(no subject)
Dec. 18th, 2003 11:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheThis is not even a first draft. Just my first thoughts. Comments welcomed.
I think I am ready to mentor. After putting myself through intensive training in poetics for six months and dedicating myself to the craft of poetry, I understand what common pitfalls the novice often unwittingly stumbles into. I am ready to help younger poets reach beyond their stock images and phrases. In this soundbyte era, it is paramount that poets find their true voice, and that means coming up with their own ideas, spoken in ways that no one else could have said them. As Pound expounded, Make it new. Wallace Stevens concurred. Poetry is about innovation.
After working in several online poetry workshops, I have learned that innovation takes place in the intersection between mentor and pupil. The dynamic between them sparks a creativity in both that can fuel a genius that would not have existed otherwise. One might liken this to the Beatles effect (what would have happened had John and Paul never met?). The relationship between student and teacher engenders a freeing atmosphere. That atmosphere can spark great poetry from two people where in solitude they may have produced middling but not above average work.
From interacting in these online workshops also I've learned that one learns to revise by listening to the revisionary tactics employed by one's peers. This kind of knowledge consolidates upon itself in the long run, and one learns how to revise more efficiently and effectively at a much faster and intuitive rate.
I think I am ready to mentor. After putting myself through intensive training in poetics for six months and dedicating myself to the craft of poetry, I understand what common pitfalls the novice often unwittingly stumbles into. I am ready to help younger poets reach beyond their stock images and phrases. In this soundbyte era, it is paramount that poets find their true voice, and that means coming up with their own ideas, spoken in ways that no one else could have said them. As Pound expounded, Make it new. Wallace Stevens concurred. Poetry is about innovation.
After working in several online poetry workshops, I have learned that innovation takes place in the intersection between mentor and pupil. The dynamic between them sparks a creativity in both that can fuel a genius that would not have existed otherwise. One might liken this to the Beatles effect (what would have happened had John and Paul never met?). The relationship between student and teacher engenders a freeing atmosphere. That atmosphere can spark great poetry from two people where in solitude they may have produced middling but not above average work.
From interacting in these online workshops also I've learned that one learns to revise by listening to the revisionary tactics employed by one's peers. This kind of knowledge consolidates upon itself in the long run, and one learns how to revise more efficiently and effectively at a much faster and intuitive rate.