Angela Saunders, BellaOnline's Poetry Editor, has a great, informative post up entitled, "Tips for Editing Poetry," which is just the kind of how-to information a poet starting-out is likely to find very helpful (as well as those brushing up on their craft.. ;>) Here's a snippet:"In writing classes, we were bombarded with the five step writing process: prewriting, writing, editing, revising, and publishing. The writing process for poetry is much the same. Write down initial feelings and thoughts; choose a format and begin writing; read and edit; prepare your final draft. The differences in the writing process for stories and poems is in the editing. If you were to write a story, the proofreading would include grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and tense agreement. Additionally, you would take into consideration the flow of thoughts and the details in the story. In poetry, the editing process involves reading for “meter",“tone” , word choice, and style."Saunders further offers up a poem, The One That Got Away (for a readership of fisherman), for which the author had provided 4 different edited versions!
Before editing:
The one that got away- A Fish Tale
Eased up to my old cypress tree,
hoping the big one was waiting on me.
Hooked one on my very first cast,
taking out line, he was running fast.
Rod was bent, drag was screeching,
Old Mr. Bass was doing the teaching.
He came up top, tried to shake loose
then dove down deep, knew it wasn't no use.
He headed for the timber
and that's the last I remember
about the one that got away.
Not to worry, I'll be back another day.
--Bill Jenkins--
Now, of course, Saunders does provide, in great detail, the process used for accomplishing this poetry "haircut" which you must read! It's (en)lightening! (Less hair - get it? heh heh.. ohnevermind..:)
"If we look at the point of the poem, it is a fish tale about the one that got away. The poem describes in detail how he got away, but it is missing the feeling and the tone that descries the disappointment associated with losing the big one. Its like building up a joke, but the punch line is missing. Additionally, the tone is a bit serious. If we look at the poem and its meaning, we can, as Bill Jenkins, the author of the poem stated- "experiment with words and phrases just as if putting together a jigsaw puzzle." After editing, the same poem became:"After editing:
Hooked 'em on my very first cast
takin' out line, he was runnin' fast
Ole' Mr. Bass was doin' the teachin'
The rod was bent an' the drag was a-screechin'
A fight did he give as he came up to the top
He shook and then dove, refusin' to stop
To the timber he headed, no more can I say
I'd lost the battle; that one got away
Fear not, I'll return to that ol' Cypress tree
Mr. Bass hasn't see the last of me!
--Bill Jenkins--
