Word Rampage

I came up with a brilliant new way so say rant! Word rampage is my new saying whenever I start to complain. So look forward to that in the future, if I remember it.

Lots going on at school today. The writer-in-residence, Sheri-D Wilson, was there from Tuesday to Thursday, and I managed to go to every single event. Pretty impressive, for me. I was just lucky that I was at school all those days.

First off was her doing a public reading. It took place in the library, and I feel kind of bad for anyone that was actually trying to study, because damn, she is loud. In a good way, of course. I don't think the reading would have been the same if she had an indoor voice, and especially not with a library voice. So at this reading I realized that I loved her poetry style, and not just because of how she read it. It was real, and understandable. It wasn't trying to be mysterious, or to tie the reader's minds in knots. It was what it was, and it was beautiful.

The next day I sacrificed sleep to be at school by ten. That doesn't sound very early, but bear in mind that it takes me about two hours to get to school, and I like another two hours before I leave. So I was up at six o'clock... But I was at school for the workshop she was holding, and I'm really glad I decided to go. I thought it would be about writing poetry, and some tips and hints. However, this was all on spoken word, and how to read your poems properly. I am horrible at reading in front of people. I've gotten better in the last few years, because for some reason my ego has inflated ten fold (I have no idea why...) I can read loud and project my voice, and I can strut up to the podium or front of the class as if I own the place, but I still talk to fast. At the workshop, Sheri-D taught us all when to pause, and when to give emphasis on words. So now I at least know how to read my poems. Actually reading them, in front of people, is something else entirely. It's like knowing exactly what you'll write for an essay, or knowing all the formulas on a math test, but then you go and write it, and everything has just drifted away.

Today I had a one-on-one with her, which is one of the scariest things I've ever done (somewhere between going into a haunted house, and my first day of college). However, I found it was more the wait until that point that scared me the most. Once I was in there and couldn't back out, I really relaxed. Well, ten minutes in I relaxed. I had read a poem yesterday that she really liked, and we went over it in detail today, picking at every line. I definitely think it's a poem I can make longer and work on. At the moment, it's composed of beautiful lines, but no story. When I was writing it, I didn't really think story, I just thought theme. Now though, I see that there is a bit of a story to it, and I really want to continue with it.
We did a few other poems, but none of them were as in-depth, though she did comment on how she liked them all.I definitely need to keep working on them all, especially on length, but I'm still very proud. I still don't believe that poetry is one of my strong points, but I guess by thinking that, I will only get better.

And finally after class today there was a talk on the writing craft. It was mostly anecdotes and a few tips about Spoken Word, but it was still great. It's a shame that she's not a professor at my school. It would have been great to have a whole class with her.