Wow, Beard's and Bascomb's essays, and your reflections here, helped me complete a draft I have been working on for months. I initially struggled to relate Beard's craft to mine, because her story telling is so phenomenal, I was really just along for the ride, barely conscious of reading; whereas I don't consider myself much of a story teller, in conversation or in writing. I'm a reflective essayist--spiral and descent are the way I maneuver. But I have been struggling for months on a piece that is mostly poetry, playing with a metaphor that is profoundly meaningful to me, and I want to invite readers into its meaning. But for the final section I needed to pivot back to essay form, and I could not find a way through it without becoming blandly philosophical or spiritually aloof--hardly an invitation! There is just so much meaning attached to what I'm trying to write, every time I approached it I felt like was trying to funnel an ocean onto the page.
But after reading these pieces and your reflections, I knew what to look for: look for the mounting tension. I found it in the sentence: "I have tried and tried to write the end of this poem, and I cannot." and I stayed with that tension. The next paragraph began, "for months I have demanded a poem my body cannot deliver." Staying with that tension, anchored me so I could write sentence after sentence until I finally made my way to the essay's/poem's end.
I wish I could say more about Beard's essay, because it was so phenomenal, the way it carried me. But i didn't do the second read you recommended, so I'm more in a "what just happened?" state. But your reflections here are so beautiful, and I'm finding so much value from this course, even though I'm only able to participate in a very limited way.
Wow, Beard's and Bascomb's essays, and your reflections here, helped me complete a draft I have been working on for months. I initially struggled to relate Beard's craft to mine, because her story telling is so phenomenal, I was really just along for the ride, barely conscious of reading; whereas I don't consider myself much of a story teller, in conversation or in writing. I'm a reflective essayist--spiral and descent are the way I maneuver. But I have been struggling for months on a piece that is mostly poetry, playing with a metaphor that is profoundly meaningful to me, and I want to invite readers into its meaning. But for the final section I needed to pivot back to essay form, and I could not find a way through it without becoming blandly philosophical or spiritually aloof--hardly an invitation! There is just so much meaning attached to what I'm trying to write, every time I approached it I felt like was trying to funnel an ocean onto the page.
But after reading these pieces and your reflections, I knew what to look for: look for the mounting tension. I found it in the sentence: "I have tried and tried to write the end of this poem, and I cannot." and I stayed with that tension. The next paragraph began, "for months I have demanded a poem my body cannot deliver." Staying with that tension, anchored me so I could write sentence after sentence until I finally made my way to the essay's/poem's end.
I wish I could say more about Beard's essay, because it was so phenomenal, the way it carried me. But i didn't do the second read you recommended, so I'm more in a "what just happened?" state. But your reflections here are so beautiful, and I'm finding so much value from this course, even though I'm only able to participate in a very limited way.