I’m glad you’re back and I wish you success with your manuscript.
I appreciated your writing prompt/thought. I’ve been wanting to put together a collection of my poetry but have struggled with how to pick and organize such a thing. Maybe your prompt doesn’t apply perfectly to a poetry collection but I think there is something valuable here about asking myself exactly what it is I would want my reader to experience through the collection and how I might accomplish that through the poems I choose and in the order I place them. Thank you.
What an excellent thought. Some collections have a built-in structural component like seasons or other patterns and some have clear thematic borders that help organize the order, but I definitely agree that thinking about how you want your reader to experience the collection is a great way to think about organizing it. That might parallel something like the pacing of a novel by creating highs and lows or moods or revelations or comic moments interspersed among serious one. Or it might take a reader on an emotional arc or on one that reflects your own experience in writing the poems. I do hope you get a collection of your work out in the world.
Thank you, Mark. I have always valued your writerly advice and appreciate you taking time to add extra input in your comment. I felt stalled out on this before but now have so many things to consider. It will be fun to play with different ideas!
I’m glad you’re back and I wish you success with your manuscript.
I appreciated your writing prompt/thought. I’ve been wanting to put together a collection of my poetry but have struggled with how to pick and organize such a thing. Maybe your prompt doesn’t apply perfectly to a poetry collection but I think there is something valuable here about asking myself exactly what it is I would want my reader to experience through the collection and how I might accomplish that through the poems I choose and in the order I place them. Thank you.
What an excellent thought. Some collections have a built-in structural component like seasons or other patterns and some have clear thematic borders that help organize the order, but I definitely agree that thinking about how you want your reader to experience the collection is a great way to think about organizing it. That might parallel something like the pacing of a novel by creating highs and lows or moods or revelations or comic moments interspersed among serious one. Or it might take a reader on an emotional arc or on one that reflects your own experience in writing the poems. I do hope you get a collection of your work out in the world.
Thank you, Mark. I have always valued your writerly advice and appreciate you taking time to add extra input in your comment. I felt stalled out on this before but now have so many things to consider. It will be fun to play with different ideas!