Hi there,
I am not big on poetry. I try to appreciate it, but it doesn’t capture my imagination the way short stories or novels do.
That said, I appreciate the skill it takes to write a darn good poem that captures the literary devices in one short sonnet or verse.
The reason why people love Alice Muntro so much is that she is able to do in a short story what some novelists cannot do in a novel – draw you into a world with the richness and depth of words, images, symbolism. She obviously worked very hard on the craft of writing.
The “ABC” of fine arts:
Art, Business, Craft
Art
Art is beautiful. We’ve all been witness to this greatness. We’ve seen a dancer perform on stage and have been in awe of the beauty, grace and magic of the performance.
For me, I’ve had two moments like this.
The first was in high school. For someone who majored in English and wanted to be a writer, I was your typical teenager sitting in English class, who barely understood a word of Shakespeare. I also confess that I completely missed the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby. I was pretty clueless. But, one day the teacher showed us two versions of the Shakespeare play we were reading.
I remember sitting in class watching the first version, using my own acting skills to act like I was paying attention and very interested in the play.
But something happened. The teacher put the next version on, and my full attention was on that actor. He was brilliant. His name: Patrick Stewart. I am not a big Star Trek fan, but if an actor can draw a teenage girl into the confusing world of Shakespeare, that actor has got my full respect!
The second one was a recent event. I went to see a Baroque dance performed to strings. She was amazing. Her movements. The control she had over her body. The precision. I was spellbound.
Business
The business. When I took a screenwriting camp, the professor reminded us that it is a business. Know your worth. As writers, especially of fiction and poetry, I bet we all think we’re pretty worthless. We don’t expect to receive anything for what we have written and are tickled if someone wants to publish. I am not sure where to draw the line. The truth is there’s not a lot of money in Canada, so building up your resume is a good idea. I think it’s best to keep this principle in mind, though. Writing is a business. I don’t really know any books that help with this, so if you do, please let us know. We would greatly appreciate it!
Craft
The craft of writing. This is probably the most painful one. At least it is for me. I write knowing that the words you I down on the page will need to be edited. I will need to sit down and do the hard work of sifting through what I have written and make hard choices. E.g. Getting rid of characters or scenes that I may love, but that do not move the story forward. The craft of writing is hard, but well worth the effort. We just need to keep encouraging each other!
Writing feels like “going to sea in a sieve", so I would like to leave you with one of my favourite poems. It is called The Jumblies by Edward Lear. It’s from the Victorian period and falls under the category of “Nonsense Poems”. Lewis Carroll falls into this category.
Enjoy,
Until next time,
Ellie
*Photo from The Jumblies & the Sieve - Caroline Apichella