Blog
How to Finish a Full-Length Poetry Collection: an Interview with Lauren Brazeal Garza
by Writing Workshops Staff
A week ago
Writing Workshops: Your memoir-in-verse, Gutter, bravely tackles the painful experience of teenage homelessness, and The Devotee explores horror through a hybrid of poetry and prose. How do you see these personal and genre-bending narratives informing how you’ll guide students toward the difficult truths in their work over this 12-month class?
Lauren Brazeal Garza: These books taught me to listen to the needs of each narrative. I believe every writing project has a perfect form that allows the writer to feel heard and will most strongly resonate with readers. As an instructor, I work to help my students discover their own projects’ most perfect form: whether it's a collection of individual poems, interconnected pieces, a novel-in-verse or memoir-in-verse, or a hybrid project that contains some poems. We should never limit ourselves in terms of genre when it comes to speaking our truths.
WW: This year-long workshop is a significant commitment for the instructor and the student. What spark led you to create such an immersive, extended program rather than a shorter, more traditional course?
LBG: When I was an emerging writer, I often wished for a program like this. My MFA program was great, but each student had a variety of instructors and we were given no advice about the world of publishing. We were also mostly on our own when it came to shaping our larger manuscripts—most advice came in the form of counsel on individual pieces. This workshop considers each writer’s entire project, helping to nurture it from an idea to a full-length collection, and finally navigating the world of publication, all with the guidance and encouragement of our close-knit community of writers.
WW: Many writers find that moving from single poems to a full-length collection involves a shift in mindset. In your experience, what are the most common hurdles that poets face when expanding their work into a manuscript, and how do you plan to help students overcome those stumbling blocks?
LBG: I like to think of a single poem as being akin to a single living cell. As authors, we hope these pieces will coalesce into the multicellular organism that is a poetry collection. This change in mindset—from perfecting a single poem, to collecting a living manuscript of perfected poems— can often be the most daunting for emerging poets. It’s vital to consider how each poem is in conversation with the others in their collection, and build the manuscript with these relationships in mind. As a writer, I understand how a second or third set of eyes is needed to help us see the forest for the trees in our work. As an instructor, I help to provide that necessary, objective feedback. An outsider’s perspective and encouragement is often all it takes to get past those blocks.
WW: Your class includes “generative writing” sections and a rigorous workshop phase. Why is striking a balance between creating new material and revising existing pieces crucial to building a cohesive collection?
LBG: The key to success for any writer is “ABC” (Always Be Creating) —whether it’s revising existing work or generating entirely new pieces. Writing my first book, Gutter, taught me this, though mostly through trial and error. At first, I would only focus on generating new material, but ignoring the drafting process left me overwhelmed by too many poems that needed major revisions. Conversely, spending too much time revising, and not generating new work often made me feel stuck. The key is balance: revise and write at the same time. As writers, there are days when we only have the bandwidth or time to revise existing work, and other days when we have the energy and fire to write new pieces. In this incubator, my students will learn how to read their own energy to make real progress on their writing, both for their current and future projects.
WW: You have extensive teaching experience. What have you learned from your students over the years, and in what ways will these lessons shape the mentorship style you bring to this course?
LBG: I approach every class with the mindset that each participant brings their own expertise and life experiences to help inform the whole. Because of this, my classes are democratic, where everyone is treated as an equal, rather than the traditional teacher/pupil power dynamic. I happen to have quite a bit of expertise when it comes to writing, publishing, and literature, but I have many students who are experts in their fields— from professors of physics, to firefighter instructors, to professional surfers. Together, with open minds, we create a learning community that’s more than the sum of our individual areas of expertise. My courses are always filled with lively discussions from a multitude of perspectives and backgrounds. The result is a rich, meaningful learning experience for everyone involved—including me!
WW: One of the final sections focuses on “The Business of Getting Published.” Many writers struggle with industry gatekeeping and rejection. What’s one piece of wisdom or encouragement you share with emerging poets about navigating these often intimidating publishing waters?
LBG: I always encourage my students to find supportive friends in the writing community— relationships built on celebrating and uplifting one another. Writing might be a solo endeavor, but publishing, marketing your work, and growing your readership are all team sports. It helps to engage in a community of writers helping writers, where we encourage and celebrate one another. When you have a positive community at your back, rejections sting less and every success feels all the more satisfying.
WW: By the end of the workshop, your participants will hold a completed draft of their full-length collection. What do you hope these new authors carry forward from this intensive year—beyond the pages of their manuscript—into their long-term creative lives?
LBG: I hope to equip each of my students with the confidence, knowledge, and discipline to complete any major project they set their mind to. Writing a book teaches us so much about ourselves and what we’re capable of. We will hit walls that seem insurmountable, but will find ways to break through them. We will have times of celebration and times of frustration, and these too help us learn. I’ve helped many writers complete books over the years, and I always tell them if you can write one book, you can write a library and it’s true. The completion of that first project only opens more doors within us for new creative work. I’m so excited to see this positive change in each of my students as the year progresses, as they understand: Yes! I can do this! That feeling changes a person in the best, most fundamental ways.
Avoid the waitlist and apply for Lauren's upcoming program, 12 Months To A Full-Length Poetry Collection: A Generative Workshop.
Instructor Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of five books of poetry and fiction, including her memoir-in-verse, Gutter (YesYes Books, 2018), which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager; and The Devotee (forthcoming), a hybrid literary horror novel of poetry and prose. She earned her M.F.A in creative writing from Bennington College, and her Ph.D. in Literature from The University of Texas at Dallas. She teaches literature and creative writing at The University of Texas at Dallas.
