One suggestion that was made was to add more metaphors to the piece. I liked the idea but not the actual conception. When I added on, it made the main idea of the piece vaguer by drawing away from the hammering of the nail that I wanted present in the piece. Instead, I added questions to the end of each numbered paragraph to use the desired figurative language within my piece while still keeping a clear idea of the characterization and story of “you.”
One thing that was only lightly touched on in my original version was this concept of the North Side versus the South Side. Cats on the North Side are well off, chipped, and predominately pets while those on the South Side are nip addicts, tipped, and predominately strays. Further developing this dynamic gave rise to the inclusion of the ear-tipping and animal control within this piece as well as gave more allowance for building onto Meowington’s past that had also been lacking in my original piece.
A big part of my writing process was not just finding rhyme but finding the rhyme that rang true to my experience. My favorite thing to do when writing a rhyming poem is to find one word I know I want in my poem, and then write a list of all the words that rhyme with it. I go through and cross them off as I write so I don’t accidentally reuse them. There was no set meter for this piece, but I wanted it to feel like it was speeding up as it went so if words or phrases were too clunky or awkward; they were cut, rephrased, or condensed.