every time you work on one? I’m more stage by stage. Every time I think it’s done, I keep that one, then build on it for a while, then keep.
But there are times I will compare the new vs old and know in my gut which one to keep and which one to delete
Reading this poem is akin to
“every glimpse of the borrowed view
out the window over the sink
is a glimpse of something
we came here to see, whether we knew it or not.”
What a lovely experience.
Oh, thanks! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for being here.
Thank you. This poem awakens memories of countless rental kitchens. I’ve been cooking and washing in one for the past two months. And I remember that unwashed vase at home that once held flowers. As for saving early versions, Elizabeth Bishop did and I was grateful to see her first stab at “One Art.”
Thanks so much for reading, Rona! Much appreciated. I'm so glad this one rang true for you.
Beautiful, Tara!
I loved these lines:
"And every glimpse of the borrowed view
out the window over the sink
is a glimpse of something
we came here to see, whether we knew it or not."
Thanks. There is something so centering about staying in a house or apartment on holiday. I hate hotel rooms and I just love the feeling of settling into something that resembles "real life" on a trip. I like stocking the fridge, doing laundry even. And sometimes that view out the kitchen window, or a back alley out the bathroom window, is the thing that sticks with me the most about a rental.
I really enjoyed your poem, Tara.
I'm so glad. Thank you so much for reading and engaging.
Right now, sat at my kitchen table I am looking right at that vase you describe... Almost a week in wait of its much needed scrub... 😅
It's just a vase, right? I mean, how clean does it need to be? You're not going to make tea in it. 😉 Thanks for reading.
Great poem, captures the experience of a rented kitchen perfectly! And of course, says much more than that.
Thanks so much! I'm so glad it rang true for you.