The Craft Essay

"So lay down, the threat is real..."-Chevelle, The Red

I don't often write in praise of what my creative writing professors have had me do in school. In fact, this may be the first time one of their assignments has ever prompted to write in a positive way. Rest assured, my opinion on creative writing programs remains mixed at best.

But I have to admit that my poetry professor's assignment to write "craft essays" has proved surprisingly helpful. As I've gone back and revised the poetry I wrote for her this semester, I've had to write short essays about my revision process for each one. In and of themselves, they weren't that enlightening. I knew what I was doing as I did it.

As I go back and read over them now, however, they are helping me realize exactly what it is that I value in my poetry. A few phrases keep cropping up again and again: "concise argument," "short and sweet," "good narrative," etc.

These are all things that I would probably have said were part of my "aesthetic" anyway, but it's still somewhat of a happy surprise for me to see that I consistently and unconsciously search for them during my revision process.

I imagine the same idea would work with fiction, and though I haven't tried it, I intend to. When I go back to revise my novel this next semester, I will have three word documents open simultaneously. The first will be the list of changes I intend to make. The second will the chapter I'm working on itself, and the third will be a blank document ready for my thoughts as I revise.

I don't know what exactly this will gain me, but it can only help, and it might help you too.