There are many common mistakes when trying to rhyme poetry- here’s just a few.
The very first mistake some writers make in rhyming poetry is the belief that they do not have a poem unless the thing rhymes. This is of course bullshit for the only reason your poem should rhyme in the first place is if it makes what is being said more effective and distinctive. If not, stay away from rhyming. However if you really must rhyme, I would suggest you take a few precautions before churning out yet another turgid bit of shit adding to that fetid ocean of literary dross that appears to be growing by the day.
Before writing, read. Most bad poets do not read good poetry and by the look of some forays into the literary world, may not be able to write either, before they have bravely put pen to paper. Read good poetry and a diversity of poetry. Look how it is structured; try and understand all you can about it. See why it is appealing. Read good children’s poetry. The reason for doing this is that this type of poetry is usually imbued with a fantastic meter and innate melody much more than adult pieces- they are also full of image and sheer joy conveyed in a simple structure. Read the classics, begin with Shakespeare and go to Blake, Yeats, Keats, Poe, Auden, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, Noyes, Dickinson, Frost, Coleridge and then into the more modern rhyming writers. You will find that some of these writers come across as absolute tossers but they can certainly write. Especially the good modern song writers and this includes WS Gilbert, Lorenz Hart, Cole Porter and the great song writing teams of the thirties and forties. Then finally into Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and other more poetic and erudite writers Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Nick Cave etc etc etc. Look at the works of Stephen Sondheim, and then after that look carefully at AA Milne and Tom Lehrer just for the sheer hell of it. There are of course many, many others. You should look carefully too at those writers who tend to write in prose rather than verse, Whitman, Proud, Bukowski, and many, many more who write without rhyme. Not only how effectively they do it but look how their work is textured, full of humour and the images they conjure for the reader. Good writers have an innate meter through their pieces whether in rhymes or not; see how they smoothly make their way across the page and draw the reader in. There are many good rhyming writers here at AP – seek them out but first go to the well known published poets. Use your local library.
But how do you as a writer come up with something original that doesn’t stink?
Being imaginative helps and being prepared to take risks. Too many writers are too concerned as to what others will think. Fuck’em! If people like it, terrific, if not who cares? The only thing the writer should be really concentrating on is improving their self expression. And to improve requires a few steps to get those skills up a bit more.
What AP will demonstrate is that you are probably better than most but no where as good as you think you are. For when you read a good writer on AP, their work stands out, pardon the cliché, like dog nuts. You have to read good writing as all these renowned writers have an articulation to their work that is no fluke. They have all studied writers that have come before them and they all have used previous works as solid bedrock to their own originality. Bob Dylan was as devoted disciple to the words of Woody Guthrie as any folk singer from that generation and his early works echoes strongly the influence that writer had on Dylan. But Dylan himself to be good couldn’t just simply copy without the mechanics of his craft in place. To do this successfully they all have a broad word stock. The reason why this is so important is that it gives you greater rhyming options.
I really urge you to do this exercise. 99% of you won’t, 1% will start it and realise what hard work it is and maybe one person in a thousand will actually do it for a year and then rewrite some of their poetry from the year before. Over the next month read the dictionary- a proper dictionary. Not a rhyming dictionary, quite frankly you can just burn that bastard to cinders- and start at “J” as everybody goes to straight to the letter “A” and usually dies in the arse by about the words beginning with “AC” Begin at “J” the words are more interesting and less used. Learn three new adjectives, one new verb and a noun. Now without trying to rhyme, simply use them in a sentence. Then another, then another until they become so completely, part of your vocabulary. Then do it again the next day. Then at the end of the week jumble up your 21 new adjectives, 7 new verbs and seven new nouns and create image filled sentences with them. Create as many as you can with as many variations. For God’s sake - Don’t try and rhyme! Then the following week you do the same with your 35 new words, then again the following week. At the end of the month with 140 new words jumble them all up and use them in sentences. Still not rhyming not even trying to rhyme although there will be no doubt that some of these phrases and sentences will probably end up in a poem or even be the catalyst for poems at a later stage. You do this for a year and you have 1820 new words to colour your poetry, to power your poetry and to hang your poetry off.
