The importance of speech -- a Poetry Friday post
I know I've harped on the importance of finding the right words, including doing so by focusing on the sound of words. I've talked about technical things like assonance and alliteration and the use of nonsense words and kenning.
None of this matters overly much if you don't take the time to read your poetry. Out Loud. Reading your poetry in silence and to yourself is all well and good, but reading it aloud (and to yourself) will give you a better idea of what works and what might not work in your poem, and reading in public can give you valuable feedback and maybe even further your career.
First up: Reading aloud for yourself
Say you've written something in free verse, and in the typical Zen manner of many poets, you've "gone with the flow" during the process. Let's say it's about, uh, snow (possibly wishful thinking in the recent heat wave). Only you've spent a lot of time talking about snow, and how temperatures are low, and faces are aglow, etc. Trust me, during the writing, you might not notice all that internal rhyming going on, but if you take a mo' to read it aloud, you'll see it. Snow, low, aglow, mo'. Maybe you like it even more, maybe you go "yowza -- that's not the effect I was going for".
What it comes to is that it's fine for the writing process to flow, or be Zen-like, or to just let it do what it wants. In fact, it can be best, getting the ideas and images out there. But the arrangement and refinement and honing in revision requires you to be conscious. Conscious of the words you're using, and how they go together, etc. Conscious of any repetition that might be there, so you can decide whether it aids your poem or detracts from it.
If you feel silly reading aloud to yourself, read to your pets. They won't mind, and they will like pretty much whatever you say, unless you've written a poem with a refrain of "bad, bad doggie." If you aren't too mortified by the concept, you could even read it to a friend or spouse. Be warned, however, that they may want to give you feedback, even if you don't want it.
Reading for Others
But Kelly, you say, you just talked about that. Nope, not really. I talked about reading aloud so that you yourself could hear and analyze your poem. The pets and other people mentioned thus far were mere observers, there to keep you from feeling silly about reading aloud all by yourself.
Now I'm talking about reading aloud so that other people can hear and comment on your poem(s). I know you're most likely cringing about the mere idea, since there is something so intimate about poetry that sharing if can feel like a blasphemy, but as you were taught in kindergarten, sharing is a good thing.
Not everyone "gets" poetry, and personal preferences are strong in the area. A listener might hate rhyme; then again, he or she may only like rhyme. They may consider baudy limericks to be the highest art form, and not understand a sonnet, or some free verse about death. Still, if you can stomach it, the feedback can be excellent.
Another key point: while most people are not jicks (a hybrid word of jerk and, uh, something else that rhymes with jick), be careful which of your friends and relatives you choose to read for, especially early on. Choose only the supportive family and friends, not the ones who will feel free to launch into a diatribe about why you're wasting your time, and how they think you should be doing something more useful with your life. Or the passive-agressive ones who will say "that's pretty good, for someone with no real writing skills." You know who they are in your life, so do yourself a favor and don't let thiem in to this portion of your life. If you sell a poem, send them a copy, but don't set yourself up for more personal heartache and disappointment by reading for your judgmental mother or your "anything you can do, I can do better" sister or whoever. They will welcome the opportunity to "help" you by dissuading you from going on, and that serves no good purpose in this world.
Better yet, read for strangers. (I know, I know -- gasp!) They will likely be even nicer to you than the people you know, because they haven't reached the level of familiarity where contempt can creep in. They will praise something in you or your poem. They will tell you what you read well, and whether you need to wrok on your presentation (and they will, more importantly, tell you HOW to acoomplish this). Many bookstores around here (and probably around you, too) have poetry groups (including Borders and Barnes & Noble), as do many of the libraries. Many areas have associations or societies of poets. Go. See what it's about. You'll find folks at all different points in their poetic careers. They are, in the main, a helpful, friendly bunch. You will find folks very happy to talk about the craft and art of writing poetry, people who know tons about the poetic forms, or how to get a chapbook done, or which journals like what sort of poems.
And when you read for those folks, other good things can happen, besides feeling that you belong to a community of poets out there in the world. You'll see what works and what doesn't in your poems. Literally. Because if you take a moment to look at the crowd while you're reading, you'll see if they're riveted or drifting off, whether they laught at a joke or clever remark or whether it passes unnoticed, whether they get tears in their eyes over the touching/sad part or whether they shrug it off. And it will help you hone your poem, and it will boost your confiedence in your own skills. And sometimes, it will get you published, because someone in the audience knows the perfect home for your poem, or, in the case of the wonderful S. Jersey poet, Dan Maguire, a guy with grant money likes your reading so well that he offers to give you the money to put out a chapbook.
