Monday, November 21, 2011

Week 12

This week we focused on revision and our literary journals. Our groups assembled and finalized our submission guidelines, assigned roles, and talked about the asthetic of our journal. We created a timeline and set goals for completion. In class on Wednesday we did writing revision exercises. We performed a writing chain where each person wrote 2-3 lines which were themed with a particular sense which was preassigned.

I'm very excited about the Lit Candles literary journal. I have some really great people on my team. Everyone is engaged with their particular role in the process and open to ideas. I'm happy that we decided to accept a variety of generes because I think it will make our journal more diverse and interesting, it will have a little something for everyone. I can't wait to see the art and more visual things that we will use. The writing/revision exercise on Wednesday were not very helpful in my opinion. I struggle with fast, off the cuff writing exercises, it is just not how my brain works. Generally I just put anything down because of the pressure and it has no meaning or relevance and makes me feel frustrated. When I write at home it takes me a very long time but I get there just the same.

I'm thinking about the revision process and how it changes my ideas about writing and the creative process. Clearly writing is a very fluid art and words are a dime a dozen. Sometimes I do get attached to my "pets" and will try to rewrite around them. I feel like at this stage I'm really pleased with my first or second drafts (poems) because I spend so much time writing them in the first place I tend to feel like I've gotten it pretty close to right. However, my short stories can use quite a bit of revision, I'm just not certain in which direction to take them.

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