Why do this exercise?
Well, writing good rhyme is all about word choices. The less choice you have because of poor vocabulary the more basic it becomes and the more forced it sounds. It is really a matter of logic and math. Also it could well inspire you to write more originally and broaden the subjects you write about. The more words, the more choices and of course the less opportunity there is of you running out of words or going for a safe or clichéd alternative. This brings me on to the next point.
Clichés.
It is almost impossible to come up with original poetry if you are going to express it the same way as everyone else. It almost guarantees that you are going to be writing the poetry equivalent of wallpaper or muzak. There are literally thousands of trite, worn clichés that hack writers use time and time again and quite frankly, if you despise originality, use them by all means. Clichés abound in every genre of poetry and are constantly trotted out on every genre by those who feel at home blending in. On the other hand if you really want to write something that will be read as new, come up with your own phrases. To do this, I would avoid sentences that have the “moon is like this” or the “sky was like that” because moon, sun, sky, sea, mountains have been done to death. If you think you are some Goth bard, death, blood, torture, oceans of this too. Teenage angst, Christian poetry, romance- there is hardly a genre not touched by cliché. But even with clichés you can still be poetic but your poetry really falls to pieces when you over describe. Remember you are writing a poem not an incident report. Try and create art and by describing in minute detail every aspect takes the reader’s ability away to visualise in their own mind and for their mind to take over and create images from what you have written. In short there has to be some room to move if you are reading art. Inspired poetry will often hint rather than shout and what is more it will be hinted with words and phrases that sparkle and lift off the page. It is very difficult to do that with clichés.
Tautology
The first cousin of the cliché is tautology. This is the art of saying the same thing twice and invariably wrapped in a cliché to boot. “The wind blew” Of course the wind blew otherwise it would be a still day. That is what wind does, it blows. “She had a smile on her face” Where else does one have a smile? Mind you, ‘she had a smiling klacker’ is a hell of lot more interesting to read. It is poetry if you hint she had a smile in her soul, it is tautology and cliché if she has a smile on her face. But there are thousands of these phrases littered through shithouses poetry pieces. The sun rose in the east, it set in the west, the sun was ablaze, the moon was aglow, the car came up the road, the bride wore white, she married the groom, it was the height of summer and it was really hot, it was the depths of winter and, surprise, it was really cold, he was hit by a freezing cold snow ball, blossoms in spring, leaves dropping from trees in the fall…the list is fucking endless and these phrases are constantly trotted out by writers who lack originality and imagination or who are just plain lazy or even dumb when it comes to writing. Try and think and look at what you have penned. Does it make sense? Is it clichéd? Does it have tautology? Is it colourful, expressive and does it engage the reader? Ultimately…do you like it?
Meter
There has to be an innate metronome in your head that meters these poems out. And you don’t simply count beats as much as the feeling for the piece. Some forms do require strict beats and phonetics more than others eg sonnets but there are two things that can really ruin rhyme besides poor vocabulary and clichés: Terrible meter and plonky rhymes. Not all poems to rhyme effectively need go AABBCC or ABCB in their structure. The structure itself is almost a cliché so you have to write a sparkling piece of rhyme to get the reader passed it and to be really engaged by it. To assist is to understand a little of the word’s phonetic properties that run through the line. Every word has a natural melody and they either join harmoniously with other words or clash with words. Too many ordinary writers just put down the first word that enters their head and even in review don’t ask if it’s the best word choices they can come up with. It’s the English language that you are using and for every word there are probably another ten that will do the same and often better than the one chosen by those with a limited word stock. Also just because it rhymes it need not lack colour.
“Nestor was taken by a very wild beast with large horns” (note tautology – if it’s a beast it is usually means that it is wild and that line has all the art of a police report)
“Nestor was gnashed, hung rag doll on horns”
Here are two ways of saying the same thing. The second is not only more melodic (Nest(or)-gnashed & hung & horns), greater image (by using “rag doll” – that have a tendency to hang or fall limp, you immediately realise without spelling it out that poor Nestor is having a really shithouse day), tighter meter but actually allows the reader to conjure up their own image of Nestor copping it without one mention of a wild beast, yet your mind simply assumes this is what has happened. Also the second way of expressing Nestor’s demise allows for greater use of metaphor. The second could just as easily be talking about life as it could be about wildlife getting its own back.
