4.10.2013

making manifest

i finished the first week of Making Manifest last night. the structure of the book has made me write slow--typically a night or two of such pre-writing, note-taking, and deep thought will produce a poem for me, but it requires you to go slowly about the writing process and not write a poem until the 7th day (and i've gone doubly slow, as i don't have time to write everyday right now). this has yielded surprising results. the culmination of my notes and prewriting produced a poem that reveals such spiritual ugliness in me that i'm embarrassed to send it out or have it critiqued--it has been a long time since i've written something revealing. so though at first i questioned the merit of this slow-and-steady way of writing--so much pre-writing and reflecting--i am tentative yet eager to continue on with the book.

4 comments:

  1. this book sounds amazing! how can i get a copy?

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  2. Agreed - that book sounds awesome!!! I am definitely adding it to my amazon wish list. :)

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  3. Oh, never mind! It's not on amazon. Same question as Sarah...how do you get a copy?

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  4. ah sorry about that, here is a better link:
    http://store.seedbed.com/products/making-manifest-by-dave-harrity

    if y'all end up doing this, let me know--i'm interested in seeing if it produces the same results in others or if that was random.

    one thing i will warn--it urges you to use the book as your only devotional for the month, but personally i don't think it has enough scripture or explication of scripture to work as a devotional on its own. i think it works well as a writing exercise book though, and we're looking at possibly using it in conjunction with a more scripture based book (like Schaeffer's Art and the Bible) for a special study at my church. the group questions in the back would be great for that (or for just a writing group).

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