What Happened When a Psychology Professor Read My Poems

My collection of poems, Through These Dark Lands Are Edges of Joy, is intended to encourage and give hope to people going through dark and difficult times but it can be seen as advice or counsel which I am not qualified to give. I was concerned that my poems may fall short of the goal of encouragement or that what I consider to be good, and hopeful, sentiment may be bad advice and inappropriate.

Fortunately, I have a professional friend who teaches psychology at a Seminary. I asked him if he would be willing to read them over and alert me if in his professional opinion anything I wrote was some kind of bad advice.

He said he would be glad to look them over but he was very busy with his practice and teaching three classes at the seminary so it would be a while before he could get to it.

I was afraid that this might be one of those things that comes between friends and makes things awkward. I was anxious to get his thoughts but I was afraid to ask him every time I saw him. Occasionally he would say that he had not forgotten but that that the pressures on his time were great and I would reassure him that I was not in a hurry for his observations.

I was surprised on Friday when he gave back the manuscript. At first, I thought that he was unable to review the work, but instead, he said that he made time in his busy schedule to look them over and had no concerns about the content of the writing. I do not want to put words in his mouth but he was generally positive and encouraging.  He said he found it to be very hopeful and he was looking forward to seeing it published.

He had only a few observations about the structure of the manuscript and made some minor suggestions about style, like a word in a title, and that I should include a table of contents.

I was very reassured by his encouragement and extremely grateful for it.

(c) Adron 11/12/17

Should I Illustrate My Book Of Poems?

I like to draw and paint so friends know me as an artist and I wonder if I should illustrate my book of poems. Will it enhance my book or subtract from it?

MAYBE NOT
My first thought is that poets who illustrate their own work are seen as amateur and juvenile. It is the kind of thing that a kid in middle school does.

When someone opens a book of poetry and it is only words then they must focus on the words; illustrations can be a distraction and alter the reader's interpretation of the poem unless the statement of the poem is so clear that it begs its own point.

If the illustrations are poor quality or badly done then the effect will prevent the reader from appreciating the writing.

BUT MAYBE
In the world of self-publishing poetry, there are mountains of books published every year so the challenge is to stand out from the crowd. Perhaps tasteful and quality artwork can give the book a broader appeal.

NICHE
When you see a book of illustrated poetry you think it is a gift volume, the kind that is in the gift card aisle of the grocery store or sold at craft shows and indi-book-conventions.

In this modern world niche is everything. It is how you market and where you find your identity, so maybe illustrating the collection might give me a place in a nitch.

DO I WANT TO DO ALL THAT WORK?
I have about 85 poems in the collection. To create passable illustrations would take about ten hours each, which would mean working full time for two months.  Instead, I could design a few and cycle them over and over throughout the book, or do something generic and put the same one on each page and then only need to create a few.

WILL I EVER BE DONE?
If I do illustrate it, even in part, then I am afraid that it will push back the release and publication even more.

Since I envision my book as something that people would give to friends who are feeling down I think it would be best to enhance the gift book nature of it. That means I will probably draw some illustrations.

(c) Adron 10/12/17

How Many Poems Is The Right Number For This Book?

I feel that long books of poetry and such writings are lost on the modern reader who typically is impatient and has a short attention span. So I do not think that I want to put out a large collection of poems, but how many is the right number for this collection?

FORTY IS A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER
I first set the number of poems for my collection, Through These Dark Lands Are Edges Of Joy, at forty or so pieces. I like the number forty, it is all over the Bible. Forty poems give about twenty to thirty minutes of reading and I thought the message of encouragement could be easily conveyed within that scope.

CHAPBOOK
My format was to be a chapbook, which is by definition a small collection of poetry, twenty-five to thirty-five poems (about forty pages) so forty short poems would push the upper range but I could still call it a chapbook.

I went through my collection of unpublished works and found a little more than forty so I figured fifty wasn't much more and could still work; it would be too big to call a chapbook but could work as a small collection.

MORE CAME TO ME
As I was polishing the fifty or so I felt inspirations to add in a couple more. Additionally, in my daily Bible reading I got some ideas for a few more that I thought would easily fit in the collection.

Well, sometimes one thing spins off into another because a sentence or phrase is not right for that piece but it is too good to throw away, so a few more came into being.

Then I had about sixty-five poems.

