You know, Cal Lowell used to say, "I don't write poems, I rewrite them. I revise them." And he actually did.
Creative Process
Revision
00:24:28
Do you go back and revise older poems too?
Creative Process
Revision
00:24:31
Not after I have determined that it's the best I can do. And I never publish a poem unless I believe that. You know, I have written ten times as many poems as I have published. I'm a very hard critic of my own work.
Interview with Stanley Kunitz, April 24, 2002
00:00:00 / 00:00:00
00:24:12 - 00:24:13
Writing is rewriting.
Mel Gussow
Transcript
Revision
00:24:13 - 00:24:28
You know, Cal Lowell used to say, "I don't write poems, I rewrite them. I revise them." And he actually did.
Stanley Kunitz
Transcript
Revision
00:24:28 - 00:24:31
Do you go back and revise older poems too?
Mel Gussow
Transcript
Revision
00:24:31 - 00:24:56
Not after I have determined that it's the best I can do. And I never publish a poem unless I believe that. You know, I have written ten times as many poems as I have published. I'm a very hard critic of my own work.