Sunday, November 18, 2007
Conferring
As I read your posts it seems clear that a conversation about your writing would be helpful. Find a friend or colleague to confer with. When you get together be prepared with questions for each other about your writing and your writing process. Please list the questions you had for your partner and how the conference went for you. What was helpful? What was strange? What was scary? What felt good?
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Now this really was tricky to do. Because we only had three days of school to complete this assignment, I conferred via technology. :) I sent my poem to Ronnie and she sent her poem to me through email. Though it wasn't as personal, it was the best we could do. Even still, it was so hard to show our poetry to another adult. It's not that I'm concerned about my writing skills. It's more about how personal the topics are. We asked each other for suggestions for changes. Is it rambling? Which poem is your favorite and why? Should I take certain parts out? What surprised you? The conferencing certainly gives a new perspective.
Knowing that I needed to conference sooner than later, ‘force’ me to work on the writing part of my written piece. As Jenn stated, due to our time constraints, we shared our struggles and concerns over a lunch period and then agreed that e-mailing each other would allow us to complete the assignment within a workable time frame. My questions include; Of the two pieces that I have been working on, which one seems most ready for presentation? Should I consider condensing one of my pieces? What seems to be working in my writing? Do you have any other suggestions?
It was very personal to let someone read my thoughts, even though the readers were friends. I felt guarded and protective of my words. I wanted to hear only positive feedback, but I also wanted honest interpretations. Very confusing!
The comments were supportive and encouraging. I received a few suggestions that I will consider and try. And of course, when you ask two people to pick which one of the two pieces I should focus on, each selects a different one.
I shared two pieces of poetry via email with Ronnie and Jenn. It was harder to press the send button than I thought it would be. Something about putting it out there seemed so final. I think about writers who work on one piece for years before sharing it and here I went and sent my poems out for the world (okay, a bit of an exaggeration) to see. I trusted these colleagues to be gentle with my delicate "writer" psyche. I wanted most to know whether my poetry sounded like "grown-up" writing. I've written so much with/for my students, that I wasn't sure my message would come across to adults. It's definitely a different task/audience. Sharing with my colleagues will certainly make introducing my poetry to a larger audience just that much easier.
The whole process of writing poetry has been difficult for me. However it is a challenge and fear that I have faced. I have looked to mentors to assist in this process. I decided I wanted to write a poem with rhymes to make up for lost time…Pam and Spam! After getting started I waited for a while before I had the energy to put into it again. I found my second go around to be way easier than the first. Rhyming is not so bad after all, or maybe I should let you all be the judges of that on December 6th. The biggest question I have had with my piece is about the simplicity of my word choices. Are my words just too simple? Does this piece give you a sense of the time and feelings I want to portray? My first conference was with my husband. The poor guy has to listen to be after every few verses I write. His input has been helpful, but most of all his enthusiasm for my efforts and the meaning of the piece for our baby girl gives me what I need to keep writing. He has offered better suggestions to some of my word choices or assisting me in selecting words that may create a better picture in the readers mind. Secondly, I have conferred with Kim on several occasions, again looking at my word choice and ensuring my rhymes were meaningful verse just words that rhymed. Just reading the piece out loud was helpful to me because I found some of my own awkward parts that seemed to be tongue twisters. Kim also assisted me in locating a few areas where I may have overused a word throughout the poem.
Scary…what is scary to me is that I am actually enjoying the time I am sitting and writing. I actually think my piece of poetry is good enough to read to others. I am looking forward to sharing my poem with my mentor and soon to be published poetry book writer Ann Lovvorn. Most of all I am looking forward to the day that I read the poem to Brooke and she smiles with that sweet little face.
It feels really good to enjoy writing. I hope to share my newfound love of writing with Brooke so she doesn’t grow up thinking she is an inadequate writer as I have.
Can’t wait until December 6th!
So, this feels strange to say but, I actually feel good about this piece of writing. I was always afraid of writing poetry but after reading the poem in class and using it as a mentor text, it didn't seem so scary after all. This year I was definitely less afraid to share my writing with others. I think it's because I felt like it was such a powerful experience for me to do it last year and because I feel so connected to my topic- again, I know it's the Red Sox and it seems like an easy copout for me but I truly am excited and proud of my piece. I did share this piece with Ryan first- asking for any important information I may have left out, which he was very helpful for. Then I shared with BJ and asked some other questions that Ryan just wouldn't be as helpful. I am most concerned about the poem sounding too repetitive. Since I used the "I am From" poem from class as my mentor text I worry that I used "I am from" too many times. Maybe the problem is that I have read the poem too many times, making it sound repetitive! I also asked BJ about the last line of my poem and I continue to struggle with a title for my piece. Ryan might be a good person to bounce a few ideas off of for this- I'm just stuck wanting the title to really capture how I feel.
hi
Michelle and I met and shared our writing with each other. I feel so comfortable with her so it was so easy to read my piece to her. I also felt comfortable taking advice from her and I appreciated her questions to how I put certain phrases together. Just being able to talk to someone and have them read your work to you helped. I also thought that it was helpful to explain to someone what I was trying to convey and why I did not want to write about anything personal. As it turns out- despite how hard I tried I ended up having feeling for my poem. I guess once I start writing it just happens. I loved Michelle's work! You will too!
Sharing with Debi was easy, waiting for her reaction was another story! I think the relationship you have with the person you are sharing with is so important. I needed to share with someone who knew me really well and knew how I felt about my subject. Sharing is a vulnerable feeling, so I was thrilled that Debi was so kind. She gave suggestions and answered my questions honestly.
We asked each other if the poems flowed or if things seemed out of order. One of the things that I was concerned about was that my poems sounded like a greeting card. Debi helped me add lines that were more about me, not so generic!
It was not so scary to share with someone who knew me and has always been kind and honest with me. I think that I need to remember that when working with students!
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