I don't think your poems are bad, but one thing that makes me skim through them is that they all seem so negative--and they're all free verse. If you want to grow, try writing a sonnet, or using other forms. Search for rhymes. Write about something concrete--an object, an animal, a place--instead of those big abstract emotions. I know you write to ease frustration and relieve your emotions, but you need to widen your subject matter. There's only so much sorrow and pain a reader can take. Try to write simply--too many high-faluting words make people roll their eyes and call you pretentious. Also, read other poets' work. I'm in a poetry class, and some poets I like that we're studying are Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Pablo Neruda, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ezra Pound, Frank O'Hara, Anne Carson, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Sylvia Plath, James Wright, Robert Creeley. Read what they write and take advice from them. While you're looking for a way to move forward, expand your horizons--then you'll find more places to go
( ... )
Oh I do read so much poetry from classic poets. Almost all the books I read are books of poetry. In order to grow and be inspired I re-read and re-read and re-read the poems by the greats and try to put myself where they were when they wrote it and understand why they chose the words they chose. Have you read Jacques Prévert? He blows my mind.
Also, writing simply is what I strive to do. Overall I believe that great poetry is concise and simple while still being three dimensional and conveying all the emotion etc, that the writer strives for.
Thanks so much for your advice :). I'll definately check out those poets!
I didn't mean to sound pretentious, so if I did, I'm sorry. :) But by classic poets do you mean Byron, Shelley, Shakespeare? That's terrific, but do diversify. Like me personally, there's only so much iambic pentameter I can take. Ditto with Dickenson. We should get together and talk poetry sometime. That would be fun. I haven't had a poetry talk with a friend in a long time.
Comments 6
Reply
exactly
Reply
Oh I do read so much poetry from classic poets. Almost all the books I read are books of poetry. In order to grow and be inspired I re-read and re-read and re-read the poems by the greats and try to put myself where they were when they wrote it and understand why they chose the words they chose. Have you read Jacques Prévert? He blows my mind.
Also, writing simply is what I strive to do. Overall I believe that great poetry is concise and simple while still being three dimensional and conveying all the emotion etc, that the writer strives for.
Thanks so much for your advice :). I'll definately check out those poets!
Reply
We should get together and talk poetry sometime. That would be fun. I haven't had a poetry talk with a friend in a long time.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
Leave a comment