But I thought I cleared all my messages about 12 hours ago...

Whoa! Daily Deviation? Excuse me while I squeeee!

Okay, it was definitely a surprise to see something I wrote four and a half years ago suddenly get lots and lots of attention (well, 26 comments and 36 favs is lots and lots of attention in my books, at least).

Anyway, I'm so thankful for the DD. It really inspires me to get more writing done, and to post more of it on devART. ("Grey Melodies" feels like such an old story to me, but then I realize I haven't really written any short stories since!)

Thanks so much to everyone! It really makes such a difference just to know someone's reading your works.

You know what's completely not useful in peer workshopping?

"Very nice."
"This poem was nice to read."
"This poem is also a good story."

Argh! Give me critique!

So my plan was to wait until after the workshopping of my poem before posting it here, but honestly, if the peer comments continue like this then what's the point of waiting?

Either way, expect a poem within the week.


By the way, I had a hilarious encounter with Mr. not-so-smart smartass (the one who started an argument with the teacher over a minor formatting detail). I noticed that in his critique of someone else he called them on not following the requirements of the assignment, stating, "I tend to take the requirements more seriously than others at any rate." (Wow, way to condescend.) For the sake of the other student, I gave a quick reply to that, saying, "In [_____]'s defense, we are allowed to move beyond our assignment requirements now" and I provided the link to the question forum where I specifically asked if we still had to follow the assignment rules, and the teacher replied that we are both free to and encouraged to edit our poems from our initial draft in whatever way we see fit.

His exact response: "In my defense, I'm not saying we need to follow rules because there are rules, but because the rules (and as I said, I never considered them to be requirements, for me, they had always been prompts) happened to be a rough guide that if followed, could potentially improve the poem.Whether such rules are enforced or not enforced, is completely irrelevant."

Defensive much?

Ugh, it is so hard not to take this bait, but I know that it isn't the place to be starting an argument, so I'm forcing myself not to reply. (Sorry, venting here is the only way I could manage it.) Honestly though, one more arrogant comment like this and I might just have to send him a personal message of "Hey, could you try not talking down to everyone else in the class? It's kind of annoying."

Yes, a part of me is hoping for that opportunity...

So I've encountered two challenges in my goal to be the biggest smartass of my poetry class, and to try to turn all of the prof's many rules on their heads...

1. Someone else is being a bigger smartass than me. Only perhaps without the smart... He's been flat-out arguing with the teacher about the rtf. rule, publicly on the questions forum, and with a seriously lack of tact. The public part just adds more hilarity to this course, because the rest of us get to read through the alternating posts and spot all the hints of condescension and defensiveness that have gradually turned their discussion into a battle of egos.

For the record, I lean toward the prof's side on this one (which is not to say that I really agree with either). As much as I think there are flaws in the traditional authority-based teaching style, any student should be able to recognize that this is a teacher who demands that exact sort of authority. If you're going to out-right question a teacher like this, make sure it's for a damned good reason (i.e. not over a minor formatting detail). Honestly, you might as well stroll up to a lion and say, "Hey, I think your mane needs to be shaved off."


2. And my second difficulty in toying with the structure of this class is my realization that this is precisely what the prof wants us to do. Our second assignment is even more rule-specific than the first, with requirements like "include the name of at least one animal" and "do not end any lines on a preposition or an article." What's more, this is totally the sort of structure-challenge that I love... As poetry courses go, this one is practically made for me!

...Which probably explains why certain students (see aforementioned) seem to be getting frustrated....

This is just too easy to mock... My online poetry course appears to be by far the strictest, most rule-focused course I've ever taken. (This includes courses like Biology, Critical Theory, and Business.)

It doesn't help that the other course I'm taking is Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts (AKA Creativity Class), or that this is my last semester and I'm pretty much ready to smack the authoritative school structure in the head repeatedly. Now my Poetry prof welcomes us with a gigantic list of pointless rules and I feel the need to laugh in his face. (Fortunately, the course is online. )

In addition to a thorough grading rubric consisting of bizarre checks and check minuses (Yes, it's exactly the sort of thing I was asking of my Geography prof; the irony is not lost on me), we've been given a full list of rules, most of which I think are just plain silly for a Creative Writing class.

1. "Late assignments will NOT be accepted or graded. No exceptions."
I laugh at this because my last Creative Writing teacher (who was AWESOME, and who is also teaching the Creativity class I mentioned), was a huge supporter of the letting people work at the pace of their own creative juices, and flat out told us, "I'd rather you hand in something late that you're proud of than something on time that you're not happy with."

2. "All poems should be 12 point Times or Times New Roman. They should be left-justified unless for an expressed purpose beyond preference. Poems should be single spaced unless for an expressed purpose beyond simple preference. Poems should adhere to standard grammar, again, unless for an expressed purpose beyond simple preference."
Holy creativity crammed in a box, Batman! Again, I think back to my last Creative Writing teacher, who specifically advised us NOT to use Times New Roman, because it is totally boring to the eye and does not inspire creativity.

3. "All files should be in .rtf and should be named as follows: LastnameAssignment#.rtf. E.g. SmithPoem1.rtf."
Wow... "SmithPoem1.rtf." Doesn't that just scream poetry from the heart?

And this is only a selection of the rules.


If I sound upset about this course or anything, I'm not. I honestly think this is hilarious, and I intend to be an utter smartass about it. A quiet, subtle smartass...

Updates will probably follow... Oh, as will poetry!


(P.S. I've already broken one rule. )

Intensely awesome.

Go see it.

(This film had better be nominated for screenwriting.)