Some people are truly hideous in the way they rhyme and they do this very simply by placing the emphasis so front and centre on the rhyme, while mutilating the line which leads to that key word, the poem gets this horrible plonky, plonky feel that grates on the sensibilities of most readers with a modicum of literacy.
As an example
The moon was really high and clouds floated by as it glowed
I thought “wow” as it finally snowed
Have you ever seen such a beautiful moon?
As I started eating my yoghurt with my spoon
I could suddenly see a lovely dove
And it reminded me of our love
Because like the moon you have a wonderful glow
Oh…how I love you so.
By Anonymous – died by stabbing own eye balls out! Well, I know I’m not putting my name to it.
However it carries many of the hallmarks of what we are discussing here with regards poxy poetry and although an exaggeration you may recognize a few common howlers.
1. It has no meter as almost every line is different. Some poems can be metered differently but there is often method in the madness. This is just plain mad.
2. It has no feeling despite talking about love. It reads like a report.
3. It is clichéd.
a. Moon glowed
b. Beautiful moon
c. Suddenly see
d. Lovely dove
e. Reminded me of our love
f. Like the Moon
g. How I love you so
4. Tautology
a. Moon was really high (where else would the thing be)
b. Clouds floated by (clouds do float)
c. Eating my yoghurt (as opposed to smearing it over yourself)
d. With a spoon (as opposed to using your fingers)
e. See a lovely dove (as opposed to hearing, smelling, feeling or tasting one)
5. Glowed and snowed is almost too adventurous in the rhyming company of moon & spoon, love & dove, glow & so
6. On one hand it is snowing and on the other the moon is glowing. This rarely happens and would indeed be a special night as it usually snows and blocks out all moon and star light. In other words this is a contradiction in images.
7. This schmuck is out on a romantic evening, while it is snowing, eating yoghurt. What a guy! What a yoghurt addiction. The fact is that it’s a forced rhyme that makes no sense to the rest of the poem.
8. Doves as a general rule are not too keen to be flying around when it is snowing.
9. Apart from a ‘wonderful’ glow and a ‘beautiful’ moon this thing has no description of the nouns. “The” & “a” are wasted opportunities to describe something and give your poetry some life. This piece is littered with wasted chances to change words that simply fill space with words that create mood and colour your pictures with something more than mere reporting.
And last but not least, as this is an incredibly common flaw in romantic poetry, it is a very selfish and self centred piece. It is all about the writer, what the writer sees, what the writer feels, to even eating my yoghurt with my spoon. Not much sharing going on in this piece but it is extraordinary just how selfish many so called romantic poems are as they are invariably centred solely on the writer and the writer’s feelings and heartache and joy and love and because of that, no one really gives a shit about the poem anyway.
Let me be very clear on a couple of things. I am not advocating that you learn words that are obscure and that your writing becomes so esoteric as to be unreadable- the heart of your poem should be passionate and it should communicate- this is the essence of art. It should stir the reader and pull them into directions that they would never have ventured if not for your skill, originality and art. Boring them shitless with clichés, blunting the message with poor word choices only limits your opportunity to touch the reader. It is essential to understand that art and what we as individuals like and don’t like is a matter of personal taste. Let’s trot out another well worn gem – one man’s meat is another’s poison. And so what I describe as crap may have the accolades raining from Heaven upon its beauty. I have no doubt that I have criticised work that others just love. What I am reflecting is my taste and not for a moment am I suggesting that you write like anyone except yourself. There are common mistakes that are repeated simply because of lack of awareness as what has been written can often be expressed better. That they are your words is more important than perfection. In fact some of the very best poetry is far from perfect. It is however passionate, stirring and chock full of image and atmosphere, humour and sadness. Your choice of structure and words simply accentuate or blunt that feeling the reader gets when reading your words. But personal taste in art is matter of connection and although a piece can be hailed by the masses as a masterpiece, it can still be crap to you. Thus it should not be condemned per se but you as the writer will always be the final arbiter of your own art. The rest are simply critics. So I am not meaning to break butterflies on the wheel here but to just simply improve what can be improved upon.
