Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry

This one took me a while but was totally worth it For an amateur, it s fairly difficult at least it was for me but full of fascinating information I found the chapter on revision particularly helpful.The last chapter seemed to almost belong to a different book an almost historical analysis of metaphor that was not immediately applicable to writing but interesting in its own right As I struggle to master the terminology and structure of poetry, each book teaches me how to read the next and I feel [...]

I can t figure out just yet if I ve become much well read since I read Best Words Best Order and so his references seem less convincing to me, or if Dobyns treatise in the last essay of this book, about among other things, including the history of language how poetry has fallen into a kind of residual position, with poets themselves to blame, is indicative of the essence of his fall of late in my opinion His recent poetry collections have ranged from rather plain to unreadable, and in them the [...]

I found this book to be a mix of fascinating, helpful chapters, and ones that had my eyes and brain glazed I approached reading this book as a writer My favorite chapters are Chapter 3, Line breaks, Chapter 8, Closure, and Chapter 9, Revision If you are interested in the philosophical background to writing techniques, several of the other chapters should satisfy you Dobyns is a master at using example poems and taking them apart word by word, line by line, to demonstrate salient points I would h [...]

There aren t enough stars for this book This is one of the best texts on the craft of poetry I ve ever read Dobyns touches on all the essential points sound, grammar, evolution of language, the poet s role, the poem s role It s a fabulous text, written in an accessible style, and it is far from simplistic or gimmicky I highly recommend this book for all poets and lovers of poetry.

I ve been reading book after book about poetic craft My hope is to try and learn at least a LITTLE from each book, take notes, and then create my own little MFA kit so to speak Dobyns s first book on craft, the classic Best Words, Best Order was FAR better than this Dobyns knows so much There s no doubt about his expertise I just found his examples tedious far too few were discussed for too long, and he stuck mostly to older canonical works as exemplars The problem with this is NOT simply that t [...]

I m sure I finished this book before the end of March 2012 I love Dobyns clear prose.An excellent guide in 13 chapters to understand craft titles approaching subject matter joining form and content reconciling paradox aspects of the syllable line breaks context and causality a sense of space closure revision moral inquiry bearing witness counterpoint, the nature of metaphor.In the introduction he alludes to choosing short and accessible poems, with the accent on the requirement of exemplars and [...]

Bores me But I really liked Best Words, Best Order, so I was excited about this, then disappointed It just seems to fall into a weird No Man s Zone of readership folks who know about poetry already know this stuff So, I kept thinkingmaybe this would be good as an intro text but no, it wouldn t.

This is a very technical book on the craft of poetry It studies verse from various periods of history to illustrate the elements of poetry I did not find it inspiring, but educational.I would recommend this book to those studying poetry in an academic setting.

Dobyns has a brilliant mind for talking about poems, and this book is a wonderful read He falls apart, though, when he trips over his various attempts at discussing a four tiered system of accents, which makes sense but is overly convoluted.

A solid book on writing poetry Not as good as Dobyn s first one but great nonetheless All aspiring poets should check this one out Recommended.

Part of this book Really good stuff about writingPart of this book Really pretentious literary snobberyIt s a good book If it were half as long, it would be a great book.