Tag: filing

Angst/

So when is the editing done?

A quiet morning, so I’m taking the time to go through all the hurriedly-filed poems and get organised, as I want to send a few more submissions out – to fill the hole left by those I’ve finally given up on.

poetry filing

 

I knew I’d been hanging onto a few, waiting for the submissions windows of the mags they feel destined for. But I didn’t realised how many there were, in various states of completion. In the end I counted 35, and that’s just the ones I’ve printed out (I usually only do this if I think they’re ready or nearly ready. It also included poems that’ve been sent out, perhaps several times, but haven’t yet found homes. It doesn’t include those currently out.)

Now I’ll go through and categorise them – OK to resend as-is, need some work (but hopefully the last edits before sending), needs a lot of work (some editing then re-file to look at another time). I’m hopeful there won’t be anything to ditch entirely (I’ve already got rid of two this morning which just seemed un-rescuable.)

Everyone has their own thoughts about editing & reworking. When is the editing done? Experienced poets say a poem isn’t necessarily finished when it’s published. I can see how that might happen if you’re deciding on poems to put into a collection, and you may look at something published in a magazine a few years back and decide you can improve it. My trouble is that I sometimes re-work a poem while it’s out for consideration somewhere, then if it’s rejected I’m kind of relieved because I think the newer version is better. Perhaps the reason I do it is because I’m subconsciously pre-empting a rejection? Hmm, I probably shouldn’t waste time wondering about that.

What I do know (for me anyway so I imagine it’s the same for many people) is that there is no correlation between the number of edits and/or length of time a poem sits ‘maturing’ and whether it gets published and/or placed somewhere. I’ll repeat that: no correlation.

I can’t pretend to enjoy the waiting game once something has been sent out, but I do enjoy the editing/filing/re-working is it any good/is it finished angsty stuff leading up to that point, and although I frequently kill my darlings once they’re been through 5 or 6 rejections, there are a few that are still hanging on. Because just occasionally an old one finally gets pummelled into something worth reading, and that’s very satisfying.

Submissions/

How’s your filing? And what’s in a (folder) name?

Open Lever Arch File

Here’s a pressing question – what sort of filing system do you favour?

Open Lever Arch File

I love my lever arch files, with their colour-coded dividers and lovingly decided section names. But if you leave the filing for a while the ‘unclassified’ section at the front becomes unwieldy, and it’s impossible to find anything. But (for me) at least the process of weeding, filing and sorting paper has a certain satisfaction.

And now to the computer. The very nature of computer filing (the ease with which you can change folder and file names, not to mention the ease with which you can create new iterations of files – or overwrite them – and the limitless capacity of folders) should make it all a doddle. At least you don’t have to grab the tippex or cut up white labels to stick over section names if you change your mind, or buy new lever arch files.

But for some reason I find the ease of computer filing also creates a increased burden of decision-making. I started with a reasonably rational file name: ‘Poetry’. Then a few subfolder names suggested themselves: ‘working on’, ‘magazines’ (which of course needs the sub-subfolder name ‘correspondance’), the hopeful ‘submitted no reply yet’, the victorious ‘published-forthcoming’ and the sad “failed submissions’. (There’s also ‘archive’ which is mostly rubbish which I just can’t bring myself to delete, with the subfolder ‘may be worth re-working’.. and other folders which probably need deleting or consolidating.)

Now, I’m aware that although I choose to call my sad folder ‘failed submissions’, others may use the blunt phrase ‘rejected’. But I deliberately avoid that. I know that I will never look at any folder called ‘rejected’, whereas ‘failed submissions’ seems like a objective, rational sort of category – one woman’s failure is another’s opportunity, etc. And ‘rejected’ just gives too much power to the rejector, in my mind. Having had a few ‘failed submissions’ find their way into the ‘published-forthcoming’ folder, I feel justified in these semantic decisions.

What do you think? Care to share your filing system? Is it important what we call folders?