I Asked For It

This is more of a vent than anything. So, read with that in mind.

I’ve been working on my chapbook for several months now. I have a really ugly draft. I asked some folks in the WV Writers’ Facebook Group if anyone wanted to review and critique it for me. Now, I am trying to digest the results. One of the people who offered to look it over was Kirk Judd.

Kirk forwarded his comments with the following qualification:

please remember thiis is your work, and you should present it in the way you wish. these are just suggestions. take them or leave them.

this is hard to read. that’s not a bad thing – it should be hard to read. it is a hard subject. i think the poems are good. a couple are very powerful… well done. (sic)

I sent the draft as a .PDF file, Kirk embedded his comments. I don’t mind. I haven’t had a lot of time to study the comments. I gave them a cursory review. What caught my eye was the frequent references to grammar and punctuation. I immediately got defensive.

My writings are – well – my writings. I get that grammar is important, but this isn’t an English term paper. This is creative, as in art. Art is subjective.

I am not saying I can’t improve my work. Mr. Judd’s comments are quite helpful. They force me to defend my choices to punctuate, or not to punctuate. For me, it’s a rhythm, a lyrical movement of the spoken words, not their appearance on paper.

I will have to spend more time on his comments. I didn’t recognize his name – I’m terrible that way – I had to look him up. Turns out he’s pretty well known out there. I lifted this from a Facebook event description (links added):

Kirk Judd has performed poetry across West Virginia for the past 30 years. The author is internationally known for his performance work combining poetry and old time music. He is the author of two collections of poetry, Field of Vision and Tao-Billy, and coeditor of the widely acclaimed anthology, Wild, Sweet Notes – 50 Years of West Virginia Poetry 1950 – 1999. A founding member of Allegheny Echoes, Inc., Judd has presented his original poetry with Allegheny Echoes staff members and musicians on the BBC and across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Judd was also a member of the Appalachian Literary League and a former president of West Virginia Writers, Inc.

So, he might actually know a thing or two. And, I asked for it.

Tags: chapbook, draft, Facebook, vent, WV Writers