Cerise's Silly Questions

[CeriseNoire]

Well it seems I forever have questions for the poets around here. So, rather than start countless threads, I thought I'd confine my random wondering to one place. Of course if anyone else feels like asking silly questions, feel free; I'm not territorial.

Alright, today's question. Do you ever find yourself stuck on one particular topic or theme when you write? Like suddenly everything you write leads to turtles?

 

[unpredictablebijou]

oh hell yeah. and you're going to have to change the thread name, cause that's not a silly question at all.

There are themes and topics I get stuck on, partly because I keep trying to bash at a particular thing I want to talk about and I tend to gnaw on it until I feel like i've either worn it out or come up with something worthwhile.

I get stuck on styles, too. A particularly strong author I'm reading, or some movie i've seen, or a poetic meter. When I spent a summer working on an independent study thing on Shakespeare's women, I did nothing but iambic pentameter in my journal for months. I'd just slip into it without noticing. It was pretty annoying.

or images will keep cropping up over and over. I went through a phase with the Song of Solomon where every poem I wrote had people being compared to sheaves of wheat and apples, and hands were dripping with myrrh every time I turned around.

I wonder if there's a correspondence between that sort of vulnerability and the ability to pick up languages or accents quickly.

A fine question. Thanks.

bijou

 

[CeriseNoire]

Thank you for sharing with me, bijou. I tend to get stuck on particular topics for a while, and end up with pages of writing with same themes or images.

As for the thread title, I always feel kind of silly when I venture out to these parts Well, that and I have an alliteration addiction.

I've got a new question for the poets:what do you consider constructive feedback? Is it the same kind of feedback you give to others?

 

[TheRainMan]

to me, constructive feedback gives opinion (whether it's positive or negative is irrelevant), plus sensible reasons for that opinion.

opinions without reasons are, to me, worthless. "this is wonderful" is a useless comment, as is "this sucks." they are both equally useless.

the depth of the feedback depends on the circumstance. one would expect more detailed feedback on the threads than on comments to a 'New Poem' posting, for example (which is why i think it is a waste of time for newer poets here to submit their pieces to "New Poems", if what they are looking for is feedback . . . they should put them up on the threads instead).

there are threads specifically designed for critique, some for in-depth critique.

that's how i look at it, anyway.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Thank you for sharing with me, bijou. I tend to get stuck on particular topics for a while, and end up with pages of writing with same themes or images.
As for the thread title, I always feel kind of silly when I venture out to these parts Well, that and I have an alliteration addiction.

I've got a new question for the poets:what do you consider constructive feedback? Is it the same kind of feedback you give to others?

As an artist (kind of) I find that is common - many sketches from different approaches. When you've exhausted your pages of ideas sift through for the honey and you'll have your masterpiece.

Constructive feed back is meant to be helpful but I always try to retain the original voice. It's a given that constructive feedback in here doesn't have to be adopted, gratefully accepted yes, examined and either used or stored.

 

[The_Fool]

to me, constructive feedback gives opinion (whether it's positive or negative is irrelevant), plus sensible reasons for that opinion.

opinions without reasons are, to me, worthless. "this is wonderful" is a useless comment, as is "this sucks." they are both equally useless.

the depth of the feedback depends on the circumstance. one would expect more detailed feedback on the threads than on comments to a 'New Poem' posting, for example (which is why i think it is a waste of time for newer poets here to submit their pieces to "New Poems", if what they are looking for is feedback . . . they should put them up on the threads instead).

there are threads specifically designed for critique, some for in-depth critique.

that's how i look at it, anyway.

Add to this, sometimes I will give suggestions on alternatives if I can think of any. The other thing about feedback is a rarely give feedback to someone I don't know without being asked. Which gets back to the concept of using the thread for feedback and the writer asking for it.

The other thing about feedback is on the receiving end. I prefer to accept it graciously and pick and choose what I use.

 

[Angeline]

Well it seems I forever have questions for the poets around here. So, rather than start countless threads, I thought I'd confine my random wondering to one place. Of course if anyone else feels like asking silly questions, feel free; I'm not territorial.

Alright, today's question. Do you ever find yourself stuck on one particular topic or theme when you write? Like suddenly everything you write leads to turtles?

I've been stuck on jazz for about seven years now. I listen to it alot and the lives and world of the twentieth-century jazz artists fascinate me. Jazz seems filled with all sorts of metaphors to me.

I find that many people I read here have a signature style or (broad) topics they return to over and over to the point where their preferences (like jazz for me) seem part of the voice that characterizes them. I like that.

 

[TheRainMan]

I've been stuck on jazz for about seven years now . . .

stay stuck.

your jazz poems are like no one else's.

 

[Angeline]

stay stuck.

your jazz poems are like no one else's.

Thank you.

No doubt I will. I brought all my jazz cds back from PA. I'm listening to Bud Powell and watching the Red Sox now. And eagleyez is by my side. It's a winning combination for me.

 

[CeriseNoire]

Wow, I really appreciate all the insight. I really do like to know what goes on in the minds of artists.

As far as feedback goes, I like specifics just like most writers here seem to. I don't mind people being blunt about what they feel, though I don't get the need to be rude in critique. I prefer that people keep it about the piece. I try to give the same type of feedback, although sometimes I won't say anything because I can't quite pinpoint what it is that drew me in or kept me away.

As for being stuck on themes, I seem to go through phases, but childhood and body parts (not together) seem to pop up a lot.

 

[Sara Crewe]

Well it seems I forever have questions for the poets around here. So, rather than start countless threads, I thought I'd confine my random wondering to one place. Of course if anyone else feels like asking silly questions, feel free; I'm not territorial.

Alright, today's question. Do you ever find yourself stuck on one particular topic or theme when you write? Like suddenly everything you write leads to turtles?

Who could possibly write more than one poem about turtles?

I write about what inspires me and makes me think. For a couple of weeks this summer it was turtles. My writing seems narrow and uncomplicated at the surface like a turtle narrative but I always hope that readers will see the wider and deeper meaning behind that simple story. The turtles or whatever is on my mind at the time are my physical tool to discuss larger intangibles.


Specific feedback helps a writer in several ways. It identifies what a particular reader is looking for in a piece of writing and tells you how your work is or is not achieving that particular result. What you do with that information is entirely up to you. If you write for long enough you get to a point where you can quickly identify whether a suggestion is something you want to consider or something you will dismiss. Despite the fact that you might dismiss some feedback, the process of deciding what you will change and won't change forces you to grow as a writer because you have to know why you have made certain choices in your writing.

 

[Guest]

............

 

[CeriseNoire]

Yup, I have too many coffee poems. Enough that if I post one more, readers roll their eyes and think, "Oh snore, not another neo coffee poem".

​

I've been on lips for a while. I've got a few lip poems in my notebook, but I figure I'll spread them out so no one notices (shhh)

Today's question: If you submit (or had to submit) audio poems. Do you read them yourself or have someone else read for you? Why?

 

[Liar]

I'm a voxiphile. Listening to voices is my main vice.

I guess I have one too many poems written with speech, voices, words, song, as the central theme. Can't recall how many in English though, but it is a bunch.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

I'm a voxiphile. Listening to voices is my main vice.

I guess I have one too many poems written with speech, voices, words, song, as the central theme. Can't recall how many in English though, but it is a bunch.

You sound like a fellow audiosexual. I was considering starting a thread somewhere to look for others like myself.

I like to read my own work for recordings, but I've always really enjoyed hearing others read my work aloud as well. It's amazing how much more depth you can find in a piece, and how many things can be perfected as you listen to someone else's interpretation of your lines.

bijou