When is writing poetry easiest for you (Discusion)

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NeverSayDie
Junior Member

since 2001-01-18

Posts 39
Duluth, MN & Grand Forks ND

0 posted 2003-02-04 01:25 PM

I was sitting here thinking that the only time I can write poetry is when im really depressed or really happy, It's like my mind is blocked from anything poetic when im just normal. Im just wondering how it is for everyone else. Post when and why you write here.

Thanks,
Casey Anderson
NeverSayDie

Child of the Stars

Senior Member

since 2000-09-07

Posts 1658
Ann Arbor, MI

1 posted 2003-02-04 03:09 PM

Some days I wake up quieter than usual and I look at things more closely. Those are usually the days I write poetry, though I do go through spurts writing more than a poem a day...those are usually, like you said, when I'm depressed. I rarely have "happy" poem-days...unless they're influenced by somebody I love. I should work on that

As for time of day, usually at night. Stuff's clearer then.
~Carly

empty-armed
and half a soul to go
-el sol
--Zwan

Skyfire

Member Elite

since 2000-12-27

Posts 3381
Riding

2 posted 2003-02-04 06:42 PM

Honestly? When I'm drunk.

Monkey!!

Larry C

Member Patricius

since 2001-09-10

Posts 10286
United States

3 posted 2003-02-04 07:16 PM

Rhonda!

I write best when I'm not grieving.

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

Marshalzu

Member Elite

since 2001-02-15

Posts 2681
Lurking

4 posted 2003-02-08 06:23 PM

I like writing drunk but I find that it's not the most conducive condition for writing half decent poetry, I normally write before I got to bed as it seems to be the only spare time in my day.

[This message has been edited by Marshalzu (02-08-2003 06:24 PM).]

Brad
Member Ascendant

since 1999-08-20

Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea

5 posted 2003-02-08 06:29 PM

When I'm walking.

Jaime

Registered

Member
Posts 250

6 posted 2003-02-08 10:40 PM

When I hear them. (To me, writing poetry is largely about listening.)

- Jaime

the faeries creep into my hair at night leaving it in terrible knots

anonymousfemale
Member Elite

since 2000-02-02

Posts 2797
Limbo

7 posted 2003-02-09 05:16 AM

Depression is a big trigger. As is ecstasy and alcohol.

"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note." -- Gore Vidal

Brad
Member Ascendant

since 1999-08-20

Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea

8 posted 2003-02-09 05:20 AM

Not gonna disagree with Jaime.

--I'll add reworking (for me the fun part), but yeah, it comes, it just comes.

--You, general you, have no idea how much I lose these days. Oh well.

Midnitesun

Member Empyrean

since 2001-05-18

Posts 28647
Gaia

9 posted 2003-02-09 02:31 PM

"was sitting here thinking that the only time I can write poetry is when im really depressed or really happy, It's like my mind is blocked from anything poetic when im just normal."
I have no idea what normal is, so I just write all the time. My muse chases after me 24/7. LOL.

brian madden
Member Elite

since 2000-05-06

Posts 4374
ireland

10 posted 2003-02-09 03:57 PM

never, writing poetry for me is a labour of love. It used to be easier when I wrote from a darker side of me, now what I write takes time sometimes a month or two for ahsort poem but it is more emotionally rewarding.

got hips like cinderella must be having a good shame talking sweet about nothing
cookie i think you're tame" The Pixies

chasing rain
Senior Member

since 2001-05-15

Posts 737
Canada

11 posted 2003-02-09 04:52 PM

Little subtle things inspire me, like watching peoples facial expressions as they drive in the cars...

Or the sound of ice melting...it has this snappy biting sound.

Or even...

I'll shut up now.

Leah

Poet deVine

Administrator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-05-26

Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley

12 posted 2003-02-09 05:56 PM

So if you are doing your best writing under the influence of drugs or alcohol (mind altering substances), how can you say YOU wrote the poem? Did that substance write it? You obviously wouldn't have written it without that influence (as you say) so who gets the credit (or the blame)?

I know writers throughout history have done this but it bothers me that people think they need some outside 'force' to pull the words from their head. What if there were no drugs? No alcohol? Would you stop writing?

Skyfire

Member Elite

since 2000-12-27

Posts 3381
Riding

13 posted 2003-02-09 08:54 PM

I don't find my poetry is my BEST when I'm drunk, but it's easiest for me to be open about what I'm really feeling. It takes too much work to hide things when I've been drinking.
If there was no alcohol, no I wouldn't stop writing. I'd just continue to do right now, which is learning to write honestly without alcohol. It's difficult, but it's coming along

Monkey!!

cherish
Senior Member

since 2001-03-25

Posts 1639
swimming in fairy floss...........

14 posted 2003-02-09 09:27 PM

i think that whatever you write, regardless of whether you were under the influence of drugs, is essentially, you. WHO ELSE could think the things you think or use the words you use?

it just doesnt make sense.

me- i write whenever i feel the need to purge. it needs to come out and it does. sometimes at home, on the train, while walking, in a parking lot etc. it hits me and i write. (i thought everyone wrote like that- you guys actually sit down and write?)

Congratulations! It's a bisexual!

anonymousfemale
Member Elite

since 2000-02-02

Posts 2797
Limbo

15 posted 2003-02-10 11:57 PM

quote:
So if you are doing your best writing under the influence of drugs or alcohol (mind altering substances), how can you say YOU wrote the poem? Did that substance write it? You obviously wouldn't have written it without that influence (as you say) so who gets the credit (or the blame)?

Sharon, I can say I wrote it because it was my hand, my mind and my thoughts. Drugs play an incredibly small part in the things buried in my mind. I would have written the same thing with or without drugs. How do I know? Because I make the comparisons and the only things that differ are the content. Obviously the person is going to get the credit because the drugs/alcohol didn't write the piece, the human being did.

quote:
What if there were no drugs? No alcohol? Would you stop writing?

Which definition of drugs were you after? Caffeine can be labelled as a drug. Are you going to say the same thing about people who are addicted to caffeine? Or nicotine? Because we all know that too much of those substances causes a person to hallucinate. I wouldn't stop writing even if I wasn't taking the things that I do. Like I said before, it's the person that writes - not the substance.

"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note." -- Gore Vidal

majnu

Senior Member

since 2002-10-13

Posts 1088
SF Bay Area

16 posted 2003-02-16 04:08 AM

sudden moments of genuine joy or sadness.

-majnu
--------------------------------------
Timid thoughts be not afraid. I am a Poet.

abbe
Member

since 2003-01-20

Posts 131
michigan, usa

17 posted 2003-02-16 08:51 AM

sometimes they tumble out "on the fly".  i just pause in the busy day to share the moment.

so there is no mood that sets the stage - it is preempted by a wish to capture a moment, a snapshot of something i've seen, felt, or a memory triggered by someone elses word... out of the heart of me.  a need to share that feeling that picture of beauty and preserve it forever.  and in the preservation a hope to connect with another spirit - and say "yeah" been there... or loved your description of...

writing is me sharing "me" with all who take the time to read.

Quiet Acquiescence
Member

since 2003-02-16

Posts 70
somewhere out here

18 posted 2003-02-16 05:44 PM

i think it really starts to come out when i'm sad, or i've just read poetry by someone else. i hate reading poems i've written while i was depressed. they sound horrible...and i guess that's why i throw all of them away. lol.

~yes, it's me~

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