Quote:
Originally Posted by Elise Hempel
Roger,
Sometimes arguments are good and get things done. I don't know why you're so angry about my posting. Maybe I shouldn't have posted at all, but I saw yet another member dismiss every single crit and wondered why he/she posted a poem at all. What's the point of entering a workshop if you think your poem is already perfect and you're just going to dismiss everything the teachers [sic] say?
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Just as you don't see the point of posting a poem and then not revising in response to critiques, I don't see the point of posting a question and then not engaging with the answers people have patiently provided. I'm guessing you don't want any answer but "You're absolutely right! Good point!"
Perhaps you should simply accept the fact that you're possibly the only person here who thinks that a failure to revise in reaction to critiques means that the poet must have thought the poem was perfect to begin with. As I said, a poet may be generally satisfied with a poem but wish to put it to a final test. Or a poet may be dissatisfied with the poem but also dissatisfied with the suggestions for improvement. Or maybe the poet is unable to come up with a solution to issues that are raised. In any case, a failure to follow the suggestions made by the "teachers" does not logically suggest that the poet thought the poem was already perfect, no matter how many times you keep insisting that it does.*
If these answers do not strike you as satisfactory, or you disagree with their premises, then by all means you can attempt to explain why. But you haven't done that. You've simply retreated to your initial question, rudely ignoring the people who have taken the time to try to answer the question already. Which suggests to me that you weren't actually seeking an answer to your question but were seeking agreement and praise for your insight.
But I do agree with you when you say "Maybe I shouldn't have posted at all." There's an insight I can get behind.
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* It's interesting that you use the word "teachers" to describe people who offer comments and critiques. Maybe that's at the heart of our disagreement.