Question

How did watching the process a student writer went through to write their poems help you to write yours? Is there anything you did differently? In my own words

Answer 1

Watching the other student write their poems helped me more than I expected. Seeing them brainstorm, try different lines out loud, and keep revising showed me that good poems don’t come out perfect the first time — they’re shaped. I picked up specific habits from them, like using concrete sensory details, cutting extra words, and reading the poem aloud to check the rhythm and sound. Watching their willingness to erase and try different images made me less afraid to change my own lines.

I also did some things differently. Instead of following their slow, step-by-step revisions, I wrote a longer first draft quickly to get all my ideas down, then went back and tightened it in two quick passes. I used different imagery and a voice that felt more personal to me, and I focused more on the poem’s ending so it left a stronger impression. And while they got feedback in class, I chose to wait a day before revising so I could see the poem with fresh eyes.

If you want to put it in your own voice, you can start with: “Watching them helped me because…” and follow with one or two specific techniques you learned (reading aloud, cutting words, using sensory detail). Then add a sentence starting “One thing I did differently was…” and say what you tried instead.