The Endless Editing Process: Creating and Sharing My Literary Journey

Reflecting on a comment I read a while ago, I was reminded of Jayson Van's sentiment that his editing process is often a never-ending one, potentially even infinite. This resonated with my own experience as a creative writer who engages in poetry for personal fulfillment rather than academic purposes. As a writer who is intensely invested in the purity of my words and the structure of my poetry, I have found the editing process to be overwhelmingly exhausting but deeply rewarding.

My Journey in Creative Writing

My poetic journey began in my twenties, and I have since poured countless hours into refining and revising my work. The number of edits—words, lines, entire stanzas being shifted, deleted, or rethought—is impossible to quantify. Each poem, a labour of love, is a testament to the transformative power of language and the detailed attention required to capture fleeting moments of beauty or profound emotions.

The Birth of "The Second Decade "

When I decided to collate my poetry into a booklet for my dear friend Will, I truly believed this to be the end of my editing process. Will, who is also a self-published poet, had shared his work with me, inspiring me to do the same. I titled the booklet "The Second Decade," which, for me, represented the second decade of my poetry writing, not the second decade of my life. This period was marked by significant life changes, including getting married and living a different lifestyle than my earlier years, during which I lacked the solitude needed for creative expression.

The Creation Process: A Personal Craft

With the time and opportunity to write again, I embarked on creating another decade’s worth of poetry. This project was not just about writing; it was about the meticulous process of arranging the poems. I purchased high-quality cotton stationery and put my heart into the layout of each booklet. The effort was immense, and it took me a considerable amount of time to complete the five booklets I made—each one a precious gift to those who mattered most to me: my poet friend, my mother, my son, another friend who also shared her poetry, and myself.

The Revelation of My Final Copies

Feeling a deep sense of relief at the completion of this project, I thought these poems were now set in stone, unchangeable. However, life has a way of presenting us with new revelations. Not every recipient of these booklets engaged with the work as deeply as I had hoped. Will was the only one who read and truly appreciated the poetry. This realization underscored for me the nature of my creations—always subject to change and reinterpretation, even after they have been shared.

The Impermanence of Art

As a writer, I have discovered that while physical copies of my poems may exist, the act of creation and interpretation is ongoing. The copies I shared with others, including my booklet "The Second Decade," are now in fewer hands than before. The experience of self-publishing has taught me that even after sharing my work, the need for further refinement and personal expression continues. This is a valuable lesson in the impermanence and the endless nature of the creative process. My poems, while seemingly finalized, can still be edited, and I often find myself revisiting and refining them in various forms.

Conclusion: A Continuous Journey

From the moment I first penned my verses to the present, the editing process remains a constant. It is a journey of self-discovery, a reflection of my evolving perspective, and a bridge between the past and the present. My poetry, like life itself, is a work in progress, a seamless blend of past experiences, current insights, and future aspirations. In the end, the act of creation and the act of editing are one and the same, a dance of words that continues to evolve.