But to improve writing is to wish to improve writing and to take every opportunity to do so. We have conjured visions of poems being written by wise bards, stooped over their desks, penning classics by a flickering candle light. This is of course, on the whole absolute bollocks. The real trick is to have a pen and atleast enough space on your flesh or your lover’s flesh to scribble down the flash of inspiration should you be wandering through a paper wasteland when it strikes. The fact is writers write anywhere. Most of my work is scribbled in five minute frenzies and I am usually surrounded by crowds of people in a bus or at my daughter’s basketball game while they are sitting on the bench for a breather when I am writing. My world goes silent except for the words I hear. I couldn’t give a shit about the people around me and I couldn’t give a shit about the people who read me. Utterly selfish I write for me for if I didn’t write I would quite simply go insane and frustrated. It’s an addiction- I have to write. But I am also prepared to make howling mistakes and learn from those who write better than me. As I write poetry with a greater diversity than most, its very easy for me to learn from a whole range of people who tend to concentrate on one type of writing and do it superbly. I love poetry I wouldn’t usually write or am capable of writing. But you need to always write, you need to make mistakes and be prepared to learn from those errors to improve. You need to be true to yourself and almost arrogant in your regard for yourself even if you are like most of us- incredibly fragile in both ego and courage.
Some people write in a dry academic manner. They measure poetry by its high level of literacy, by the strict structure and by its precisely fashioned phonetics and beats. While interesting, I tend to view structured poetry as a product of boredom and deliberately, and often needlessly testing one’s own literary skills. By setting such tight structure it sets challenges and to strictly adhere to some of these rhyming structures can limit greatly the writer’s ability to say exactly what they wish to say and to passionately express it. In short it often creates incredibly pretentious, meaningless bullshit poetry for the amusement of some. However when a combination of both a structure that truly empowers a piece of poetry combined with the wording and passion to really fuel what it has to say, it is a rewarding moment for both writer and reader. Done properly it is wonderful but always have at the back of your mind that for every one of those gems, it is usually perched upon a veritable Mt Everest of plonky, clichéd, truly woeful pieces of shit that any self respecting silverfish would blanch at. But it is upon those mistakes and those efforts that often made the gem possible. This piece is to assist learning and should not be viewed as a discouragement to writing.
When all is said and done, that moment after inspiration, when you really read your poem for the first time, that piece that no one else in the world has read, that piece that until a few moments before did not exist and would not have existed had it not been for you, that moment before critic, before accolade, before self doubt- and you smile. That is the moment that brings you joy and that is the moment a writer lives for.
But most important of all - as stated by Mark Rickerby in the comments below
People have to write crap before they can write well. Every published luminary says the same thing of their early work.
It does not matter what I say or anyone has to say. The first thing a writer needs to do is write. Do that and the rest will hopefully fall into place...eventually.
Good luck and I hope this helps
By dp robertson
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1 - 31 of 31
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This made me smile.
Thanks!
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Thank you for taking the time to write such a long column... I appreciate that because this was really informative and useful... What I didn't like was that you used too many swear words... It was slightly disturbing... Probably just my opinion
*~Annie~*
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But if we turn out enough shit maybe we can kill off this planet's scum aka human race, once and for all...
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Excellent! read & make lots of notes!
WOW! Thank goodness for people like yourself who literally throw their heart and soul into trying to have others "take note" and perhaps even attempt to understand why they are driven to write and then to realize that's it takes discipline to meet that goal! You have shared a wealth of information within this essay and I would doubt that only the best of students would bother to read it from start to finish! I was impressed and just happened to find you because your pen name appeared in the featured column! Thanks for sharing your views and I may just go back to your featured one as well! I would love if you would share your personal opinion with me about commenting and critiquing, for I have some decided views that don't seem to meld with the way others approach or worse yet don't approach commenting at all! I can see where 25 people read it and I have 2 comments from people I have met through this site? You gotta wonder! Please make time to IM me back for I feel that you might have some very strong opinions on this topic! joy
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thanks for your advice! did not finish it all yet!
