Notes on Interviews | CTRL+Shift: Writing practice at the dawn of the digital era

Below are some preliminary notes we've gathered from the interviews related to our coded subjects. We used these notes to write the Findings section of the website, and we believe exposing them here is consistent with one of the project's main aims, i.e. that the various modes of looking at this material and its interpretations will lead users/readers to their own discoveries and new questions to explore.

Poet	Topic	Note
gluck	between	Though all composition is done on paper, digital proofs are reviewed. But then it's back to paper for any changes or fixes.
pinsky	between files	An individual digital file of every version of a poem is stored, numbered, and referenced throughout the evolution of a draft.
pinsky	between paper	The process of a poem's creation involves both digital and analog methods, but physical engagement with the poem—printouts, oral recitation, etc.—is most integral.
wrigley	betweenearlypromptpaperchange	Even in the days of the typewriter, composing with keys rather than longhand has been done cautiously, as such a method might improperly influence stazaic structure, line length, etc.
ryan	betweenpaper	always strats poem in long-hand, writing it over and over by hand, then moves to computer then prints out, etc.
strickland	betweenpaper	hyper aware of changes in software and, due to one particularly bad experience, threat of data loss due to software glitches
strickland	betweenpaper	writes back into notebooks to generate work by seeing whether an image or idea is still arresting
mcmichael	betweenpaperrevision	moving from long-hand to typewriter was a producitve and often pleasurable break/move that he repeated over and over to write his books, even on long sections
wrigley	betweenpromptpaperrevision	Composition typically involves a volleying back and forth between longhand on paper (where it begins) and the computer, mostly in an effort to stir up new ideas.
wrigley	betweenpromptpaperrevision	The computer makes experimenting with structural elements in a poem extremely easy.
gerstler	betweenrevisionchange	Compared to typing, digital revision allows for quicker, more streamlined experimentation with form, lineation, and shape.
vanwinckel	betweenrevisioncorrespondence	Computer serves as a bridge between paper drafts and submission/correspondence.
vanwinckel	betweenrevisionpaper	Tiered system of older > newer drafts stored in notebooks prior to digital trancription.
pinsky	career	The initial draw to poetry was in response to its more oral tradition.
beasley	career	Spare time on the job as key to first-book drafting.
wrigley	career	After being honorably discharged from the military in the early 70s, the goal was to write novels—until discovering poetry.
wrigley	career	A teacher since the very beginning of writing poetry, the classroom has been an enormous inspiration and stablizing element.
strickland	career	very non-traditional career both in medium and in practice, with struggles often to find time due to family and work committments
strickland	career	collaboration, friendship paramount to her career and working methods
vanwinckel	careerchangebetween	Digital composition now happens in the moment, not just via transcription or revision.
mcmichael	careerprompt	mcmichael's career dotted by periods of not-writing too
wrigley	careerprompt	Maintaining a rigid routine of protected writing time over the years—often done in a small, dedicated building named The Stanza—has been crucial.
vanwinckel	careerteaching	Teaching inspired initial foray into fiction.
vanwinckel	careerteachingpromptearly	Necessity of teaching fiction as a poet inspires unexpected bank of story ideas.
beasley	change	The internet facilitates leaps in thought, association, and poetic imagination.
beasley	change	How the internet thinks in relation to poetic composition.
mcmichael	change	Major changes in writing practice more due to realization of content and improvement of practice/standards rather than technology
ryan	change	ability to look up etymologies and rhymes online = greatest change to writing process due to computer; remarkably consistent practice throughout
mcmichael	change between	With last book, found he didn't miss the typing stage and that the notetaking, typing, and revision stages all started to meld
strickland	change early	IBM Selectric introduced erasing --> big deal but also required discipline
mcmichael	change revision	music, starting with jazz then moving to rock and roll, and finally staying with classical, had a profound effect on practice, especially on form and length of individual poems
mohammad	changebetweencareercorrespondence	Three distinct stages frame the evolution of writing practice: 1) exchanges of language experiments with other poets via a low-pressure email group, 2) Google collage-making (using search results), and 3) experiments with rearranging Shakespearean sonnetts (Sonograms).
vanwinckel	changebetweenmssrevision	On picking and choosing her own work for a hybrid approach to selected poems.
gerstler	changebetweenrevisioncorrespondence	Email and digital editing tools changed the nature of both journalistic revision/correspondence and ability to maintain aeshtetic intentions with poetry submissions.
pinsky	changecorrespondence	Writing letters to other writers has been used as a warm-up for writing poetry.
armantrout	changecorrespondencerevision	Parallels between sped-up correspondence via email and increased productivity as a poet.
