Concerned how your poetry may cause others to perceive you?

[WickedEve]

Have you ever written a poem, then hesitated submitting it, because you worried about the reaction others may have? For example, I've written my share of odd, crazy poetry. Recently, I submitted My Misbehaving Madness. And I have to admit that I did hesitate. I started thinking about some of the nutty poems I have online. Then I thought about the insane things happening in this new poem, and I momentarily worried that some may think that I was speaking from personal experience!

I know we have poems at Lit that deal with many topics: incest, suicide, homosexuality, BDSM, fetishes, love, butterflies, rainbows, and etc. So I was wondering if any of you ever have qualms about sharing your poetry? Do you feel that your poetry may be revealing too much about you, or sending the wrong message?

I'm tempted to put a disclaimer at the bottom of my poems: I am not insane and I'm not a whore. I just write that way.

 

[Jaenelle]

I never thought about how someone would percieve me as a person, I worried more about how they would pick apart what I was saying and the meaning of the poems. I feel the same as you, I just write the way I do, but I do put a lot of myself and experiences in my writing. Some most likely think Im a nut. LOL

I write my poems from within and how im feeling at the time.....do they reveal to much.....I think they do, do I worry about it hell yes.

Good topic WickEve, happy to have the chance to share.

 

[daughter]

Nope. Don't care one iota

WE--

Does anyone ever wonder if a mystery or crime writer ever murdered anyone? Literature is art and art is artificial. We create art out of experiences both lived and imagined. We write about other people's experiences.

Journal entries are the real deal. Fiction is that which you create. How much is based in reality is an element the artist doesn't reveal.

If I write it and share it, it's irrelevant if it's autobiographical.

Peace,

daughter

 

[WickedEve]

Jaenelle, I once lived with the "don't pick my poem apart" fear. lol

daughter, recently at lotus, I posted a poem and someone commented on it. I was stunned by how she described the character in my poem. In many ways, it was me. I didn't realize that I had revealed so much. It was a little disturbing.

 

[smithpeter]

WE, you are just-a-drippin'

my thing is not being able to express enough.
Gee it was nice to murder or have sex etc. but can not put it into words.
So I try and never am happy with the results.
Well, not all the time.
some of those are closest to my groin and frontal lobes

 

[Rybka]

My Thing

WE,
I thought "My Misbehaving Madness" was one of your best works. If you don't write from the heart then you are a wordsmith, not a poet.

My main worry is that my submissions will be poorly received by others.

Regards, Rybka

 

[Sweetwood]

Layin' it on the line

Dear Wicked Eve:

Quite frankly, there isn't a poem, even the silliest ones that I have written, that does not have a very biographical component. They tell a lot about me and they tell absolutely nothing about me.

Then there is a person, whose name we will not mention, who writes about murder and gin, and you'd wonder where on earth it got the inspirations from! Did I misjudge character? Need I have a first aid kit beside the bed, or join AA?

Truth be told, the most appropriate description would be the most well adjusted human being I've ever known.

No worries!

Sweetsleeper with one eye open when she gets the gin bottle out

 

[WickedEve]

Re: WE, you are just-a-drippin'

my thing is not being able to express enough.
Gee it was nice to murder or have sex etc. but can not put it into words.
So I try and never am happy with the results.
Well, not all the time.
some of those are closest to my groin and frontal lobes

sweetpeter, are those your clothes on the line?
You can't express enough? I'm going to have to reread your over 200 poems and see if you're expressing enough.

 

[WickedEve]

Re: My Thing

WE,
I thought "My Misbehaving Madness" was one of your best works. If you don't write from the heart then you are a wordsmith, not a poet.

My main worry is that my submissions will be poorly received by others.

Regards, Rybka

You shouldn't worry. You have some very good poems. I love loon.

I don't do nutty things like I described in M.M.M. But I can understand things in life driving a person a little crazy, so that's where all my "insane" and odd poems are coming from. (I hope!) So I suppose that's writing from the heart.

 

[WickedEve]

Re: Layin' it on the line

Dear Wicked Eve:

Quite frankly, there isn't a poem, even the silliest ones that I have written, that does not have a very biographical component. They tell a lot about me and they tell absolutely nothing about me.

Then there is a person, whose name we will not mention, who writes about murder and gin, and you'd wonder where on earth it got the inspirations from! Did I misjudge character? Need I have a first aid kit beside the bed, or join AA?

Truth be told, the most appropriate description would be the most well adjusted human being I've ever known.

No worries!

Sweetsleeper with one eye open when she gets the gin bottle out

Watch out for sweetwife. Those sweet ones are killers every time!

 

[Jaenelle]

Jaenelle, I once lived with the "don't pick my poem apart" fear. lol

daughter, recently at lotus, I posted a poem and someone commented on it. I was stunned by how she described the character in my poem. In many ways, it was me. I didn't realize that I had revealed so much. It was a little disturbing.

After Ive written my poems I reread them a few times and see through my hidden meanings in the words ive written. It can be scarey at times and when someone else see's it it can be disturbing.

 

[Sera Shine]

Re: Layin' it on the line

Dear Wicked Eve:

Quite frankly, there isn't a poem, even the silliest ones that I have written, that does not have a very biographical component. They tell a lot about me and they tell absolutely nothing about me.