None of this matters overly much if you don't take the time to read your poetry. Out Loud. Reading your poetry in silence and to yourself is all well and good, but reading it aloud (and to yourself) will give you a better idea of what works and what might not work in your poem, and reading in public can give you valuable feedback and maybe even further your career.
First up: Reading aloud for yourself
Say you've written something in free verse, and in the typical Zen manner of many poets, you've "gone with the flow" during the process. Let's say it's about, uh, snow (possibly wishful thinking in the recent heat wave). Only you've spent a lot of time talking about snow, and how temperatures are low, and faces are aglow, etc. Trust me, during the writing, you might not notice all that internal rhyming going on, but if you take a mo' to read it aloud, you'll see it. Snow, low, aglow, mo'. Maybe you like it even more, maybe you go "yowza -- that's not the effect I was going for".
What it comes to is that it's fine for the writing process to flow, or be Zen-like, or to just let it do what it wants. In fact, it can be best, getting the ideas and images out there. But the arrangement and refinement and honing in revision requires you to be conscious. Conscious of the words you're using, and how they go together, etc. Conscious of any repetition that might be there, so you can decide whether it aids your poem or detracts from it.
If you feel silly reading aloud to yourself, read to your pets. They won't mind, and they will like pretty much whatever you say, unless you've written a poem with a refrain of "bad, bad doggie." If you aren't too mortified by the concept, you could even read it to a friend or spouse. Be warned, however, that they may want to give you feedback, even if you don't want it.
Reading for Others
But Kelly, you say, you just talked about that. Nope, not really. I talked about reading aloud so that you yourself could hear and analyze your poem. The pets and other people mentioned thus far were mere observers, there to keep you from feeling silly about reading aloud all by yourself.
Now I'm talking about reading aloud so that other people can hear and comment on your poem(s). I know you're most likely cringing about the mere idea, since there is something so intimate about poetry that sharing if can feel like a blasphemy, but as you were taught in kindergarten, sharing is a good thing.
Not everyone "gets" poetry, and personal preferences are strong in the area. A listener might hate rhyme; then again, he or she may only like rhyme. They may consider baudy limericks to be the highest art form, and not understand a sonnet, or some free verse about death. Still, if you can stomach it, the feedback can be excellent.
Another key point: while most people are not jicks (a hybrid word of jerk and, uh, something else that rhymes with jick), be careful which of your friends and relatives you choose to read for, especially early on. Choose only the supportive family and friends, not the ones who will feel free to launch into a diatribe about why you're wasting your time, and how they think you should be doing something more useful with your life. Or the passive-agressive ones who will say "that's pretty good, for someone with no real writing skills." You know who they are in your life, so do yourself a favor and don't let thiem in to this portion of your life. If you sell a poem, send them a copy, but don't set yourself up for more personal heartache and disappointment by reading for your judgmental mother or your "anything you can do, I can do better" sister or whoever. They will welcome the opportunity to "help" you by dissuading you from going on, and that serves no good purpose in this world.
Better yet, read for strangers. (I know, I know -- gasp!) They will likely be even nicer to you than the people you know, because they haven't reached the level of familiarity where contempt can creep in. They will praise something in you or your poem. They will tell you what you read well, and whether you need to wrok on your presentation (and they will, more importantly, tell you HOW to acoomplish this). Many bookstores around here (and probably around you, too) have poetry groups (including Borders and Barnes & Noble), as do many of the libraries. Many areas have associations or societies of poets. Go. See what it's about. You'll find folks at all different points in their poetic careers. They are, in the main, a helpful, friendly bunch. You will find folks very happy to talk about the craft and art of writing poetry, people who know tons about the poetic forms, or how to get a chapbook done, or which journals like what sort of poems.
And when you read for those folks, other good things can happen, besides feeling that you belong to a community of poets out there in the world. You'll see what works and what doesn't in your poems. Literally. Because if you take a moment to look at the crowd while you're reading, you'll see if they're riveted or drifting off, whether they laught at a joke or clever remark or whether it passes unnoticed, whether they get tears in their eyes over the touching/sad part or whether they shrug it off. And it will help you hone your poem, and it will boost your confiedence in your own skills. And sometimes, it will get you published, because someone in the audience knows the perfect home for your poem, or, in the case of the wonderful S. Jersey poet, Dan Maguire, a guy with grant money likes your reading so well that he offers to give you the money to put out a chapbook.