PAUSING FOR EFFECT....
When I garden I tend to have an idea of what I'm trying to achieve. Yes I still put something in the ground because there is a vacant spot or because I have a plant that has to be in NOW but these days I'm trying to see the bigger picture.
I have a plan in mind, a picture of what I want the end result to look like.
When I planted these box cuttings, the idea was a hedge, however where the fuchsia is at the end, that is a gap where one plant died. On the other side is a very very healthy box plant. I could have planted another plant, but I went with the flow. I clip the hedge and I'm building up the lone box to hopefully do a bit of topiary, basic mind you, on it.
But there was a general idea, an image in my head of what the overall picture would be like and I work towards it.
Gardening is a very personal thing, everyone has their own view of what makes a good garden. For some it's low maintenance, others like straight lines and formal regiments of plants, others like a ruled vegetable patch, for others it's a pottager garden with everything fighting for it's place.
Sometime last year I received a rejection for a poem that hit very hard. This was a poem that receives great feedback when I read it out at events, and so I believe in it and it hurt. Not the rejection as such, I'm very used to those, it was the wording of the rejection. The printed statement that this was not a poem at all. Not only was it quite harsh, but it did stop me writing for quite a while.
One lovely friend suggested I write a poem, using the wording as my first line (which I have done :))....another friend suggested I take a real hard look at this poem for line breaks.
Line breaks
hmmmm.
So the place where a line of poetry ends. No use of punctuation to create the break or pause - but a line break can affect meaning by introducing ambiguity. It forces the reader to pause, gives them time to think, ponder the images offered.
But where to put a line break. The options are endless. It's like asking why put the garden ornament in the above photo there..why not at the front of the garden bed, why not down by the chair....why have it right there.
Personal choice - or in this case, I moved it from another bed and just dumped it there for the moment.
It's like this ornament, part of the bird bath that survived, the column and the concrete bird. Why here? Because I think it looks good there. Yes the plants either side will be trimmed so you can notice it but it's the focal point for that bed.
So I have my poem printed out and by changing the line breaks so alters the weight of certain words. It is a very interesting exercise to do.
Will it make the piece into a poem? Who knows but it can never hurt to look at a piece and rework it.
It's knowing when to stop.
But then, like gardening, do we ever stop with our writing and think it's finished?
Most probably no.
Vicki
I have a plan in mind, a picture of what I want the end result to look like.
When I planted these box cuttings, the idea was a hedge, however where the fuchsia is at the end, that is a gap where one plant died. On the other side is a very very healthy box plant. I could have planted another plant, but I went with the flow. I clip the hedge and I'm building up the lone box to hopefully do a bit of topiary, basic mind you, on it.
But there was a general idea, an image in my head of what the overall picture would be like and I work towards it.
Gardening is a very personal thing, everyone has their own view of what makes a good garden. For some it's low maintenance, others like straight lines and formal regiments of plants, others like a ruled vegetable patch, for others it's a pottager garden with everything fighting for it's place.
Sometime last year I received a rejection for a poem that hit very hard. This was a poem that receives great feedback when I read it out at events, and so I believe in it and it hurt. Not the rejection as such, I'm very used to those, it was the wording of the rejection. The printed statement that this was not a poem at all. Not only was it quite harsh, but it did stop me writing for quite a while.
One lovely friend suggested I write a poem, using the wording as my first line (which I have done :))....another friend suggested I take a real hard look at this poem for line breaks.
Line breaks
hmmmm.
So the place where a line of poetry ends. No use of punctuation to create the break or pause - but a line break can affect meaning by introducing ambiguity. It forces the reader to pause, gives them time to think, ponder the images offered.
But where to put a line break. The options are endless. It's like asking why put the garden ornament in the above photo there..why not at the front of the garden bed, why not down by the chair....why have it right there.
Personal choice - or in this case, I moved it from another bed and just dumped it there for the moment.
It's like this ornament, part of the bird bath that survived, the column and the concrete bird. Why here? Because I think it looks good there. Yes the plants either side will be trimmed so you can notice it but it's the focal point for that bed.
So I have my poem printed out and by changing the line breaks so alters the weight of certain words. It is a very interesting exercise to do.
Will it make the piece into a poem? Who knows but it can never hurt to look at a piece and rework it.
It's knowing when to stop.
But then, like gardening, do we ever stop with our writing and think it's finished?
Most probably no.
Vicki
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