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I think by pointing out the mistakes you are not trying to say poems written with mistakes should not exist, but you are showing a way to acknowledge it and grow from it. This is exactly what I would constructive criticism. I do read a lot of old poetry. My attempt with Zamora in Ozark is a simple exercise that I evolved while working with children. Someone's talent has to first be recognized by oneself and at no point is applicable to another's judgement. I took time to read your column. It is more like a lesson on poetry and rhyming. So, I am really glad I read it. I am going to keep a copy of this. I don't think poetry rhymes all the time. Thanks a lot for sharing this. Sam
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very good
I was here and read what you have to say some of this does not pertain to how people learning change after a head injury it took me 20 years to get to where I am at. I improve each day it a journey. I did read what you had to say see if i can apply it the best I can thanks so much for sharing this with me. i hope you have a great day. I do read poems by favor are in the 1800 I in fact collect recipes from that era thanks for everything take care -
To the bottom of the page I finally crawled,
read all the sycophants,
the verbal applause.
No rhyme to my poetry?
no cliches?
no ambic meter? (haven't the foggiest what that means)
Well I'd best highlight the button
that says 'poem deleter'.
Interesting piece, a lesson in the art,
Wise words from the man,
(oft a lecherous fart)
Poetry of jest which rhymes, is a skill,
preferable to sugar flower prose,
which makes me feel ill.
Often i've read, "what form of rhyming is this"?
My reply, "it's my poem,
stop taking the piss"
"Very nice dear, perhaps you should read mine,
I've got meter to a T,
Structured for rhyme"
Off for a read, on their, star sparkling page,
Their me,me i'm perfect,
stirs my slumbering rage,
The very nice poetry, with form so supreme,
is so tight around the bollocks,
it would make a man scream.
Poetry like food is a matter of taste,
some write it all flowery,
others in haste,
Some to just say what needs to be said,
to get a bloody poem,
from out of their head.
Now whilst you all yawn,
at my lack, of skill,form and meter,
I'm off to find that button,
the 'poetry deleter'
Nice one DP.... i'll try and listen for a change
Barb
Edited on Sep 26, 4:14 p.m. because ''. -
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Kuddos to you
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Much-needed
Nicely written. Albeit, I disagree with some aspects of your talk about tautology - for instance, if one wants to describe the wind, what can one say, if not that it blew? For, as you said, wind does little else; to say one should not write "the wind blew" almost excludes descriptions of wind from poetry. Sure, you can say "it was windy", but then again, you would know better than most that "it was windy" and "the wind blew" have different syllable counts and different places of emphasis! Sure, it's not the most original phrase to say "the wind blew", but not every line needs to be a knockout, I might argue: some are just there to get us from one place to the next in a poem. In a sense, I thought you asked a little bit too much efficiency in one's words; I've never believed in the idea that one must pack meaning and beauty into every word of every line. It's a poem, not a blurb: why not take your time with it and let the message of your piece come as it may?
I also disagree with your implication, although it was certainly an offhanded one, that rhyming dictionaries are of no use. I use one from time to time. Am I a bad poet? Without trying to sound arrogant, I have no doubt I'm better than the majority of poets on this site (admittedly this is an easy task). I don't think there's anything wrong with using it: after all, why not use every tool at your disposal to create the best piece that you can?
That said, for the most part, this was excellent. It made a point we cannot make enough on this site: in the name of all that's Holy, stop forcing rhymes! I'm always writing rhymes - when I'm not busy writing abstractist freeverse - and I am constantly saddened by the rules of many contests, forbidding rhyme simply because the contest holder has seen far too many of this site's awful rhyming poems and not enough encouragingly well-written poems.
