How the Feedback Circle Changed My Poetry Trajectory
The first piece of good writing advice I ever got came, like so many other things, from social media. Author and poet Elisabet Velasquez was blessing us with her knowledge and something about the way she said it rang so true it’s been emblazoned on my brain since:
“Take every writing workshop you possibly can.”
Finding my way to The Feedback Circle
I took my first writing workshop in Fall of 2021. It was welcoming and the prompts were helpful, but it was taught by one of my favorite poets. It was intimidating. Or maybe, I was intimidated. Afterward, the imposter syndrome was so heavy that I didn’t take another workshop for months. All winter long I wrote when the words came and hyped myself up. By Spring of 2022 I worked up the courage to submit my writing. Once that domino fell, I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to. I was writing, taking generative workshops and submitting. It felt like I was ready for more, but what more was there?
I found out about the Feedback Circle through The Poetry Lab’s Instagram account. A six-week critique workshop for poets who have poems written but want an extra set of eyes on them. As I became more enamored with the safe, inspirational space workshops gave me, my only gripe was that they weren’t long enough. Six whole weeks? Count me in.
A leap of faith opened my eyes to the power of workshopping
As someone who never finished college, didn’t go to school for creative writing, and couldn’t quote Whitman if my life depended on it, I was genuinely nervous to share space with people who had. My first small group consisted of me, someone who was self-published, and someone who was in the middle of getting their MFA. It was probably my worst-case scenario; I felt so unqualified. After considering clicking out of the Zoom meeting once or twice, I got brave and introduced myself. (See, inner child, we can do scary things.) By the end of the first session, I had two new friends and an overwhelming desire to share my work with other poets. The vibes were immaculate.
The “workshop” setting I first found intimidating ended up becoming such a source of validation through The Feedback Circle. I shared my work and these fellow writers I admired had lovely, helpful things to say about it. They valued my opinion; they genuinely welcomed it. Every week we’d break into small groups and workshop each other, then all come together as a class to workshop. Everyone had a turn being critiqued by the group, and while sometimes receiving feedback can be tough, The Poetry Lab creates a kind, welcoming, and respectful place. It’s a rare opportunity to get a large, diverse group of poets focusing on and being honest about your work. If you lean into it, it has the ability to elevate your poetry.
In learning how to revise my work during The Feedback Circle, I discovered I previously had no idea how to revise my own work. For one, I developed a more critical lens through which to see my poetry. I also realized that just because what my brain spit out in a moment of revelation doesn’t immediately sparkle or sound right doesn’t mean it’s bad. All of my writing had potential, and I started welcoming all my poetic ideas as good ideas.
The Feedback Circle also offers a one-on-one editorial session with the director of The Poetry Lab, Danielle Mitchell, who I knew from previous workshops was kind, honest and in true Sagittarius moon fashion, a knowledgeable teacher. In that session, it was the casual little lessons about nouns and line breaks that have served my writing time and time again.
Community + craft:
the key to my trajectory as a poet
When the six weeks were over, I was bummed. Not too bummed, because I heard that The Feedback Circle would be back with more sessions, starting in 2023. But bummed enough to really get in my feels reflecting. After following everyone from the workshop, I reveled in the community I had unknowingly become a part of. Circuits connected and things just clicked. I had been writing alone, revising alone. Going through the motions alone. Which I expected, as writing is a notoriously solitary practice. The Feedback Circle helped me realize that being a poet doesn’t mean I have to go it alone. It dawned on me how much I needed the guidance and community to thrive as a writer.
The confidence I gained was invaluable. And this confidence didn’t just apply to my poetry, it applied to my life. Being vulnerable with my art was hard—and it was worth it. I embraced being vulnerable as an artist, when before artistic expression and craft felt like two completely different things. I had some compartmentalization to work through. I knew I wrote poems; I had been doing that for years, but investing in myself and committing to my craft alongside a group of poets pushed me toward the revelation that I was a poet.
I am a poet. Since taking The Feedback Circle workshop I have had three poems published, in a zine, a literary magazine, and an anthology, with another publication forthcoming in February 2023. I can confidently say, like some comic book villain, that’s not the last you’ll see of me. I take the lessons I learned about my own craft everywhere I go. I’m proud of the rough, new poems, I’m proud of the glittering poems that have been revised three times over. And I’m grateful, always grateful.
This article was posted on February 15, 2023. Written by:
Hey poet, good news! The Feedback Circle - Winter Cohort is now open for enrollment. Change your poetry trajectory! Learn more here 👉
