by Juliet Wilson
I love recycling and was fascinated by January’s recent article about revising poetry, so here’s a quick recycling prompt: Take an old poem and revise it, either polish it or totally rework it — then share both versions with us! If you want, share your thoughts about the process, in your blog post (or here)!
Idea for collaboration: Swap poems with a fellow participant and rework each other’s poems!
Come back after the early morning hours next Monday and post a link to your recycled poem, or anything else you want to share, at the Get Your Poem On post that will be waiting for you!
Want to collaborate? Leave a note here and see if anyone else wants to hook up. Or contact one of the participants on their blog and see if they’re game.
I think this prompt is one of great benefit to those who participate. Bravo!
I constantly revise, restructure, and ‘meld’ my poetry. Revise (edit) to continually improve the piece (hopefully), making it tighter and of greater impact — and restructure to create a different perspective on the subject matter, thus drawing two poems from the original single effort.
When I ‘meld’ I take parts of two different pieces I’ve written, each usually focusing on different subject matter, but each having a thread that can be consolidated to create a uniquely different poem.
These practices, for me, are great fodder for new work, and solid writing and conceptualizing exercise — especially in moments when your muse just isn’t offering up fresh inspiration.
Love the idea of melding, Rob!
I’m going to try it with two pieces I am working on now, both of which mention the moon.
Excellent!
I’m tired of trying to revise my own work; anyone want to swap?
Leave a comment or email me at blytheblogger AT gmail DOT com.
[...] is a rewrite of an older poem, “To The Musician”, and a poem written in response to the Read Write Poem Prompt #32: Reuse, Recycle, and Revise. I reworked the original piece into a pantoum. [...]
[...] when Juliet suggested revision as a prompt for RWP, I knew I didn’t want to work on any of my own work (I started an [...]