Writing as Excavation

In his craft talk at The University of Akron last week Mark Doty said that there is a tendency for poets not to reach far enough in their poems. We get swamped by our own craft and somehow that attention to craft prevents us from truly exploring our poem and its possibilities.

Here are some of the tips Doty shared:

• Get better at tolerating your own messiness.


• Suspend the need to judge yourself during the process of writing.


• Practice not finishing a poem.


• Excavate and explore before polishing.