There’s something that happens during every residency. Sometimes it’s at the end, sometimes it’s right at the beginning, and sometimes it stretches out slowly over the entire residency. This residency, it happened today:

I was inspired to write and once I finished writing the poem, I sat back and looked at what I’d written, and I could see the growth, the maturity, and the development of my poetic voice.

This will be my third semester working on poetry. Today I found out I’ll be working over the semester with Asiya Wadud, an absolutely incredible poet and nonfiction writer. I am thoroughly excited by this pairing! I think I will be challenged in big ways this semester, ways that I hope stay with me for the rest of my life. Developing a writing practice is a lifelong journey. It ebbs and flows with the changes in our circumstances, schedules, and personal responsibilities. And while I’ve been consistently writing and working to develop that writing practice, more than anything else, I want to walk away from this residency with a better understanding of how to generate, receive, and revise my work. Because a consistent writing practice, while important, isn’t going to be valuable if I don’t also invest time in the revision process.

I’ve noticed that my poetic voice has begun to strengthen, and I’m excited to see that, but that’s also what revision is supposed to accomplish. Generating new material, while not necessarily “easy,” isn’t where the real work of writing happens. I’ve known a lot of people who can sit down and crank out poems or stories. Real writing comes through the process of revision, of seeing our work critically, of recognizing its strengths as well as its room for improvements. And beyond just developing a writing practice, I want to develop a revision practice, too.

These are some of my brief takeaways from today.