Good Decisions

Jackie ♦ May 19, 2008 ♦ Leave a Comment

Workshop on Saturday was again good- I think we are becoming more comfortable with each other, more able to recognize a voice or pattern, more able to offer truly helpful and constructive criticism.  Some of us have even been sending out revised drafts of workshopped poems and asking for more feedback, which certainly implies a level of trust as well.  I think the chances are pretty good that some of us will end up continuing to work together after the workshop ends, which is good because we’re taking this week off for the holiday and then only have one class left!

It’s been lovely to see how these other poets work, too– what areas they struggle, what ambitions they have as writers, what their revision process is like.  Some of us are more enamored with form and structure, some of us craft dazzling opening lines, others string spare couplets along the page.   Observing them and their work processes, commenting on their drafts, has already taught me more about myself as a poet.  When I see the choices they make as poets, and compare them to choices I make or would have made, I learn more about how I see my work, how I like to use language, how my instincts respond to this adjective or this form of punctuation.

I always tell my own students that my goal as a teacher is create the kind of environment where they learn as much from each other as they do from me.  It’s certainly nice to be on the other side of that dynamic, soaking up whatever I can from my fellow students.