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inspiration or perspiration?
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inspiration or perspiration? |
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a.MUSE New Member
since 2000-05-19
Posts 1 |
does the best poetry come from hard work and discipline? is writing poetry just a process? or does beautiful poetry come from writing inspired? can poetry be written within that short span where a person is completely immersed in his/her topic? i believe that poetry should be inspired, but is that wrong thinking? is poetry too complex an art to "freestyle"? are there poets out there who "freestyle" poems? |
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brian madden Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374ireland |
Those are very interesting questions, here are my thoughts for what they are worth. 1. Does the best poetry come from hard work and discipline? Is writing poetry just a process? I believe poetry like all art forms is a discipline, something that needs to be worked on in order to improve. I have been writing for almost six years, at the start I wrote a lot more poetry than I do now. I was learning and experimenting, finding my own voice. With each new poem I try my style of writing, I hope, should be refining itself. No I don't think it is a process, as far as I can work out there is no "special" method to writing poetry. If there is a twelve-step guide I would to know about it. I tend to write free verse or style. It is a personal choice. I have no desire to try some more constricting like a sonnet, as I am aware of my weaknesses, And I don't think my thought process would suit those styles and techniques. I just write about what inspires me, what engages me. 2. Or does beautiful poetry come from writing inspired? Can poetry be written within that short span where a person is completely immersed in his/her topic? All writing comes from being inspired, whether it is from something internal (a first hand experience, an emotion you feel) or maybe by something you witnessed or a topic you have an interest in but have not witnessed first hand. Personally I think outside influences are essential otherwise you limit yourself in what you can write if you only write about first hand experiences. By the second part of the question do you mean the part where you hit upon an idea for a poem and the whole thing seems to come together instantly? That rarely happens with me, when it does I never seem to have a pen. I have written few poems in a one sitting where they remained in first draft form. Some poems I will edit about six or seven times. I think most poems are written in several sittings, each time you come to the poem with sometime new to add, it is almost like a collage of emotions with a central theme. Poetry is a very concise form so often whole images and emotions are compacted into five words. 3. I believe that poetry should be inspired, but is that wrong thinking? Is poetry too complex an art to "freestyle"? Are there poets out there who "freestyle" poems? Free style… meaning without any verse structure such as stanzas, haiku form or sonnet form? Well I would say that my poetry is free style though over the past I have started writing poems with equal amount of lines in each verse. It is not sometime that I set out to do intentionally, but it is possible to put some sort of structure to the poem I do. I think the only bad poetry is poetry that does not come from the heart that is full of clichés that lacks honesty. If you search deep inside yourself you can produce beautiful words, the images do not need to be complex as long as the emotions are true and can connect with people. |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
a.MUSE~ These are interesting questions. 1. I believe that my poetry is primarily inspired. (and it doesn't take much) 2. I usually complete my poetry in one very quick sitting as the words flow effortlessly to the paper/screen. The truth is that I can hardly finish one before another quickly rushes to my mind. 3. I may 'park' a poem and go back and look it over at another time ... but I usually find that the original form, rhyme and meter are already in place. I also find that I'm less than tempted to alter my original thoughts (outside of possibly formatting the poem) as the process doesn't work well for me. 4. I do like free-verse and do some of it, but the natural flow of my poetry is rhyme. Haiku is the ultimate creative poetry style that has clarified the way in which I 'look' at a moment and put it on paper. It is probably one of the easiest forms for me to do. I 'think' Haiku ! 5. Once in a while I have a thought come to me that I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with it ... that one goes on the notepad to be worked. It's rare for me to find it necessary to 'work' a poem. 6. I do not have a desire to follow an assignment (such as write a sonnet, write a Haiku, write a particular formed piece of poetry). 7. For me .. it simply is the flow that captures what I feel coming out of a thought. I do not have to 'live' all events to be able to write about them. When the marvelous muses that inhabit my pen speak .. I simply write what they say. I've read some wonderful poetry that some have 'perspired' over ... and if that works for the writer ... it impresses me, but doesn't make me want to emulate them. 8. Inspiration in whatever form it comes is my way of writing. Reading the works of others inspires me quickly to 'quip' or to quickly process the thoughts flowing to me. *Thank you for presenting me with this questioning - I enjoyed writing my responses. ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ noles1@totcon.com |
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jbouder Member Elite
since 1999-09-18
Posts 2534Whole Sort Of Genl Mish Mash |
quote: The above is taken from "The Craft of Verse" by the poet Alexander Pope. I think it is important for a poet to do what he/she can in order to discover the many things that make poetry work. Reading the works of other poets and delving into the subjects of what makes the poems of the greats work (or don't work) is, in my opinion, one of the best ways for a poet to "learn how to dance" with their pen and notepad. I think it is a challenge for a poet to find the "method" that works for him/her in learning how to improve his/her poetry but I am certain that there is no one method that works for everyone (we ARE all different). I suppose that it is not so important how you "learn to dance" as long as you do "learn how to dance" that will bring you "True ease in writing". Just an opinion. Jim |
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