Posted in Life, Poetry, Writing

Reworked Work #weeklysmile

Posted on by Penny Wilson Writes

I’ve had a lot to smile about this past week.  Chuck, a friend of mine over at The Reluctant Poet (who is a sweetheart for sharing some of my work) made some suggestions about formatting my poetry and prose for my upcoming book. I’m sure glad that he did!

The process of formatting, editing,  and proofing everything has been tedious.  But it’s paying off!  While putting said book together, I’ve discovered, what I think, may be a few hidden gems.  In my humble opinion.  🙂

In order to rework these poems, I have been forced to look at my work with fresh eyes.  Doing this has given me a completely new view of things and I am amazed at how differently I see things that I thought were just fine and set in stone the way they were.

Below, is a poem I wrote a long time ago.  It’s always been a favorite of mine.  It deals with the struggles of resisting sin.  It never received the response that I felt it to be worthy of.  After a little tweaking and restructuring, I think that it now may be ready for the spotlight.

I call this Skirmish of Sins.  I hope you like it.  🙂

Stripped clean


Yesterday still ringing

in my ears

Bruised


But not

beaten


Never beaten


Sinner

or saint


Who

should judge


Slain

yesterday’s wrongs


Tomorrow

yields yet

another skirmish

of sins

Copyright (C) 2018 Penny Wilson

*This post is in response to Trent McDonald’s #weeklysmile.  If you would like to get in on the fun you can find out all about it HERE.

 

 

Author:

Penny Wilson is an international writer who writes in several genres. She has written articles for WOW Women on Writing. Her poetry has been published in online journals, such as Ariel Chart, Spill Words Press and the Poppy Road Review. Penny is a member of the Austin Poetry Society. Her poetry has been featured in the publication America's Emerging Poets 2018 & 2019 by Z Publishing and Poets Quarterly and Dual Coast Magazine published by Prolific Press. Most recently, you can find her poetry in an anthology by WordCrafter Press called Poetry Treasures. Penny is an advocate for Mental Health Awareness and has the page "Mental Health Help" on her blog. She writes about the struggles of mental illnesses and Depression. She is passionate about spreading awareness for Suicide Prevention and Domestic Abuse. She expresses her passion through her writings of poetry and life experiences. You can find more of her writings on her blog at https://pennywilsonwrites.com/

16 thoughts on “Reworked Work #weeklysmile”

  1. Chuck is one of my favorite people, as well! I agree with rewriting our work from the past. Sometimes, I wonder who wrote some of my older pieces!? I have trashed and rewritten many of my posts because my writing style has changed considerably. It’s a real eye-opener and most beneficial, in my opinion.

    Your poem is outstanding and it just proves how the structure of a piece can enhance its meaning.

    Thank you for following ThusNSuch!

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  2. Hi Penny,

    This idea of revisiting our work is easily one of the first things I cheered for when I started my story blog. What surprised me though, was how different my own mind reacted to my own writing given the distance of time and whatever experiences I’ve had in the passing time.

    How anyone filters our writing is not only unimaginable wide, but it also changes over time – even to the writer. This leaves me always trying to get into the head of my readers, knowing full well I will never fully understand any of them – which is not a bad analogy for how God views our struggle to defeat – fully defeat – sin.

    You well captured this same thought in your poem. It is so good to meet you.

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    1. Thank you, Gary! It amazed me as I went through my pieces how differently I would look at them. I have a friend through WordPress that is always gleaning writing ideas from old pieces of work. It’s a good idea! So very nice to meet you too! 🙂

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  3. Pingback: The Weekly Smile Recap Week of 11/26 – 12/2/2018 #weeklysmile | Trent's World (the Blog)

  5. Oh, Penny!! You are such a sweetheart!! Thanks so much for the very kind mention!! I was just doing my “bestest” as a Beta Reader! I am so happy and pleased that you found my “Little Ol’ comments helpful!!!

    I loved this post! So happy you chose to share this with us! Bellissimo, Penny, Bellissimo!!
    xoxoxo

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  6. I have been forced to look at my work with fresh eyes. Doing this has given me a completely new view of things and I am amazed at how differently I see things that I thought were just fine and set in stone the way they were.

    Yes, if we can stand back and view our work with fresh eyes it helps. Friends and family are not always our best critics. I am revisiting some of the poetry I wrote years ago and can’t believe how much my style of writing has changed.

    I like the poem above but ask if the formatting with so much white space and air (breath pause) is intentional?

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    1. Thank you and I agree with you about the white space. It’s something that I have not figured out how to get around in WordPress’s editor. I’ll usually start my piece in Word and then Copy and Past into WordPress. Even if the whole thing was single-spaced in Word, it will show up on WordPress as double-spaced. If I double space in Word, it’s quadruple spaced on WordPress!! I don’t get it! Do you know why?
      Thank you for the comment and the visit! 🙂

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  7. Editing and formatting are the “dark side” of writing… at least to me 😉 I just reformatted my next book after looking at a proof. I need to go back and redo all of them – “good enough” is never good enough! And it can be an eye opener, as you’ve discovered.

    It’s cool that you can see everything with a fresh new eye. It is important to be able to do it – I know I struggle!

    I like the poem 🙂

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