vanwinckel	changemss	Same-page drafting segues into poem series', informs manuscript structure.
armantrout	changepaper	Compared to typewriters, digital tools fast-forward the transition from notebook page to screen.
wrigley	changerevision	Though certainly a combination of the digital and analog methods, revision still mostly occurs with pencil and paper on hard copies—a preference discovered by initial use of the computer.
armantrout	changerevisioncorrespondence	Feedback via email spurs faster revision, completion, and moving on to the next poem.
gluck	correspondence	Feedback is important, but from whom it is requested varies in accordance with the particular poem or project.
beasley	correspondence	Same writing group for sharing work from pre- to post-email era.
mcmichael	correspondence	loves non-invasive quality of computer, especially for corresopndence
armantrout	correspondencecareer	A tradition of sharing work with fellow writers began on paper back in the 1970s, and continues today via email.
mohammad	correspondenceflarf	Blogging and other online forums have—outside of initial Flarf exchanges—been used mostly as a casual social connection with other poets.
wrigley	correspondencefuture	Correspondence is frequent, and though done mostly via email now, are nonetheless printed out and stored in boxes much like drafts and other notes.
gerstler	correspondencefuture	Email and file storage/archives via Carbonite.
gerstler	correspondencerevision	She saves the sharing of work with fellow writers for a limited number of correspondents, towards the end of the drafting process.
pinsky	early	The IBM Selectric was a favorite tool for composition.
pinsky	early	The early 80's computer game Mindwheel was composed entirely on an Atari.
pinsky	early	Computer skills have been self-taught over the years, a process which has benefited from having began in the early days of computers.
beasley	early	Tecnology has had less influence on composition process, and more on the ways poems take physical shape.
ryan	early	early benefit of computer was simply not having to re-type so much
strickland	early	technology/software evidenced via usage characteristics as well as characteristic mistakes made
strickland	early	used to rent a computer when going to residencies, mostly for printout
gluck	early future	Though archived, most original drafts and documents are either typed on a typewriter or written longhand, and with very little marginalia/notation.
mohammad	earlycareer	Prior to the advent of the internet, finding venues for the language poetry that would later become integral to his style was difficult.
pinsky	earlychange	The ease of inserting passages on computers may have led to an increase in bloated prose.
armantrout	earlychange	Post-computer, pre-internet.
wrigley	earlychangepromptbetween	At first, the computer removed almost entirely the longhand aspect of the composition process, though it continued to be used because it saved time.
gerstler	earlypaperbetween	She's focused on the low-tech, tactile facets of textual production and revision--how these influenced the making and copying of text--before transitioning to the computer.
gerstler	earlypaperbetweenrevision	Tension between an allegiance to paper drafting and the insubstantial nature of typing paper--how this fragility almost seemed to impact the poems themselves.
mcmichael	earlyprompt betweenpaper	Writing process stayed the same until final book, so until about 2010 or so
wrigley	earlypromptpaper	Handwritten notes in easily portable notebooks are integral to capturing initial inspirations and lines, and they are archived.
pinsky	earlysoftware	The original Word Perfect word processing software was preferable for its simple, user-friendly interface, but unfortunately didn't last.
pinsky	earlysoftware	The final venue for a piece of writing—the screen or printed page—determined how the piece would be composed.
mohammad	files	Though composition, revision, and manuscript assembly happens almost exclusively in a digital environment, the actual files aren't necessarily cared for as one might think. Could this be because Mohammad's was a writing practice born in a digital environment, where he feels more at home, less anxious, than others?
gerstler	files	File titles as shorthand for easy poem recognition, as opposed to the finished poem title itself --> emphasis on findability via subject versus date.
mcmichael	files mssrevision	Doesn't write drafts; instead writes whole book poem by poem line by line; mss just one file with most recent additions, written poem by poem, line by line
armantrout	filesbetweenfuture	Only some files get saved--others get saved over.
wrigley	fileschangemss	Though drafts of individual poems and entire manuscripts are printed out from a computer, digital file names are not trusted, and handwritten dates on the printouts are used much like dated passages in notebooks.
pinsky	filesfuture	Though digitally stored in a meticulous manner, old drafts are considered of little value beyond occassional review later on.
strickland	filesmss	will revise within file with date and version listed; mss will get new files
wrigley	filesmssfuture	Assembly and organization of manuscripts is, like most of the process, a combination of digital and analog—finished drafts are printed out, stored physically in a box, then deleted from the computer (though digital drafts in progress are backed up to external hard drives).
beasley	filesrevision	Files organization goes hand in hand with revision process.
