Long ago (okay, it wasn't that long ago), there was a campaign on dA that involved polished prose. What's polished prose? It's prose that's been revised, proofread, and edited instead of simply written and slapped up on the screen. Sounds like a great idea, right? Support Polished Prose! Hey, I'm all for it.



But then, while listening to people talk about the morning after (a critique) or watching young and growing writers struggle with common conventions and revision techniques, I realized that demanding polished prose without helping writers achieve it just isn't--fair.


May I?

During the month of May, our Literature theme is going to be "Polish Your Poetry and Prose!" However, instead of simply making demands, we are also going to run a revision workshop to help you conquer those great critiques, ask better questions of your own writing (and others' writing), and really learn how to take all the good advice and new directions you receive and turn it into an excellent, well-crafted piece.


April Showers Bring...

The number one rule in learning how to revise and edit is agreeing to commit yourself to it. However, many people look at their entire gallery and get overwhelmed: where to start? What to do? I could choose this piece over here, but then I got some great feedback on this one, and hey the piece I wrote last year has been totally neglected so--. Stop! Stop yourself. If you want to learn how to revise and edit effectively, you have to start small.


May Flowers

Look through your dA gallery--the whole darn thing--and choose ONE piece that, if given the time and the chance and the help, you would like to revise. (Yes, I know it's hard to pick just one, but it's a necessary evil.) It doesn't matter if it's poetry or prose. It doesn't matter if it's a brand new NaPo poem or the first thing you ever submitted to dA five years ago. If it's important to you and you want to make it better--for reasons maybe you can't even explain--then choose that text and get out your polish and rags. Oh, and don't forget the elbow grease.


Your Task

Choose one piece of poetry or prose that you would like to polish (with help) during May.
Prose pieces should be less than 3,000 words and poems should be no longer than 30 lines.
Send the link to your text in a NOTE to ^GeneratingHype entitled POLISH. Please do not drop your links here.

All notes/links must be received no later than 28 April 2008 in order to participate in the "official" portion of this project. However, all writers on deviantART are encouraged to participate in the project and the activities, whether they've signed up for the task or not. Keep that in mind!


Your Trouble

Teams of 2-4 people will be put together based on the number of texts submitted to the project. Throughout the month, each team will be given tasks and targets to help their fellow writers in learning how to revise, edit, and polish the submitted text. Those writers will be there to support each other, provide honest feedback, make comments about changes, and ask questions to help improve each others' work.

The tone of this project is friendly and respectful, and team members will be expected to remain civil and open to constructive comments throughout the month. We're cultivating a support group comprised of people who will become your 'critical friends'--writers who are trying to help you get better through honesty and genuine-but-considerate feedback.

Don't think you can remain civil and friendly, especially when you feel your ego's being attacked? No worries! We have plans for you to help eliminate those fears.


Still a Little Lost?

Don't worry. More information will be coming in the next few days. For now, find a poem or prose piece you want to polish and send that link to ^GeneratingHype! We'll take care of you from there.