Reiki ("ray-key") is an ancient Eastern healing technique where the practitioner shifts the patient's energy, moving blockages or noticing areas of the body that need attention.
Rekey ("re-key") is a revision technique that will have your writer friends calling your sanity into question. Why retype an entire manuscript? The whole point of word processing programs is to avoid rekeying a document. Edits are easy! Embrace technology!
Fellow poets, I say to you that reiki and rekey are not so different. Place the draft of your poem or manuscript gently on the table before you. Lay your hands on the keyboard. You will feel the energy in your work as you retype each and every letter, paying attention to its health and well-being in the context of the larger body of work.
Will you shift energy? By taking the time to rekey, you may spot pacing problems that you have glanced over.
Moving blockages? If you're going to go through the mind-numbing task of retyping a long manuscript, areas that aren't working will have a sleepy, yawn-inducing energy. If you start to ask "Why Am I Doing This?" chances are, you've hit a stanza or paragraph that needs some work.
Today, I started rekeying the middle-grade novel in verse that I've been working on since summer 2008. My husband did, indeed, think I had lost my mind. However, I like the process of asking myself -- once again -- if each word is earning its keep, if each line break makes sense.
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| Not so long ago, rekeying a manuscript was a necessity. |
Less than ten pages into the exercise, I started feeling bored. Uh oh.
Recently, I finished a major revision. After that, I re-ordered all 150+ poems in the book. And I placed a series of several poems introducing characters right at the opening, with nary a plot line to keep you turning pages. If I hadn't been retyping the MS, I don't know that I would have I started to feel bored and asked myself why.
Retyping helps me see the poem or the book almost like a reader. It's as close to reading the pieces for the first time as I can get.
Below is a poem from the book, before and after I rekeyed it. The novel (anthology? it's kind of a hybrid) is called I ALMOST DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL TODAY: A YEAR IN FIFTH GRADE. This poem is in the voice of one of the students. It is one of the poems I moved up today, in order to place a narrative thread near the start of the novel.
Before rekeying (with some notes):
My Favorite Picture
In my favorite picture, I am a baby.
I am sitting on a couch. I am laughing.
It looks like I am clapping my hands. I was so cute!
My dad is leaning forward, smiling at me.
He is pinching my toes.
Before my mom moved away, she used to tell me
my dad was the first person who could get me to smile.
And the first time I laughed was because
he was making silly faces. “Dad” was my first word. [insert "goofy"]
He taught me how to play piano and sing.
Once a year, he takes me to New York City
and we see a matinee on Broadway.
Afterwards, we always go to the Stage Door deli.
Dad says he won’t eat a bialy from anyplace else.
I order a corned beef sandwich, too huge to finish.
A picture of my family now would be
me and Dad at the Stage Door deli,
a plate of pickles and a Playbill on the table between us.
He’d be leaning forward to tell me a joke,
and I’d look like the happiest kid in the world.
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| Melodie's favorite, pastrami & rye from the Stage Door Deli. |
After rekeying:
My Favorite Picture
In my favorite picture, I am a baby.
I am sitting on a couch. I am laughing.
It looks like I am clapping my hands.
I was cute!
My dad is pinching my toes and smiling.
Before my mom moved away, she used to tell me
my dad was the first person who made me smile.
And the first time I laughed was because
he was making goofy faces.
“Da” was my first word.
My dad taught me how to play piano and sing.
Once a year, he takes me to New York City
and we see a matinee on Broadway.
Afterwards, we always go to the Stage Door deli.
I order a corned beef sandwich, too huge to finish.
A perfect picture of my family now would be
me and Dad at the Stage Door deli,
a plate of pickles and a Playbill
on the table between us.
Just me and my dad.
I think the line breaks are working better now, but boy are my fingers tired.
1 comment:
Fun connection between reiki and rekey. Wow, what a challenge to give yourself! You are really taking the reader seriously. Good for you.
That photo looks totally delicious.
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