mohammad	flarf	At a certain point, the Flarf movement began to dismantle itself, as central figures began expanding upon initial Flarf ideas and motivations (like the sonograms).
mohammad	flarf	Flarf is the term used to describe a recent movement in language poetry that used text found online to construct poems, and originated on a small, extremely casual email listserv.
pinsky	future	Digital archiving has lead to a new anxiety in regard to the longevity of stored documents.
mohammad	future	Aside from a physical collection of print journals containing past work, ongoing projects and more recent publications are saved digitally, and only occassionally backed up.
armantrout	future	Writing to the archive gives added context to projects, process.
strickland	future	believes books and notebooks sufficient for archive; no need to save whole histories of revisions
vanwinckel	futurefiles	Cleans up digital archives as each project is published.
ryan	futurefiles	averse to learning more than necessary about back up procedures, etc; employs a computer guy to manage system
ryan	futurepaper	stores his paper copies in brown boxes that dot his office
wrigley	futurepapermss	Printouts of drafts are stored in boxes, while published poems that are getting ready for a new book are stored and organized in a thesis binder.
mcmichael	futurerevision	has never regretted getting rid of lines, etc.
strickland	futuresoftwarechange	design intelligence lost due to changing technology; much explored disappeared already
strickland	futuresoftwarechange	no clue how to best preserve elit projects but believes video might be efficient
pinsky	mss	The ordering of a manuscript is intuitive, but involves an attention to the introduction and subsequent amplification of new ideas and thematic elements.
beasley	mss	Revision as a means to heighten the evolving logic of the manuscript.
armantrout	mss	Producing more poems loosens up the manuscript design process, and allows conversant work to rise to the top.
gerstler	msschange	Likens manuscript production process to interior design, awarness of shape and cover art as well as balance between darker and lighter subject matter.
gerstler	msschangesoftware	Anticipating use of something like InDesign for greater flexibility when it comes to digital manipulation and shaping of text, layouts.
mohammad	mssflarf	Much like the poems themselves, manuscripts as a whole are most often organized in terms of energies existing at the language level rather than a thematic one.
armantrout	msspaper	Thesis binders are a time-honored tool for printed-out poems and experiments in manuscript structure.
gluck	mssrevision	Entire manuscripts are sometimes revised at the line level due to the late addition of a single poem or other new element.
gluck	mssrevision	A slower writing practice lends more clarity to larger, holistic revision and structural considerations.
armantrout	mssrevision	One project at a time yields stronger focus towards completed manuscripts.
gluck	paper	The visual experience of seeing a poem on paper is how a poem is truly heard.
vanwinckel	paper	Attached to the hand-eye coordination, tactile effect of drafting on paper.
mohammad	paper	Paper is rarely, if ever, used in the composition process, though very early drafts are saved (and hidden away).
ryan	paper	writes on white and yellow paper, folding the white paper in half and writing over the halves, then tucking them together
ryan	paper earlychange	physical problems using the computer one reason he's used computer less for some writing
mcmichael	paper prompt	reading and notetaking central to process from beginning, moving from 5x8 cards to notebooks, increasing in importance over years
mcmichael	paper prompt	highly idiosyncratic note-taking technique, with mutli-colored references and interpretations of previous notes
armantrout	paperbetween	Initial drafting, from notebook to iPad.
ryan	paperchange	screens not native to him; paper is
beasley	paperchangebetween	Ongoing value of paper processes.
gluck	paperearly	Composing on a screen inhibits otherwise natural and fluid stylistic choices about line and diction.
gluck	paperearlyhighlightrevision	The repetitve nature of the typewriter aides in revealing previously missed issues in a poem.
beasley	paperfuturebetween	Archiving involves a yearly retrospective of digital files, and the chance to revisit both stray lines and process notes.
vanwinckel	paperprompt	Drafts every project by hand, in a separate notebook/space.
vanwinckel	paperprompt	Immersion-style writing process--by hand, or in her head--for stories versus poems.
armantrout	paperprompt	On eavesdropping (literally or visually) to generate material.
vanwinckel	paperrevisionchange	Lifiting spacial limitations re: which poem(s) start on which pages creates opportunity for new poem ideas via association, juxtaposition.
armantrout	printdig	Despite the convenience of the iPad, hard copies are still best for reading.
strickland	printdig	books have much more staying power; digital/online poetry productions very hard to capture/record, like a theatre performance --> once it's done it's done
strickland	printdig paper	Paper enables better long form argument
strickland	printdig paper	writing poetry on paper provides enormous freedom, when compared to digital forms
strickland	printdigpapermss	with digital work, there's no straight path (as opposed to print); sometimes Strickland provides path through
beasley	printdigpromptrevision	Transitions from screen to page become an exercise in fruitful disorder.
