Molly Alexander
My capstone class recently had the opportunity to
participate in a discussion with authors Robert Wrigley and Kim Barnes. As all
of the students present were, and still are, currently in the middle of writing
our senior capstones, the topic of revision was addressed. For me, it was a
much-needed pep talk. I have been, in a way, hiding from revision on my
capstone. I put the workshop comments away in my notebook, and they were
starting to collect dust.
I still remember the moment I solidified wanting to pursue
the English/Writing route in my undergraduate career. As cliché as it is, I
even wrote it in a Facebook status in August 2009: “So I think I want to be a
writer.” It felt good to know what path I wanted to take for the next four
years. But after that, I think I just envisioned myself being a writer and didn’t fully think through what steps I would
need to take to become a sufficient one.
When I took my first workshop-based creative writing class, it took revision to a whole new level. At first I resisted it—sometimes I would walk into class not even wanting to know what the students had to say because I was so passionate about my content that I let people’s comments hurt my feelings. I started to understand that it is important to take comments both individually, but also as a whole. If there are certain threads being weaved throughout the piece, I need to know how they are working or what the class thinks about them. If there is a section that needs to be explored further or go deeper, I need other’s feedback and direction. I learned that the workshop wasn’t about what my writing was doing “right” or “wrong,” but rather it was giving me an overall idea of how it was working for an audience, which is ultimately important if a writer wants to be published.
When the exciting feeling of being a new writer in college wore off, I started to revert back to not wanting to know what people thought about my work. My attitude was reflecting my lack of passion for creating good stories and drive for being a good student. That’s why meeting Robert Wrigley and Kim Barnes was so important for me: they helped me remember why I wanted to start in the first place, and they helped me to see that not only does revision come in many different ways, but that it is absolutely essential in writing. Kim Barnes passionately spoke of revision and even said it is her favorite part of writing. How could that be? I thought at the time. I quickly realized that it's because writing would be nothing without revision. Truly shaping and creating the piece you set out to write is the ultimate goal, and with each type of revision comes a new reward that brings you closer to the final product. In our capstone class a few weeks later, Dr. Axelrod talked about how revision comes in many different ways—whether it’s reading a piece aloud to see how the words sound together, or whether it’s rearranging entire sections for better organization, or simply going through and finding particular verbs that you want to change for better affect. It’s possible to find joy in writing—in every aspect—and now I know that I just have to allow myself to feel it instead of resisting it.
When I took my first workshop-based creative writing class, it took revision to a whole new level. At first I resisted it—sometimes I would walk into class not even wanting to know what the students had to say because I was so passionate about my content that I let people’s comments hurt my feelings. I started to understand that it is important to take comments both individually, but also as a whole. If there are certain threads being weaved throughout the piece, I need to know how they are working or what the class thinks about them. If there is a section that needs to be explored further or go deeper, I need other’s feedback and direction. I learned that the workshop wasn’t about what my writing was doing “right” or “wrong,” but rather it was giving me an overall idea of how it was working for an audience, which is ultimately important if a writer wants to be published.
When the exciting feeling of being a new writer in college wore off, I started to revert back to not wanting to know what people thought about my work. My attitude was reflecting my lack of passion for creating good stories and drive for being a good student. That’s why meeting Robert Wrigley and Kim Barnes was so important for me: they helped me remember why I wanted to start in the first place, and they helped me to see that not only does revision come in many different ways, but that it is absolutely essential in writing. Kim Barnes passionately spoke of revision and even said it is her favorite part of writing. How could that be? I thought at the time. I quickly realized that it's because writing would be nothing without revision. Truly shaping and creating the piece you set out to write is the ultimate goal, and with each type of revision comes a new reward that brings you closer to the final product. In our capstone class a few weeks later, Dr. Axelrod talked about how revision comes in many different ways—whether it’s reading a piece aloud to see how the words sound together, or whether it’s rearranging entire sections for better organization, or simply going through and finding particular verbs that you want to change for better affect. It’s possible to find joy in writing—in every aspect—and now I know that I just have to allow myself to feel it instead of resisting it.
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