There's a problem with projects: they have to begin. Spontaneous creation has far less nuance, but it wants to start, and you just have to let it. A project that you've been planning for a while, well... a thousand different iterations have been floating around, in their potential form, for however long you've been planning the project's little twists and turns. And as you develop the arcs and leaps, and they give you great pleasure to think about, you almost want to hold off putting pen to paper, for fear of ruining the project's perfect immaterial existence.
Not that this will make much sense to anyone not familiar with the project, but I bought a notebook and a good pen today for the purpose of composing the raw text to my almost four-year-old Anatomy of Poetry project. And I never write well at night (not true), but I just can't bring nib to notebook....
so frustrating, as this is but the first step in a long progress of steps to actually complete the damn thing.
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I propose some sort of pretension-meter to watch over this project. keep you honest, etc. red-line when you're getting dangerous. because you listen to red-lines, after all. and after all, I am one of your most non-pretentious friends myself, and have not taken on a very ambitious and pretentious poetry project myself quite recently.
but really, just do it. first drafts are messy and always better than they feel while you're writing them.
and keep me posted on the progress, because deep down I really support this project
deep down, everybody supports this project. Just really deep down sometimes.
Started the raw text.
We'll see.
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/011504/how-is-your-project.gif
I know you have it, but I love the feature on drafts in the Paris Review. It's kind of a breathe of fresh air when you can see other writers foibles and go, 'ahh. They're not smarter. They're just more patient.'
I know! That section was so well-done.... Even though I've been through that issue cover to cover, I keep going back to that piece... you're right, it's very reassuring.
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