gluck	prompt	Initial inspiration for books comes from slight obsessions with often unusual sources—garden catalogues, telephone weather reports, etc.
pinsky	prompt	The generation of new content immediately follows inspiration—very little precedes the writing of the first lines.
pinsky	prompt	The true beginning of a new draft comes from an attention to sound—the actual material content is secondary.
wrigley	prompt	Drafting of sonnets is often used as a warm up at the beginning of writing sessions.
pinsky	promptbetweenrevision	Early drafts are printed out for notation, then memorized and recited for revision.
gerstler	promptchange	Like Beasely with the notecards, dice, and dictionary prompts, she returns to pre-digital card catalogs for the unexpected associations, juxtapositions, tangents. An aspect of research hard to replicate via the internet.
gerstler	promptchange	Difference between lucky finds in journalistic reserach and the neceessity of stumbling upon new ideas for literary projects.
mcmichael	promptmss	has sense of what's missing in current manuscript and writes toward that, save for, of course, first poem
mohammad	promptmss	Basic—and often purposefully absurd—search terms serve as a starting point, and often evolve into a kind of unifying theme across a manuscript.
beasley	promptpaperprintdigbetween	Contemporary practice involves a necessary back & forth between paper and screen.
beasley	promptpaperprintdigbetween	If stray words and lines are generative rolls of the dice, digital composition deals a hand (for more on this & related processes, see Bruce Beasley's Prompt Generator).
beasley	promptrevision	If the internet facilitates a leaping quality of thought, walking and flipping offer complementary rhythm.
mcmichael	promptrevision	reading and engagement with other authors key to both generating and revising work
ryan	promptrevision	most pieces come differenlty than others though; has finished some poems 25 years after starting
armantrout	promptrevisionfilesbetween	Moving from page to iPad to computer distills the drafting process.
mohammad	promptrevisionflarf	Composition almost resembles a kind of digital painting—moving copy and pasted words and phrases around on the screen until the desired effect is achieved.
gluck	revision	Reading poems backwards divorces editorial attention from meaning and refocuses it toward syntax and mechanics.
mcmichael	revision	the product of all the work is the poem that can't be made better, which is contained in a book
ryan	revision	focus for poem is that it come into its own as a thing, realizes itself as the best possible poem it can be
vanwinckel	revisionbetweenprintdig	Visually (and maybe generationally?), she experiences a heightened sense of permanence typing lines on the computer vs. experimenting with lineation by hand.
ryan	revisionearlychange	essentially works on the computer with his poems much like he worked on the typewriter
gerstler	revisionearlypaper	Again with the pros and cons of tactile process--cutting and pasting by hand versus digital manipulation of the text. How this early process was fun, but also hard to render as a polished final draft.
mohammad	revisionflarf	After a period of pushing found excerpts around into interesting arrangements, the least interesting language is stripped away.
wrigley	revisionmss	The revision process almost never stops until the manuscript is officially sent to print, be the poems previously published or not.
mohammad	revisionprompt	Finding unusual and pleasant combinations of the language itself takes precedence over finding or constructing new meaning.
pinsky	software	Many word processors have been used over the years, such as Nissus Pro, Scrivner, Word, and Word Perfect, but ease of use and simplicity of the program is most important.
strickland	software	eliterature is hard to get, and so both worlds tend to be exclusive
strickland	softwareprompt	stuck with digital projects/eliterature due to inherent possibilities and international aspect, the latter Strickland connects with the importance of global communication generally
strickland	softwareprompt	nature of eliterature work requires collaboration and is bracketed by limited amount of time
strickland	softwareprompt	often has a vision of her projects but technology often not available to make happen; product is a negotiation
gluck	teaching	Teaching is an integral source of inspiration—and a way out of writer's block.
pinsky	teachingchange	Teaching has helped with staying current with contemporary poetry and what is esteemed.
gluck	yaleyounger	Finalists for the Yale Younger Poets Series were filtered through a pre-screened team of readers, a system that ensured a diverse final round of manuscripts.
gluck	yaleyoungerteaching	Judging the Yale Younger Poets Series and working on final manuscripts with winners was a joy, and one not unlike that found in teaching.

Notes

All Poets Rae Armantrout Bruce Beasley Amy Gerstler Louise Glück James McMichael K. Silem Mohammad Robert Pinsky Michael Ryan Stephanie Strickland Nance Van Winckel Robert Wrigley

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