|
|
|
. . . and Coffee Spoons
Workshop Notes - A Work in Progress
Sometimes a good idea sticks in your throat like a chicken bone, insisting on attention. And T.S. Eliot knew not to have Prufrock say, "I'm lonely," and to say instead, "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons."
I've been directing workshops at two New York State colleges for many years. The first time I ever showed anyone a poem was in third grade. I asked Sister Helena to read a piece I'd written. A line into the first stanza, she scowled and handed it back: "If you find and correct the error, I will continue reading." I found the error and corrected it but never showed her that poem or any other.
I went on writing but it wasn't until my second year in college that I showed another poem to anyone. I never knew what he thought of it because I left his workshop after he berated the first student who read her poem. He demanded to know why I was leaving. I told him that I didn't like him or his workshop. I never sat in a workshop again.
And I ended up teaching workshops for all these years; go figure. In my workshops, I insist that there be no sarcasm, no psychological probing, no snide comments. I make sure we celebrate the poem first and then attempt to make it better.
Here are some of the comments and suggestions I've made, and continue to make, in my workshops on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I hope you find them helpful. Stop by again; I'll be adding others from time to time. (c)2k
1. The First Element of Poetry (Memorable Language): - a line or phrase which hangs in the mind's eye like a fishhook - good enough to be on a tee shirt. Roethke's words from his villanelle, "The Waking," seem to qualify - "I learn by going where I have to go."
2. The Second Element of Poetry (Remarkable Imagery): - a moment which seems to rise up off the page, almost in a different color ink, as though a photograph has replaced the words - as though the paper has turned into flesh in your hands.
3. The Third Element of Poetry (Engaging Storyline): - journalists call it the "handle" for a story - an idea the reader can hang on to. James Dickey's soldier in the poem, "Helmets," feels, as he drinks water from a dead buddy's helmet, that he is ingesting the dead man's last thought.
4. The Fourth Element of Poetry (Residue of Pain and/or Experience): - there's an aura about the piece, a feeling that the poet has earned the right to approach the subject. When we read Anne Sexton's poem, "Ringing the Bells," or John Allman's "The Scattering," there is no need to ask whether the poet experienced the event. The pain is there: honest, common, lacking in self pity and self congratulation.
5. Voice: - every established poet has his or her own voice; it's as recognizable as a fingerprint. No one's voice is quite like anyone else's. We work toward developing our own unique voice. Early on, we borrow from voices we admire; that's okay. Eventually, our own voices begin to emerge; often it is a shock to poets that their desired voice is very close to the voice they've been using in conversation. Don't posture. Don't go up on tiptoes to reach the $10 words off the top shelf. Stay flat-footed; tell your story.
6. Breaking the Reader's Heart: - that's what we want to do. But we don't want the reader to say, "Oh what a nice person the poet must be; I wish I could help." No. What we want the reader to say is, "Wow! That was some poem; the poet really cares deeply about that." The heart must be broken cleanly, with dignity - no melodrama or self pity.
7. Tension: - if a reader is to stay with a poem, there has to be a compelling reason. The poem should contain tension - as though it were a rubber band being stretched to the snapping point. If the rubber band goes limp, so does the reader's interest.
8. The Abstract: - Ezra Pound said it best, "Go in fear of abstractions." Avoid categories such as Love, Peace, or Eternity. Instead, choose an event that will give the reader a visual, specific example of the category. Abstracts allow us to talk; when the writer talks, the reader closes both ears.
9. Identity: - it's a good idea to describe the poem's characters right away. Readers can't care about people they don't see.
10. Foreshadowing: - it's helpful to expose the reader to language and moments which prepare them for later twists and turns in the storyline. Be sure the hints are not obvious and tiresome.
-all for now; good luck with your writing!
-Dan Masterson
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
