Workshop

[Isagel]

I thought it could be good with a thread for discussing how to make better poetry. I´m thinking about things like:

useful exercises for improving writing skills
what to avoid
what to work on
how to find inspiration
different ways of writing poetry
and so on.

Anyone interested in discussing these things?

[amuse]

Isagel, i love that idea; it's great.
i bet we could all learn a lot from each other, :) and i like what you suggested (as well as the "and so on.")
totally interested!

[emily655321]

For some reason, when I've been awake for a looooong time -- I mean like 25+ hours -- and have stayed awake through at least two of the times I feel like I'd DIE if I didn't collapse and go to sleep right then -- when I ache all over and my eyes hurt from my brain swelling against them and my vision is cutting out, so that all I can do is sit like a gargoyle in front of the computer -- all of a sudden my mind opens up and my fingers start typing really fast and all these ideas and poetry come pouring out.

Needless to say, I don't do it often. :p

Usually the way I write poetry is that a random line or two will just come to me out of nowhere, or that don't fit into another thing I'm writing. I save those for another time when inspiration will hit me, and then I make a poem around them. I have pages of those, but almost no completed poems. Usually when I sit down to write one poem on one subject, it never comes, but I end up with 10 completely unrelated stanzas that I save for another time.

[edit] I'm also not a free-verse person. One of the reasons I have trouble making lines fit is because I'm so meticulous about rhythm and meter (is that the same thing? whatever). If the rhythm changes for any reason, it has to be because there is something especially important in that line, and I usually try to work the change into the other stanzas as well.

[mike401]

it sounds odd, but avoiding sounding too "poetic" is key- if you start writing like a neo-classicist or a cavalier poet (ugh), you'll have a hard time sounding modern. restrict yourself to common words; poetry is everywhere.

[amuse]

hear, hear!
:)
and if you want to throw in uncommon words, use them judiciously, like when cooking with saffron.

[Isagel]

Glad you liked the idea. I like discussing the craft of writing, and I thought that some things can be easier to discuss like this than it is when answering to a poem.

Right now I have a slight problem. I like to write using evryday pictures, sometimes true, and sometimes invented. But suddenly I had a scary thought - Is this really interesting for anyone else? How do I put my personal experiences into writing that is something other people can relate to? Some people manage to do this. What is it that transforms one experience into something universal?

[emily655321]

Actually, I think that's the best kind of poem, Isagel. :) Writing a beautiful description of an ordinarily overlooked aspect of life -- it's something personal, but at the same time everyone can relate to it. And it feels good to discover a new way of looking at something -- no one else would describe it quite the same way as you. :)

[Koa]

In theory, it's good to exercise etc.
In practice, I'm a romantic: I believe in sudden inspirations...
Tie me to the chair with a nice sentence, I'll build nothing about it (or, as emily, will come out with 40 useless stanzas that end up either in bin or in an useless pile). Give me the strength to get up when I get those damn inspirations when I'm about to fall asleep, and you'll have a masterpiece.
Of course sometimes it works having some editing and such, but in general I can't accept 'rules'...

Lately I found it very useful, when I get sudden ideas on the bus etc, to type it in my phone as a message and save it... It's really useful. No more lost inspirations cos they come at the wrong moment :)

I'd like to be able to use everyday images and such, but I can't help describing thoughts, feelings... I have too much of an internal life :eek:

[emily655321]

Oh god, I hate those moments of inspiration just as I'm about to drift off to sleep. I know I'll never remember them, but I know I'll never get back to sleep if I get up! Grr.

And again, same as you -- even though I know emotion carries more strongly through imagery, I always find myself doing the opposite and applying various metaphors to my emotions. For instance, instead of describing a withered blue flower and letting the reader become sad, I'll say something lame like, "the life in my eyes withers and falls." Not nearly as powerful a description, and yet I always fall into the trap!