Is It Done Yet?
[Archive from February 2018]
A friend asks: How many rewrites do you go through before you are happy with the poem?
A poem isn’t like a cake that you can test with a toothpick and know it’s finished. Is it ready for publication after 3 drafts or 20? There’s no recipe that fits every poem or every poet. Practice does not make perfect, but an experienced poet improves at knowing the right moment to pluck the poem out of the oven, or computer, and send it on.
I pride myself on being a pretty good cook, but I don’t enjoy baking. I like being able to work by instinct, to add ingredients, leave others out, and play around with the cooking time. In other words, I’m comfortable with the vagaries of writing poetry. When people ask for a recipe, I can only tell them what ingredients I use, not how much.
I can’t answer how many rewrites I do for the same reason: I don’t measure. I don’t want the accountant side of my brain figuring stats when I’m trying to tap into my subconscious.
Most poems germinate in my head for one to several days before I think I have enough of a concept to start writing. In cooking, this is the mise en place stage, making sure you have all your ingredients together and don’t have to stop midway and run to the pantry or store.
I write my first draft in long hand in my magic notebook. Yes, I said magic. But what is a first draft? Most of my first drafts are so scratched over, even started again, that the writing I input into the computer may include drafts 1-9. Then the “poem,” if I dare to call it that, may go through another 3-10 drafts before critique. Poems, like wine and cheese, need aging. Put your poem away for a day or two, then pull it out and some of flaws will leap out at you. I try to review and revise several times before taking it to my critique group.
Probably the worst mistake of a young writer or bad poet is thinking that the poem is finished as soon as it hits the page. Every reader brings something of herself to a poem, so, if I alone think it’s ready, I may be writing too much for just me. No matter what your best talent is, you’ve probably learned that you are both your best fan and worst critic, often in the same five minutes. You need opinions from people whose judgment you respect.
Most of my poems come out of the critique shorter and better with a few suggested tweaks and an added dash of confidence. Sometimes a poem will take several more drafts – like waiting forever for a Thanksgiving turkey to be done. Finally, a poem is finished because I say so.
You’re probably noticed my poetry is much more compact than my blog writing. Here’s the short answer to today’s question: 5 to 20 drafts are needed for most of my poems. If it’s more than that, I really don’t want to know.
It’s hard to decide with so many great choices.