Part Seven. Major and Minor Surgery: On Revision and Writer's Block B. Reflections Summary and Analysis

Five short essays make up the last portion of the book. These are not exercises but rather reflections on the use (or uselessness) of poetry exercises, the value of revision, and what writers can expect from the process. Stanley Plumly in "The Rewrite as Assignment," thinks that writing exercises are worthless but that re-writing is the best part . Lynn Emanuel takes a different approach, considering the re-writing to be the worst part, when the process of writing poetry moves from fun to the potential for punishment. Donald Justice feels that revision is easy since it is simply a matter of taking out the bad parts. Susan Snively, in "Waiting and Silence" says that leaving the poem alone...