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Importante Tips~~~



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Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:09 am
Hibiscus says...



Don't know if anyone's ever covered this before, because I didn't bother to scroll down enough to check through the other topics, but I'm here to give you some tips and one tip in particular on writing poetry.
And I might not be good enough of a poet to be able to offer this advice, I guess that depends on the people's opinions, but the very first thing I find very important and that I want you all to know is this:

According to http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/lit ... poetry.htm, poetry is- ...an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.

Ahem, what I'm trying to say, mainly, and am not trying to strike out against anyone, but a poem DOES NOT have to have punctuation. (If you like punctuation, go ahead and put punctuation in.) That definition that I've copy and pasted had nothing to say about if it required punctuation.
Now, I do understand that if you have bits and pieces of your poem with punctuation, I believe it's better to mark the whole thing with punctuation just to be consistent. But a poem isn't something to be restrained, so if you do not wish to use punctuation, then you do not have to. Just because a poem is lacking punctuation, doesn't mean it needs to be fixed or corrected. Let it be!

I do understand that some poems would be better with punctuation, especially if they hold longer and more descriptive lines, but sometimes poems can stand without punctuation, and do better off. So keep this in mind!

My second tip is just be true. Emotions are hard to express, especially in written words, so I understand how this can be difficult at times. But if you try to use your own feelings and express them to the best of your abilities, if you understand how you feel, then it should be easier to take off that and help the reader comprehend what it is your poetry is saying, or "feeling". So just stick to what you know, because the poet of all people should know how he/she feels best.

My final, and third, tip is try to be creative. That's what poetry mainly is, isn't it? Creativity? There are an endless amount of topics a person could write a poem about. Heck, they could even write one about how there's a million topics to write a poem about. Poems can also be written about certain desires, or situations or memories the poet has had. The problem is, there's just about an endless amount of people, too, and so sometimes a topic is overused. Such as "death" or "love". I'm not saying you can't write about these things, but if you plan to do so, be prepared. Prepare yourself, because they're such popular topics. So if you're going to write about a popular topic, try going about it in a creative and new way, such as a new view, or new situation. Because the topic is overused, if you write something like everything else, people will get bored of it, or attack it more harsher than necessary. So if you make it new it will be refreshing and people will enjoy it more. I'm not saying you should write a masterpiece, but if you're going to write a poem and post it up for people to see, don't just slap some cliched words down on paper.

I'm sure I could also say other tips, but then I'd get on a rant like with that first one. (You don't need punctuationnn~~~ This is not a book you're writing, it's a poooem!!!) But these are the three most important, I believe, to making a poem enjoyable. And hey, when you write a good poem, you're going to really like it, and so are others, and it'll make ya feel good and all fuzzy inside. ^~^ Lol.
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Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:44 am
Navita says...



Great tips, Hibiscus. I have recently seen a surge of reviews demanding such unecessary things as punctuation and capitalisation, so I think this post is rather timely.

I may add to it when I have the chance.
  





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Wed Oct 06, 2010 4:29 am
kikialicia31 says...



Navita wrote:Great tips, Hibiscus. I have recently seen a surge of reviews demanding such unecessary things as punctuation and capitalisation, so I think this post is rather timely.

I may add to it when I have the chance.


I agree with Navita. It really will help peoples write even better.

Good luck and keep writing,

Alicia.
"The nicest part is being able to write down all my thoughts and feelings, otherwise I‘d absolutely suffocate."- Anne Frank
  





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Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:24 pm
MeanMrMustard says...



Some interesting advice in here. Wonder why no one paid attention?

The part about punctuation and capitalization is paramount in poetry analysis. I cringe when people think that's a problem. That's a fundamental misconception about poetry if you think those are problems, unless it's very clear or the poet says they made a mistake.
  





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Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:23 am
smorgishborg says...



You need to learn the rules before you break them though. I cringe just as often when reviewers let other writers off for going e.e.cummings on everyone without a good reason. People think it's just 'interesting' and 'creative' when in fact it's just 'not working'.

So while yes, there are a decent amount of poets on this site that can get away with it, a great number really can't. (Myself for example. Too hard.) In other words, #1 is great advice... that should be taken with a grain of salt. The other two are basics of writing that everyone always seems to forget. They can't be emphasized enough. Good work in doing so.
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Mon Nov 01, 2010 4:13 pm
MeanMrMustard says...



smorgishborg wrote:You need to learn the rules before you break them though. I cringe just as often when reviewers let other writers off for going e.e.cummings on everyone without a good reason. People think it's just 'interesting' and 'creative' when in fact it's just 'not working'.


Are you implying that poetry has a set path for aspiring poets? That "rules" exist? What are these rules? When did this standard begin? Show me a list of 20th century poets that did this. Maybe back when we expected everyone to start with Pastoral poems...all the way back to John Milton is one of the later examples I can think of.

Your example is disingenuous to the real problem when people try to emulate favorite writers: almost everyone lacks the skill, experience, and talent to write like someone else who is established. That has no bearing on how they write, they write as they like, but the result is relative to ability. They have to practice, learn, and grow, but that doesn't mean there are preexisting rules, not for decades, if not the better part of a century. Doesn't show to be changing either.
  





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Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:37 pm
Kale says...



I'm with smorg. You need to know the ins and outs of the language, why those rules were created, and how exactly breaking them will impact your writing before you can mess with them. The difference between a poet who deliberately and knowingly does not adhere to grammatical convention and a poet who was too lazy to bother with those conventions is very obvious.

To be frank, most of the writers on this site are not yet at the level where they can consistently break the rules of language and get away with it. They simply don't have enough experience/knowlege of the basics to know when breaking the rules is the better alternative, or why.

But that's what learning and practice is for.
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