RESEARCH
I am not an expert on the subject, so I looked around for books about going through hard experiences since I did not want to make someone feel worse than they already did, which sometimes happens.  Some of the books said some really powerful things that I did not consider- which means I added a few more poems.

DONE?
A few weeks ago I called it done. I had worked on the collection for about nine months and I had about 92 poems and thought it was getting way too big. I was eager to finish it up, so I got some help with editing and started to make the final adjustments to the manuscript. Someone suggested the collection was too dark for my purpose of being an encouragement, so I did some "tweaking" and had a couple of ideas for a few more poems to finish the collection with an upbeat feel.

It was now at about 99 pages including the usual stuff at the beginning. I felt the collection was at the absolute maximum length it can go.

AND THEN
And then while reading my Bible this morning I got an "impression," or an idea about another poem that would be so perfect at the end of the collection, so here it goes again. I worked most of the day on two more to finish the collection and stuck them in.

REALLY, NOW
Ok, I really think it can't be any longer than a hundred and one pages, and that includes all the legal stuff at the front and the appendix at the back.

WHAT HAPPENED?
I could have just said forty and stopped there, or fifty or sixty-five, but in this case, I am trying to fulfill what I believe is a mandate from the Lord to do this thing as an offering to Him, so I prayerfully let Him dictate the length and content. If my vision was for a particular product of a certain size then I could be arbitrary, but since I want to be in obedience to the Lord's guidance I must let him dictate.

BESIDES
I want to get it done and give it to people in time for Christmas and will need to move ahead with the printer soon.

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(c)Adron 10/8/17

Should I Edit My Manuscript Electronically Or On Paper?

I have been trying to make some revisions and tidy up my collection of poems, Beyond These Dark Lands Are Edges of Joy, so they would be ready for publication. I have been going back and forth between the computer and paper versions of my manuscript trying to determine the better method of editing my poems.

I am kind of a visual person so the way things look affects my approach to it. When I see the pages laid out it gives me a feel for the overall presentation and spirit of the book.  On the other hand, I want to create a serious and professional piece of literature, so I must use the computer.

PRINT ON PAPER
I have found that looking at the paper version gives me a sense of spirit or soul of the poems and not just grammar or sentence structure.

ORGANIZING
Printed pages make it easy to lay the poems out on the table and see them as a collection rather than as single pieces on the monitor screen.  I can use different strategies like spreading them across the table or putting them into stacks. I can see groupings and progression through the collection.

CREATIVE PROCESS
I can write out comments and experiment with things on paper in a way I can't with the computer. I can write out a new line and look at it in comparison to other lines in the poem. I can draw arrows to move things up or down or switch words around. I can draw a line through a word and consider removing it without removing it on the computer which means a hassle of back-clicks if I want to restore it.

Then after I have marked up the pages I can return to the computer and change file, then print it out and set the old and new side by side to compare the changes.

MY MOOD CHANGES
I know I can do all these things on the computer but when I relax in my favorite chair and hold a few pages I have a different mood as I read the poems. I can look at them with a new freshness. I can read them to enjoy and not as a project. For a moment I am not being a worker in words but an audience, and I am able to see the poems the way my future readers will.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but seeing the pages and touching the paper gives me a sense of interaction that I lack using the computer.  Somehow I feel better connected to the printed page than I do on with a digital image on a screen, but the functionality of the computer gets the work done. I guess I will have to struggle to find balance in my efforts between paper and electronic.

(c) Adron 10/1/17

Should I Organize My Book Of Poems Into Chapters?

Someone suggested that I organize the poems for my book, Beyond These Dark Lands are Edges Of Joy, into chapters, and I wonder if I should.

ADVANTAGES
There are some advantages to using chapters.

• Chapters can break up the collection into manageable sections for the reader.
• Chapters can each present a theme.
• Chapters can offer the reader choices in how they consume the collection.
• Chapters can give a preview and prepare the reader for the pages that follow. 
• Chapters give the reader a quick overview of the entire work.

PROBLEMS
Chapters can create problems for a book of poems. They can limit the reader's interpretation of a poem because the reader views the poem through the context of the chapter title and not experience the poem in its own unique way.

QUESTIONS
If I start to organize the poems into chapters then new questions arise...

