I had the wonderful opportunity to meet former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins last Friday/Saturday. On Friday I volunteered at MoonLIT Bridge, a gala for The Loft. Collins was the featured speaker. On Saturday, this year's mentees (along with last year's mentees) had a private audience with Collins. He gave some great advice regarding writing and poetry.
And he liked my outfit on Friday night!
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Give us a sample of the great advice?
Yes! Here are a couple of nuggets.
You need to avoid sentimentality in your writing. The reader should become emotional, not you.
We want strangers to love us. Give them beautiful writing that they are compelled to read and learn more about you and your thoughts.
Begin a poem (or any piece of writing) with clarity. Squarely ground the reader. Then, you can move into the more mysterious and ethereal.
What cards are you going to turn up? Which are you going to leave down? What are you going to reveal to your reader? Don't reveal everything, but enough so they get a sense of what you're talking about.
I agree, that's great advice. I especially like number 2 and number 3. Thanks for sharing details!
Geez, I don't mean to be anonymous, but when I enter my web site it doesn't show up as a link in my comments. Here I am:
www.KellyMadiganErlandson.com
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