[writing] red pens

So I'm sitting here, doing a brief edit/critique on a poem that a friend of mine wrote, and I realised how very much I enjoy it. I like critiquing poetry. Especially when it is a good piece that is just not quite there - needs brevity, or more description, or some unifying metaphor or something of the kind. When I know that it could be a very good poem, and that I am helping the poet toward realising that potential.

I'm also at a place now where I feel secure enough not just in my own writing skills but in my ability to articulate what I am thinking about writing. When I see something that isn't gelling, or that is discordant, I know how to explain it. Nothing is as frustrating as vague critique, let me tell you, and having been on the receiving end of such, it is intensely satisfying to know that I can give good critique. And by good I mean not only insightful, but also phrased in such a way that it is actually helpful. Someone's syntax may indeed suck, but telling them so will not help them to improve. It is a fine balance to walk, honesty on one side, compassion on the other.

Maybe the real change is in me. Maybe I'm able now to divorce the writing from the writer. Not only for myself, but for other people. It is hard to look past your feelings about the other person, whether positive or negative and address only the work.

One of my teacher/mentors once told me that I might make a good writing teacher myself. I am starting to see how that could be very satisfying. Of course, since I have forgone the academic route, I'm going to have to publish a whole bunch before such an opportunity presents itself, but yeah...I think that's something that I would enjoy.