Writer's Series Response

I really enjoyed hearing both of the poets read their work at last night’s reading. Even though I had noticed Olstein’s use of sound devices when I read Lost Alphabet, I noticed her sound techniques even more strongly this time hearing her read her work aloud. Even though her poetry didn’t conform to any regular rhyming patterns, the subtle sound devices of assonance and alliteration made the words flow together so beautifully that they seemed to have a melodic quality.  I noticed the same technique in David Daniel’s poetry too. His poem, “Ornaments” in particular struck me as a poem with a beautiful use of sound. The poem had a beautiful repetition of “s” sounds in phrases such as “the husks of insects” and “the dust will catch fire in the sun shaft.” The way that he repeated the phrase “and beat them” also seemed to serve a similar function to a rhyming pattern. Even though the poem didn’t use rhyme or a regular metrical pattern, the repetition of key words, sounds, and phrases worked to tie the ideas together and to create a beautiful echo of sounds. I would like to experiment more in my own poetry with using sound and rhythm to create a musical quality without a regular rhyme scheme or meter.

I also noticed that both of the poets had a knack for using an effective balance of plain and more ornate words in the diction of their poems. I like the way that they were able to take simple images and places and elevate them to a new level with the way that they described them in detail and used them in metaphors. I would like to emulate this practice of adding depth and meaning to ordinary objects in my own writing. I want to make sure that I don’t overlook any images or ideas just because they initially seem too simple or insignificant.

I also like the advice that Lisa Olstein gave in the Q and A section about not being too married to any one method of writing. I have a tendency sometimes to think that if I can’t follow my usual writing habits or be in my usual writing places I won’t be able to be as effective or productive. I know how important it is for me to be able to write in any place and in any situation because the writing habits that work best for me right now might not work as well or might not even be possible in the future. I liked Olstein’s statement about how our lives evolve and so our writing processes must evolve with them.

I noticed that a lot of the techniques the poet’s used and a lot of the things they talked about in the Q and A section can apply to other genres of writing besides poetry. While I want to emulate the poet’s techniques of sound and rhythm and their use of images and metaphor when I write poetry, I also think that these techniques are equally important and will apply just as much when I write fiction or creative nonfiction.