Yesterday’s writers’ club presentation by poet and educator Sandy Longhorn was interesting and informative. Though writing poetry is something I do rarely, her advice applies to anything I might write.
First, before writing, she says: Read. Study. Only then write drafts. And then, revise what is written, returning to it after letting it settle for awhile. Do that four times, at least, to ready the product for its intended audience. Good. I have been applying that process to my writing, though perhaps not as many returns to revise as she suggests.
As for the writing, the drafting, she advises to give oneself permission to write badly. “Inspiration is overrated. Do not wait for the muse,” she says. That is good advice. The muse may be willing to visit only after the writing has begun; the muse wants evidence that the writer is not lazy before investing in magic.
One thing she said, though, made me cringe a bit; she said she tells her students “rhyme is bad.” I suppose it is if one subscribes to the opinions of William Carlos Williams or T.S. Elliot or other poets who condemned rhyme as merely a gimmick, something that detracts from the meat of the poem in favor of the clothes it wears. I think all poetry, of whatever structure, can be good; rhyme helps deliver the message in many poems. Ultimately, the only critic who matters is that one reader at a time who understands the writer’s intent.
