Rewrite, Uncover a Hope by Alan Anderson

 

But they who wait for the Lord

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:31, ESV)

 

After reading through the posts this month, I don’t think I can add anything insightful to my post. You have all taught me so much.

I focus most of my writing these days on poetry. A life-altering experience, a few years ago, caused me to search what direction my writing is to take. Through time to process and reflect on the impact of this experience, I sensed poetry was my path. I am still a student of this amazing use of words.

Rewriting allows me to uncover and share hope with those who gift me by reading my poems. The poems I write are not for me, but I take the responsibility for crafting them with the hope others will benefit from them in their lives.

Writing poems takes work. A favourite poet, Mary Oliver, offers this wise counsel to poets in her book, Mary Oliver: A Poetry Handbook:

“What you are first able to write on the page, whether the writing comes easily or with difficulty, is not likely to be close to a finished poem. If it has arrived without much effort, so much the better; if it was written with great toil, that does not matter either. What matters is that you consider what you have on the page as an unfinished piece of work that now requires your best conscious and patient appraisal.”

For me as a poet, to craft and prepare a message of hope for someone requires “conscious and patient appraisal.” I do not want to just slap something together presenting a work of mediocrity; therefore, rewrite is necessary. My poems often exhibit raw emotion; therefore, I approach revision with great sensitivity.

I pray the Lord will use my words as He sees fit. My job is to nurture the writing piece I am working on. Using the love of words God gave me, I carefully craft each word before releasing my poem into the world. To love words means such parts of the process as doing a rewrite is a must.

My rewrites come about through me, asking a few trusted people to read a few of my poems. I then receive their feedback and give thought to what they suggest. I accept their critiques, revise where needed and polish the poems, to avoid mediocrity. I must rewrite and revise the poem before it is ready to be launched.

I do not view rewriting my work as a drudgery. I see it as vital to nurture and breathe life into the poems to prepare them as messages of hope.

 

Alan lives in a small village called Deroche, British Columbia, with his wife, Terry, and their poodle, Charlie. He enjoys walking on the dike near his home with trees all around and where he finds inspiration to write. He occasionally writes articles for FellowScript Magazine and is a regular contributor to the InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship blog. Alan’s website and blog is https://scarredjoy.ca.