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*** how many poets meant to write one thing, and because of the
limits of their form, found the words they chose meant so much more than
they could have intended? Poetry is awesome because the goal is often
to have meaning explode. ***
I remember my high school expository writing teacher say something to
the effect that one of the big keys to success in writing is when the
author stays in control of the text, rather than the text controlling
the author. In other words, as the old maxim puts it: Plan your work,
then work your plan. A lot of veracity there, I think, for technical
writing. (Thank you, Mr. Ellison!)
However, I also remember my advisor and writing mentor Jack Leax in
college remarking that in the creative realm the opposite is quite often
true. Some of his best writing, he said, was when the poem or story took
on a life of its own. I remember sitting in his writers' workshop and a
discussion ensuing, as we were plotting rudimentary novels and the like,
as to what would happen next in the story and how we made such
determinations. Jack said something to the effect that when he was
writing a novel or short story he usually didn't know yet where the plot
was going -- he'd have to let the characters go about their lives,
interact with each other, and see what happened.
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