<snip>

This is exactly how I feel about it. Yes, I do sometimes worry about what people will think about my writing (perhaps moreso stories than poetry, even).

My poetry comes from a feeling, a fragment in my life. Maybe a passing mood. I find it distressing when I share poetry and receive feedback that addresses how the reader perceives I feel, rather than the poem. It may or may not have anything to do with how I feel. It all comes from something, certainly, but it gets twisted around and sometimes turned entirely inside out before it's done. It could be the exact opposite of how I feel in the end. I might know what piece of my life inspired a poem or a story, but I wouldn't expect the reader to know.

And if they think they know - they might be thinking things about me I don't want to think about.

Sera

 

[WickedEve]

Re: Re: Layin' it on the line

This is exactly how I feel about it. Yes, I do sometimes worry about what people will think about my writing (perhaps moreso stories than poetry, even).

My poetry comes from a feeling, a fragment in my life. Maybe a passing mood. I find it distressing when I share poetry and receive feedback that addresses how the reader perceives I feel, rather than the poem. It may or may not have anything to do with how I feel. It all comes from something, certainly, but it gets twisted around and sometimes turned entirely inside out before it's done. It could be the exact opposite of how I feel in the end. I might know what piece of my life inspired a poem or a story, but I wouldn't expect the reader to know.

And if they think they know - they might be thinking things about me I don't want to think about.

Sera

I like how you put that! It does get twisted around, and turned inside out. I have a poem called "bob Finds Love" and it's dark disturbing humor. It's not what I intended. It started out in a different direction and some how ended up psychotic! lol

 

[Sweetwife]

Re: " bob Finds Love"

Eve wrote:

I like how you put that! It does get twisted around, and turned inside out. I have a poem called "bob Finds Love" and it's dark disturbing humor. It's not what I intended. It started out in a different direction and some how ended up psychotic! lol

Eve, that one just creeped the shit out of me. And you all thought I was the weird one. HA!

I'll just be sitting here in the corner...by myself...quiet...drinking my gin...humming...thinking...

Sweetwife

 

[WickedEve]

Re: Re: " bob Finds Love"

Eve wrote:



Eve, that one just creeped the shit out of me. And you all thought I was the weird one. HA!

I'll just be sitting here in the corner...by myself...quiet...drinking my gin...humming...thinking...

Sweetwife

For some reason, I'm feeling concern for sweetwood! lol

I know that bob poem freaked you out!

If anyone wants to read it and vote on it: bob Finds Love

 

[perks]

I only worry when I write incest stories, lol. I still haven't submitted any. But now that the secret is out.

 

[WickedEve]

I understand about stories, perky! I have only a few online, but I have hundreds on my hard drive. A lot are BDSM stories. But now that I've read the threads on the BDSM board, and know more about real BDSM, I'm not sure about posting my stories. I'm afraid the BDSMers will read them and laugh.

 

[JUDO]

Originally posted by WickedEve Concerned how your poetry may cause others to perceive you?

Fuck no.


- Judo

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Fuck no.


- Judo

Ditto.

Well, maybe just a little.

Nah, fuck'em. I don't care. Everybody knows I'm crazy anyway...

 

[Blarneystoned]

It pisses me off....

Interpretations are for the weak student types....and spelling corrections are for the anal retentive types....If someone picks apart my writing or tries to analyze it ..I slam them down until they admit I can write circles around them...haha

If you want to correct poems or analyze them go to college and take a course or go work for the newspaper...Im sure you will enjoy proofing articles on how many deer were killed last hunting season...or how fucked up the world is...now here is the weather and traffic report.

I think people spend to much time pacifying people or go the opposite and knit pick. What really pisses me off is the people at the DMV...or people who take advantage of things like the fat guy who wont leave the salad bar that says all you can eat...haha

Okay..Im done venting...haha

Here have some bubble gum.

Blarneystoned

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I think what we were talking about is if you worry about others analysing you as a person from what you write, not your poetry per se...

 

[Elda Furry]

Re: It pisses me off....

Okay..Im done venting...haha

Here have some bubble gum.

Blarneystoned

My need to vent has passed.

 

[karmadog]

I don't care what people think of me whether it's based on my writing or the clothes I wear (or don't wear).

Isn't it a good thing if your poem or story makes the reader think it came from personal experience? As a writer you have two major skills: empathy and observation. These are the character traits that allow you to tell believable lies.

The majority of The Odyssey was surely fiction, yet when Homer stood in a banquet hall, lit by fire, surely people believed every word. Perhaps some of the younger listeners believed that Homer was actually with the army before the walls of Troy.

I would like to think so.

On the related subject of whether I worry about how my poetry will be received, I worried before the first one, but I don't anymore. My poems have all gotten a better reception than they deserved.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Re: Re: It pisses me off....

My need to vent has passed.

wuss

 

[Elda Furry]

Re: Re: Re: It pisses me off....

wuss

Hey, Lauren! My ass is open for business. Stop by and while you're there sex up my pretty pussy hole.

By the way, my twat's been snatched! Someone call Super Heroes in Tights!