Read Me First: 7 Ways To Give Me a Hand

After an age of abandonment, I have decided to not only revisit my blog but to put it to good use. From here forth, I am going to use this primarily to post poems I am currently working on. I would be thrilled to receive feedback, but I would also ask that you not use the words "good" and "bad" or any of their synonyms - this includes telling me that you like or dislike the poem. These terms are both judgemental and empty at the same time, and they are not constructive in helping me see what effect my writing has. Here are some things you can tell me that will help me shape my poem further - my Creative Writing instructor, Richard Harrison, calls these the "Seven Categories of Reponse", and I owe these terms/ideas to him.

1. What you noticed: words, phrases or sentences that stand out to you or you remember when you are not looking at the poem.

2. Questions: what questions did you have after reading the poem in regards to content, words choice, etc.?

3. Tone: what kind of voice did you hear in the poem - was it happy, depressing, cynical, humorous, etc., and where did you feel this tone the most (words, phrases, sentences)?

4. Your personal connection: where did you connect to the piece, if at all? Even if the connection is just to a particular word, the observation would be useful.

5. Agree/Disagree: Were there places you agreed or disagreed with the form, the content, etc.?

6. Where did you stop reading: if anywhere? Was there a part of the poem you skipped, or words you glazed over - in other words, did you disengage at any point?

7. What's on your mind: when we read a piece of literature, we engage in a dialogue with the page - what was the "screenplay" of what went on in your mind as you experienced the text?

Of course, you certainly don't have to answer all of these. But even just answering the first question - what did you notice? That would help me out quite a bit!

I will give you a poem in my next entry, which will show up in your feed before this entry if you follow my blog, but hopefully you will read this first.