Some quotes are direct while others are paraphrasedA Comment on Comments
Commenting is an important part of what Allpoetry stands for, in fact that is one of the giant pillars of the site. Now having that said, I recently commented on some writes that hadn’t capitalized the letter “I”. Simple as that. Some IM messages flew back and forth from there on and some disturbing conversation erupted.
The writer had decided that since Allpoetry posts aren’t school or anything of the sort and capitalization and proper grammar is annoying. Interesting, sounds like someone needs another letter to pass their English class
. But all jokes aside, grammar in poetry and caps aren’t important…but they help make a person look and sound smarter. Credibility is all an author has; which helps breed talent. In response to that I (to quote myself) started off by saying: “There's no shame in using caps and proper grammar. Poetry is all about communicating and I'm sure you want to communicate intelligently... whether it be school or not. You'll be taken more seriously if you care about these things. Trust me on this one. It got me far”.
Isn’t writing skill important if you want to write? Most people want to improve their skills. But alas some would rather eat stones or throw them. This person’s response was “trust me--i'm sure i'm takin serious--all my stuff (with the exception of a few poems) someone always dies/is going to die--i'm sure i'm taken seriously and nope--idc if i have an intellegent conversation--i'm not exactly intellegent”. Apparently seriousness is based on how many [or how often] people die in your writes! Of course?! How could I have missed that? And to think I had been wasting my time with my nose in grammar books and dictionaries! Further more I must have been wasting my time listening to my critics- the ones that know what they are talking about and it is quite clear by how they communicate and what they have said!
My goodness…where have I been? It’s so dark and cold in here… dark… cold… can’t see new trends and skills fading…
Coherence is treason.
Continuing on, the clever response I had was “just because someone dies in your poem doesn't mean you'll be taken seriously. There's a much higher chance of getting mocked around here. You just need to know where to look lol.
in order to be taken seriously, you need to have a focus and dedication. Respect comes with true skills and perfecting those skills beyond your own interest is a gain”. Which is very much true. If you know how to present your writing and weave your words coherently, people will continue to read! If you converse with your critics in an intelligent manner they might ease up, after all, I don’t always agree with my critics- I tell them and do little to nothing about certain suggestions. That’s my right. I’ll do as I please, but more often than not, I listen to my critics; they catch errors or inconsistencies that I miss. Being a good editor and being a progressive poet, I need to listen. After all, I can hear everything and I certainly don’t see everything.
I think growth is important. I think it is very important. I think that people that listen to their critics (even with a grain of salt) are progressive poets. People that take classes here are progressive poets, people that edit their own works or ask for help, they are progressive poets too. Anything that puts you ahead is progression- even if you do it alone.
I might not be the most respected poet or have the biggest groups of fans and followers or off-the-charts hits to my poetry here, but at least I’m coherent enough to be read and generally listened to.
Perhaps commenting is a lost cause for some, which is indeed sad, but it’s not the first and not the last either.
Conversations like that really bother me. I want to grow, I want to improve and I certainly want to help people get better, but I think those that don’t want help or won’t even try- are beyond help. They are just passed the recycle bin- as recycling is useful and even recycling their work still isn’t useful either.
Sadly, some people write and expect glory.
I’d like to watch them write on American/ Canadian Idol [writer’s edition]. The responses would be stellar.
I was unsure about quoting instant messages here and some conversation inspired this write. I also sent it to have it "pre-scanned" for correctness hehe
Adding your comment:
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