Woah guys, so I never thought I would get as into poetry as I have. I used to do it, but thought it was silly but now I'm learning about techniques and ways of making poems better and I love it.
I like the way that every word has to count.
I like the way that structure is important and so few words can say so much.
Thinking about all these techniques and ways of making a poem work is making me really enjoy it.
Sorry for the essay on poetry, I'm completely immersed in it at the moment, and I like the contrast between poetry and prose, and doing NaNo. It's nice to be doing completely different constrasting things alongside one another.
Also, did I tell you guys that I read some poems out at a poetry reading/open mic thing? I was terrified, but it was actually really awesome and I really enjoyed it! I surprised myself there, but it was good fun.
We had an interesting discussion in my poetry seminar the other day. I
capitalise all the first letters of each line in my poetry, partly
becasue word does it and I hate the green squiggly lines, but also
because I like it looking neat on the page and that's just what you do -
right? I hate things looking messy on the page. Maybe that's just a
strange control freak thing, because believe me in normal life I am the
messiest person ever. But apparently (and this is an ongoing debate
clearly in the poetry world, which I am going to do some more research
into) that is old fashioned and not necessary.
I know most of you are fiction writers, but what do you guys think?
Congrats on reading your poetry in public, I so don't think I would be brave enough to do that!
ReplyDeleteAs for the capitalization debate, I think it depends. I know in some poetry that one line will sort of run on from the previous one, so maybe you don't need a capital on that second line? But then again, I know nothing about poetry, so maybe that's just nonsense LOL. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.
Thank you so much!
DeleteHmmm yes I think that was what the person in my class was debating! I guess it's an argument of traditional v contemporary, and all this sort of thing. It just feels natural to capatilise each line, but I guess it makes sense if it's just at the beginning of each line! xxx
So awesome that you did an open mic night! You are much braver than I could be. And I love how poetry makes you find the perfect word for everything you want to express--I try to do that in my prose, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was scary!
DeleteYeah, its when you have much fewer words to express yourself in, it really makes you think about it. xx