In short, fantastic work. Never stop sayin' it, bro. -
thank you for the advice, I will keep this bookmarked so I ca refer back to it... I enjoy learning new things and I want to learn to write in many other styles
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A very interesting and educating peice, but I just wanted to point a personal opinion out.. I believe poetry can be ANYTHING...it's what the writer WANTS to write..it all comes from the mind or the heart, the words have to be thought about, otherwise they wouldn't be written. There's definately not a "correct" or "incorrect" way to write a poem, in my opinion. What may be seen as crap, or nothing special, or a complete waste of paper and ink/web space to me or you could be seen as the best thing they've ever read to someone else. Not every famous writer out there who some of us look up to and have read over and over has written 100% fantastic "OMG AMAZING!!" poetry. Why shouldn't we, as aspiring writers, be the same? We all have our good and bad days, days when our minds are full of useful vocab. and days when we just can't find that word..I personally believe any peice of poetry is poetry. A poem about a man with a shovel lodged in his ear drinking dogs piss and staring cock-eyed at an elephants nostril is still a poem, just as a poem about lovers listening intently to the deafening silence under a red-tainted twilight sky is a poem (sorry for the rubbish description, it's nearly 6am and my mind is just like "....No"). I think it's nearly impossible for us to decide what is a good poem and what is a bad poem. Sure we can decide that in our OWN opinions, but not in general. As for rhyming..I'm a bugger for rhyming =) I love to rhyme. I can't help it. Anyway, I do agree with some things you said like reading other poetry, and the exercise (I do something similar, it's a yearly homework exercise from my English teacher). I'm definately not having a rant at you, sorry if it came across as that, but this article is very educating and in-depth. Thank you for posting it, it's extremely useful and will be a godsend to many writer here
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Well your article is well thought out. Some I agfreed with and some I don't. I thinkl I just improve by constantly writing. I already improved from a year ago. The vocabulary will come as the person reads and his or hger mind grows. To be an excceptionakl poet you must be able to read books and a variety of books. That is my humble opinion.
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Hi I haven't finished your article yet, but I plan to. It is excellent as always, and I still can't figure out why you don't teach on here, because I would like to get honest feedback on my ability to write poetry, and I would trust your opinion. I know there are people who believe no one should be discouraged from writing poetry- but I am not one of them. I would love to have a teacher who has such a good head on his shoulders to evaluate my systematic efforts to improve.(which is impossible to do on ones own- a class makes all the difference).
Anyway, moving on, I wanted to tell you that I actually tried your exercise for awhile in a certain way. I read through words in the dictionary, took ones that struck me, and then wrote a poem around them....I wanted so desparately to escape the boring mundane, and monotone.
I think you are 100% right about reading great poets. The problem is having the time to do it, if you haven't cultivated a love for poetry. Again, a class would be extremely helpful in this. I haven't seen such a class on here- so maybe you could suggest it. Such a class, coupled with a class on beginning techniques in poetry would be an excellent combination! -
This article is very true.
It's also very refreshing to see somebody actually critique people and not just saying "oh, what a nice poem". yay!
thanks for sharing. i shall bookmark it and refer to it again later... -
Thanks
This was a very helpful article. I am a struggling poet and loss so many contest I am close to not doing another one.I am going to bookmark this and read it again.Thanks for sharing.
Kari -
I couldn't agree with you more as I myself have taken a break from writing to avoid such pitfalls. My greatest challenge has been to open up fully and write unstructured poetry as I have found comfort in hiding behind metaphors and boundaries. May others find your words useful and a great source of inspiration.
-Best Wishes always -
What the fuck do you know? Hell, I bet you haven't ever read a poem, much less written one... or so rumour has it.
Like a starving waif, after a major computer meltdown, I headed directly to you for a fresh piece of AP flotsam to keep me afloat. As always, you reward me with David's Truisms.
Ahhhh.... I can breathe again.
hugs
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appears to be growing by the day, delete appears.
Lute part of 99% ya know,
that was pretty long. Poetry should be concise. -
David,
I would like to thank you for your sound advice. I will truly take it into concideration when I am trying to get back to my writing.
I've not much to write about lately.
