writing update... progression...

so, over the last couple of years I've improved my writing just by actually paying attention to it and forcing it on people whose opinions are more complex than "i like it!" or "this is crap" or "I don't get it." The actual impact is showing up in the pacing and voice. Now, instead of being strings of gushing images that create an overall effect, I have a rash of pseudo narrative poems with the slower pace of southern or biblical prose. The tone isn't anything like that, or the subject or wording or characters or anything... I don't think I'm even properly describing it. I feel like my own knowledge of writing is waning the more I do it and the more I pay attention to it, and this is odd and not a little frustrating and discouraging.

I've just been informed, by two people who don't know most of the characters in my poetry, that the biggest problem with my poetry is that I don't follow it through enough. The subject isn't explored fully. Without exploration I can't relate what I know to the reader. See how this is bad?

I read Millay's biography and her biggest fear was not being clear, thus I have started trying to translate my poems into boring sentences and then reinserting the pretty words. I think this may work.

So, that's what I'm working on.

In other news, I enjoyed seeing ice balls the size of tennis balls fall from the sky a whole bunch earlier! It was awesome! It was my first slightly worrisome tornado warning. Billy and I sat and watched the swirl clouds on doppler pass right over us. Nothing touched down, nothing in Stillwater was damaged, I drank a screwdriver, I was texting Elise throughout... it was fun!