[Sarah-Jane Crowson]

I just wanted to quickly leap back to say ‘thank-you’, as this forum seems to have a knack of turning what is quite a dull question into a critical debate that along the way shares diverse writing processes as well as some very interesting ideas.

Alchemists, all of you!

David - It might be that one. It was quite sentimental - I don’t usually like sentimental poems either, but I liked that one, and it’s stuck with me! Isn’t that strange. Maybe it’s a sign to send it out?

Claudia Gary - thank-you - it’s really interesting what you say about the poem/poetry percolating and then writing itself just before a deadline.

Matt - I think our views are fairly aligned here - for me, it’s a struggle between balance, because I like writing/generating ideas and find it more tricky to slow down and edit. Producing in quantity is sometimes, I fear, my procrastination-strategy for not doing the harder, more complex editing work.

Yves - Thank-you - I think practice can help support technical expertise, which I think is what you’re suggesting.

Roger - I agree - I like the camaraderie of working in a group for this kind of exercise - I think it’s useful to see it as an exercise, too.

Susan - thank-you - I never thought about translation in that way at all. Your translations are lovely (I don’t comment on them because of my sublime ignorance of translation) but that is so, so interesting. I might try translating something, although I won’t be posting them here! I need the practice in the technical areas you mention, so it’s a good idea.

Max - thank-you - the balancing of revision with new writing is a very good point to make, I think.

Roger - yes, and although I hadn’t thought about NaPo so deeply I think that it does kind of condition you to put aside an hour or two to write and then it becomes part of your day - a kind of space-making/mental expectation/practice.

Julie - thank-you. I agree - and the polite exclamations can be tricky sometimes. Crikey to those who think their first drafts are unequivocally golden, though - although what is coming across to me in this thread is that sometimes a first draft can be something that has been brewing for a long time, too. I’ve occasionally produced a first draft of quality which was good enough to send out, but rarely (like twice) and it was - well now I’m thinking it probably wasn’t a fluke, it was just I’d been thinking about it for a while. I tend to get three or four good poems out of April, and those after revision. But I do have a lot of fun along the way!

Yves - I think you’re right about the company being important - I wonder, too, how many people engaging with the exercise save up some drafts to post in April (that could just be me being mean though). But again, it makes me think of an interesting potential correlation between skill/practice - making space to write and also ideas-generation.

Kevin - that’s an interesting exercise - the idea of thinking about words as kind of internally-spoken. I’ve never tried that (although sometimes maybe I have on walks) - again, it sets me thinking about the process before the writing. Thank-you.

John - I like your work very much, and it’s interesting to me what you say about having had all those years of practice writing. There’s something about craftsmanship here, I think - and also about not being afraid - not writing to produce the ‘perfect’ but writing because it’s important to write - to make/craft new space, to tell stories.

It’s all getting so interesting now that my thoughts are getting muddled so I shall pause before I write an essay.

I think, for me, much of what I get out of writing a poem a day is playfulness - a chance to experiment - and company - there's a camaraderie which is fun. I wouldn't enjoy it if I couldn't work in a group. Revision, on the other hand, takes a pen-chewed individual silence. I think I just enjoy it - not every day, but most days in April. It's nice to be able to play with words, see what happens.

And thank you again -



Sarah-Jane