For the most reason I think it's because I need to broaden my vocabulary. I truly thank you for this advice and taking your time to precisely write it and post it on AP for everyone to read.
Toodles have a splendid day because you deserve that and so much more
~~DI~~ -
Leo
"I know at best most of my stuff is mediocre but still I strive to write better more meaningful poetry. In the past three years I have learned from you and others I respect and admire here on AP. As you well know most of my poetry rhymes because I feel it is the way I express myself best. And heaven knows most of it crap but on occasion that one bright star emerges and gives me the will to carry on."
and that speaks for us all. "Still I strive to write better" and with that attitude there is one thing that is absolutely certain...you will. Thank you for your feedback leo, it is always really appreciated.
David
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You have given all of us some serious sound advice. I for one have taken it to heart. I know at best most of my stuff is mediocre but still I strive to write better more meaningful poetry. In the past three years I have learned from you and others I respect and admire here on AP.
As you well know most of my poetry rhymes because I feel it is the way I express myself best. And heaven knows most of it crap but on occasion that one bright star emerges and gives me the will to carry on.
Opinions are like assholes...everyone has one. If you like my I'm happy. If you don't who cares. That said I'll be at peace.
Sincerely,
Leo Long
ps. You're the tops in my book my friend. -
Mark
Thank you for picking up the mistakes and I am in debted - sorry indebted.
Good pick up, I have finished the piece and it is exactly what you are talking about- I couldn't agree more. Any good pieces usually rest upon a mountain of shithouse ones.
David
Edited on Sep 22, 2:52 because ''. -
You are too kool for skool.
(billy says hi!)
Desiree
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Dear David,
Although you express your expertise with many salient points and one would find little ground for disagreement with most of the facts you present, statements based on personal opinion are always open to dispute and tend to weaken the force of any argument.
There is no doubt that many wannabe 'poets' are unable successfully to manipulate the restrictions and challenges which rhyming and meter impose and therefore resort to 'free verse' or 'blank verse'. (The best prose works are invariably those written and presented as such without the author 'chopping' them into formed lines to "look like poetry".)
But the final arbiter of whether a piece of writing is good or not surely rests in its content ie. the message it conveys and the manner of expressing it.
An extensive command of the English language is of course, for writers in English, an essential prerequisite but just as cliches, tautology and obviousness are to be shunned, so should unnecessary obscurity be avoided.
There are many great and beautiful examples of rhymed and metered poetry from the authors you mention, just as there are great prose works and, unless a would-be writer is prepared to become acquainted with many of them, his or her judgement of what constitutes good or bad writing is bound to be embryonic.
I applaud your column although I disagree with some of your opinions as expressed.
Best regards, Hugh.
Edited on Sep 21, 5:41 p.m. because ''. -
People have to write crap before they can write well. Every published luminary says the same thing of their early work. i.e., it sucked. However, you make a lot of great points here that will surely help many, particularly the sections on cliche and tautology. Good of you to take the time. I hope all is well.
Mark
P.S. "Ablaze" is one word, not two, as is "aglow".
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I'm going to be all night at checking my pieces for tautology...
very educational rant here, thank you. -
magnificent in the war against somethin or other dont knowhavent got any word for it the hampster just ate the dictionary.its so easy to be boring boring boring. you can bore yourself to deathwriting your own poems sometimes.i like writing when i am feeling euphoric or drunk or excited or mad or some extreme mood it seems to emerge from my brain just that little bit more closer to how i wanted it to sound and you do have to concentrate on each word or phrase but you know that and write such good things. this is great and just right for all of us to read thanks.flimpy fluppetty blim bam plop.
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well, my friend, you have once again hit the nail on the head...ooops that was a cliche' but you are so right..Ifind myself wanting to run and hide at times...the "love/dove" type rhyming poems are killing me.I am a very sad little writer, have so much to learn and as I look back, I can see where helpful critiquing has helped me immensely, but, oh, I have so far to travel. I applaud you and this article. Freda
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oh .. wonderful .... i shall be back (prolly with questions) ...have copied this to word, will print it out and think on it ... thank you ! >>> GINA
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