Tara McGee

Growing as a Poet

                Registering for classes almost always sends a thrill of excitement through a student. Whether it is because a student is getting closer to graduation or because a student is looking forward to learning new things, it happens, on some level. When I registered for Creative Writing I was unaware of what I was getting myself into. I like to write but have had very little formal training in the area. The mere thought of writing poetry and others reading it freaked me out. However, since August I feel I have grown so much! I am most impressed with my formal understanding of what makes a poem, how a writing workshop is structured, and how the experience of writing my own poem brought me out of my writing shell.

                Before I entered this class, I knew there were rules to follow when writing poetry, but I thought if you wrote just about anything you could call it a poem. I have since learned different. According to our text, there are five qualities of a poem. These qualities include line, images, sound of words, rhythm, and density.  After studying these qualities, I found it easier to read poetry for quality. Our text says that not all of these qualities have to be present in a poem in order for it to be a quality poem, but if a poem does contain all of these qualities, chances are your poem will be pretty good! I can use this information when I teach my students poetry. It is nice to have a solid guideline for the students to follow since poetry is usually hard for younger children.  These qualities are also very useful in a writing workshop when you are trying to critique someone else’s work because you can use them as a checklist. If a poem appears weak in some areas, it is easy to make suggestions on what to change and what to keep the same. 

                                I have never been exposed to a writing workshop so this class has been a very new experience for me. I really enjoy it! I was nervous at first knowing that others would be reading my work, but I feel like the community is a very accepting one. Personally, I think the acceptance from the community has been the most important learning experience about the structure of a writing workshop. The structure of our writing workshop works very well in my opinion for what we are trying to accomplish. There is plenty of time to thoroughly discuss each author’s work, suggestions to be made, and for praise of what the author did right. Since poets are constantly reading and revising other author’s work, this is a great place to do so.  Being able to hear the writing and revision process from another person’s standpoint has really allowed me to open my eyes to certain processes that could work for me in the future.

                Finally, I have never considered another person reading my work simply because writing has always been a very personal thing to me. I have learned from this class that I can only become a better writer if I share my pieces with others. This class has taught me that in the right environment criticisms of my writing can be a good thing! Maybe I was just always afraid of others’ opinions but this class has been so helpful in helping me come out of my shell. I have gotten more comfortable presenting a piece. I allow people’s opinions to bring me up instead of down. I have ever considered writing something for some kind of publication!

                As a whole, I have learned some valuable information about poetry that I can pass on to my students. All in all, I think if I can become a better writer, I can in turn become a better teacher! In my mind, that would be the greatest thing ever!