From ecda49e0b20ad3bd52449356dccf2f8095ecfb70 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Case Duckworth Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 21:49:45 -0700 Subject: Flatten directory structure All content files (*.txt, *.html, *.river) are now in /. I did this to simplify the compilation step, and to make linking easier. I'm still thinking about whether I should move the contents of js/, img/, and lua/ into /, or into an 'assets' folder of some sort. We'll see. --- manifesto_poetics.txt | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 45 insertions(+) create mode 100644 manifesto_poetics.txt (limited to 'manifesto_poetics.txt') diff --git a/manifesto_poetics.txt b/manifesto_poetics.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..988c047 --- /dev/null +++ b/manifesto_poetics.txt @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +title: Manifesto of poetics +id: manifesto_poetics +genre: prose + +project: + title: Stark raving + class: stark +... + +What is a poem? +I think it was Yeats that called a poem "the best words in the best order," and that isn't an inaccurate description, but I don't think it captures all of what a poem is. +[Let me start][] with communication. + +Communication is a transaction, an exchange between two people or entities, in which one (the Speaker/Writer/Communicator) gives the other (the Reader/Listener/Consumer) a \ +set of ideas / \ +a wireframe organization of a concept / \ +a set of reasons/instructions for action. +In many kinds of communication, for example speeches, reports, or advertisements, the kind of ideas transacted are generally factual/logical/brain-based in nature. +In art, these ideas are emotional/heart-based. +In short, Art is to Emotion as an [Article][] is to Information. +I think art should strive to transmit the emotion the author feels as efficiently as possible to the reader of that art. + +In order to do this, multiple notation systems have been devised. +Music is the most notable example that comes to mind, as it has the most rigid style, but grammar, as used self-consciously in writing, would be another example. +Poetry has only a very loose set of rules and assumptions that allow it a sort of notational language, and this is complicated by the fact that when writing poetry, the author writes for a different medium: poetry is meant to be performed aloud. +This makes the notation system even more important, but again, it's hard to come up with a system that will be read mostly the same by most people. + +What I've been trying to do since I began writing is develop a personal notation system, or what I think most would refer to as my "voice" as a poet/writer (I personally don't like the word "poet," as it sounds pretentious to me; I'm aware I should get over this). + +However, there were some places that still needed improving from my draft manuscript: most notably, my prose in "Rip Tide of Memory" (now only "Rip Tide") and "AMBER Alert." +I rewrote each to tighten their syntactic and idea rhythm, to make them move more lightly and gracefully. + +The most notable difference in my series is the reordering of poems within it. +I think that in my first draft, I spent so much time on getting my individual poems tight and polished that I threw them together somewhat haphazardly, using a loose thematic correspondence with the fake "Table of contents." +With the new order, I hope this has been fixed: the piece consists of six sections, each with three poems (A new one, "Everything stays the same," makes the totals correct). +Each section has a thematic/emotional/personal element that ties the sections together. +They are ordered by the order in which I wrote the sestinas at the beginning of each section, which works out to make the series move from identity to memory to a feeling of universal justice, and from there to a discussion of death and (something like) love that culminates in an exploration of the nature of time and cosmology. +The piece is bookended by the fake "Table of contents" (provided at the end as an ironic commentary on the rest of the text) and an "About the author" section. +I think it works better this way, and I think the "About the author" at the beginning serves as a fair prelude poem to the piece. + +I'm excited to be a writer like I haven't been before. + +[Let me start]: prelude.html +[Article]: README.html#fn1 -- cgit 1.4.1-21-gabe81