In a chat conversation with Dennis Aguinaldo, he raised what he claims to be his preferred writing practice and way of being that follows an anti-refinement approach that could also be noticed in the writing of Dada and the Beat. He said that he wants to move away from the view of the writing process as evolutionary, where the first draft progresses toward the fair copy, and move toward a writing practice that treats each iteration of a piece as variants, with each variant seen as its truest at its particular moment. In the former, iterations are viewed as "imperfect steps," while in the latter they are viewed as "moments-in-themselves." He does raise that how to "inflict" this on a reader is a conversation of itself and that he fears being drowned in a sea of variants.

This view of a personal writing practice also has repercussions on how we respond to the works of others. For one, it challenges whether there is a need for a workshop in the first place. If each piece of writing is its breath at this moment, what is there a need to sharpen it? Using the metaphor of birth I often hear from people who subscribe to a more evolutionary view of writing, where in the fair copy is viewed as the child being born, I could argue that each iteration of the draft is a child.

Dennis mentions two instances where this view of writing could be applied in respond to someone's work as a group. First, he mentions the possibility of inviting someone informed by the moment. This point needs elaboration. Second, he suggests the possibility of highlighting a line or two from the piece and using it to inform the next moment, such as in writing new poems.

The objective of this view is the emergence of a forest of moments. If this is one's objective of writing, the sharpening of drafts as if they are blades is its ultimate antithesis.

My thoughts

Instead of sharpening to improve, one may change a particular piece (i.e., move from a variant to another) to respond to a particular need. Here, the old oral pieces of Filipino indigenous groups do this always. But even contemporary poets do this, particularly in oral reading settings. I myself feel the need to change a poem to fit a reading.