Sunday, March 23, 2008
The Big Difference
Writing poetry is definitely a fun experience but it can get to be a lot of work. I for one have a hard time coming up with something worth writing about, and even then it kinda sucks. Writing about poetry is obviously quite different. However, i don't enjoy that any more than the latter. You see i have a problem with poetry in general. When i was younger i used to write poetry that i was actually exited about. The words would just come to me and the images that i saw in my head found a way to make themselves onto the paper. Now, knowing more about the different types of poems, similes, metaphors, assonance and all that... i feel more jaded. I feel like i have to adhere to these different techniques. I have tried to come up with something that was appealing to me but of course things get lost in translation. Writing poetry is just hard for me. Writting about poetry is a bit easier but still not pleasing. When i write about poetry i feel like i am dissecting someone wlese work and who am i to say what is write or wrong. I get that thats not necessaryli what i am suposed to do but its hard to not impose your personal bias. I mean, what if i misunderstood something that the other meant? I write something bad about it when it was my own misunderstanding. If i write about poetry i write my response to it and not the poem itself. At least thats what i think is the difference.
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2 comments:
Your post reminded me of something Picasso said: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." He was pointing out that, as children, we feel free to create whatever we want to create, but as we become adults we develop sets of rules about art that hobble our ability to create. We stop drawing once we can't draw things that look like they do "in real life." It sounds to me like you experienced the poetic version of that; as you've learned more about the formal construction of poems, you've felt the pressure of those rules on your poetry, to the point that allowing your ideas to "[find] a way to make themselves onto the paper" is no longer a simple task.
When I write anything - poems, short stories, papers - I have the basic rules for the form floating around in my head, but as loose guidelines instead of rigid rules. I'm not afraid to adapt or ignore rules if it's required. I can always go back and change any glaring mistakes- but I rarely do, because I've usually written something I want to keep.
Don't be afraid to write whatever you want. As an adult, you're allowed - encouraged, even - to color outside the lines.
Vilma,
I have also found that it is harder to write as one gets older. I have a feeling that this has something to do with being educated. I think the more one knows, the more we realize we have been doing wrong for the past decade. For example, learning poetry and writing about poetry have made me very aware of my poetry. I have seen other people’s poetry and I begin to feel self conscious about my own writing. We become a lot more picky when we grow up. This is why I think poetry begins to wean when poet’s get older. Of course there are exceptions, but this is something I noticed. I can understand why it is easier to write about poetry because it is more structured. There are more rules in poetry criticism and you are guided there by those rules.
I understand what you mean about feeling you misunderstood the poet. I feel the same way. I feel horrible writing poetic criticism for that reason. I feel like I destroy their poems every time I do this, but I think that lifts after a while. I come to realize and accept that poetry is open ended and there are many meanings which could be embedded in the writing that even the poets do not realize. This is a really cool aspect of writing--that feeling of being able to discover ideas that even the author did not see.
Norma
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