• How many chapters? 
• How many poems should be in each one?
• Should all the chapters be the same length?
• Should the chapter titles support the name of the book or cast ahead to the poems that follow?
• If some poems do not fit the theme of any of the chapters, do I edit them out or write a few more poems to make a new chapter or rewrite the poems so they fit one of the chapters, and risk a weaker poem or a weaker chapter?

ON THE OTHER HAND

Without the chapter divisions, the reader can progress through the collection and come to a conclusion one poem at a time. 

ON THE OTHER-OTHER HAND

Without chapter divisions, the reader may get tired and since they do not see a dividing point put it down and not return to it.  

VISION

My choices must be measured against my original vision for the project, or else I will end up with something that will lack unity, be confusing and without a clear message. I feel that God gave me the idea to write this book of poems to encourage people who are going through difficult times with a reminder of His sacrificial love and wise purpose for them. Which brings me to the biggest question of all; will a chapter based format enhance my original vision for the work or take away from it?

I can just say yes or no and get on with it, but what if I am wrong and miss an opportunity to make the collection better than it would have been otherwise?

I will test the collection both ways for a while. I'll organize them one way (in chapter form) and see if it works and then I'll arrange them the other way (without chapter breaks) and see if it is better. After I look at them both ways for a while I will decide.

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(c) Adron 3/4/18

How Should I Respond To My Editor's Observations?

My editor returned my collection of poems with some suggestions and observations. They are mostly good and positive, which I ate up. But she made a few comments which caused me to reevaluate my entire project.

It is important to use the advice of others who you trust. They will see things you miss and point out things you might not have considered because you are so involved with the project. So, if the advice is honest and sincere you have to give it some respect.

One of her observation was that there was a sadness or tone of depression in many of the poems and that influenced the overall voice of the work.

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I have noticed before that my poems had a lot of phrases that invoked images or feelings of sadness. I was not sure if it was some internal reflection on my part since as their author I had a unique connection with the poems. Now I know the reader finds the same voice of sadness.

This is not good news to me. I wanted the book to be one of encouragement and hope not a rallying flag to some self-pity celebration. If I revisit and edit each poem I will have a big job on my hands and may have to push back publishing to early spring.

I am committed to the vision God gave me to write a collection of poems that can be given out to encourage people and point them to God. For this to happen it has to be a meaningful product that one person will be blessed by and then want to pass it along, not something that will get them depressed and toss the book away.

I believe this project is important and will bless many people. Since anything that is worth having or doing is also worth the price and sacrifice I will take her advice and revise the collection one poem at a time. A large number will require attention. I think some only need a line edited out, or another line added to turn it around. There may be a few poems that I will have to remove completely. I may add one or two that celebrates joy, and hope.

I am grateful for her help in making this book a light and hope for many.

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What happens when your wife edits your manuscript?

Before I get in trouble with wives everywhere, let me begin by saying that God has blessed me with the gift of a very intelligent, talented, insightful, beautiful and wonderful woman for a wife.

My wife has an English degree in English as a Second Language, so she is competent to look over my collection for punctuation and stuff. I was reluctant to ask her to edit my poetry because I was afraid that she may be biased, or lack objectivity in some particular thing or other. I thought maybe she would not give hard criticism of my work or go to the other extreme and see it as only a favor and not a serious project.


There is a danger that I would pester her about it and keep asking for an update on her progress, which would cause her to become anxious or feel like she is being used. So, I gave it to her and not ask about it until she was done. This would be the same as if I had sent the work away to an editor; I would not call every day and ask about it. I thought it was important to treat her service in the same professional manner, and I feel that is the correct approach on a serious project.

She has finished editing my collection. As I read her comments and discuss it with her I am glad and grateful that we are doing this together. I think she gave me some excellent positive criticism and sincere observations. I will easily go through the collection of poems and make the grammar changes, and over the next few weeks work on some style changes regarding the tone of some the poems to give them a more upbeat feel.

She made several suggestions about organizing the work into chapters with different themes and since I was thinking along those same lines I will be working on that idea for a few weeks.

I am excited about my partnership with her, sometimes spouses do not work well together in business or areas of creativity, and there are times when we have disagreements, just like anybody else, but her help is going to make this into a much more meaningful book for many people.

It may not be everybody's experience that asking a spouse to edit your writing works out well, but in this case, I feel it has.