What do you consider a taboo subject?

[wildsweetone]

For me as a writer, no subject is taboo.

What about you? Do you have anything you won't write about? Anything you avoid?

 

[clutching_calliope]

.....

 

[dirtyjoe69]

Nothing

Nothing really as long as it is just words. Myself I wouldn't do stories of sex with children if it was just for the sex. If you have a story say like "Taxi Driver" or my favorite because it is mine...lol "A Child's Avenger" there are sex and children mixed in, but they are essential to the story line and don't glorify the acts.

Free speech baby! Free speech...

 

[wildsweetone]

I asked this question because I've just read a poem based on child molestation but where the poet very cleverly didn't talk straight about the molestation. She uses the family pet and she uses sounds in the house to convey her thoughts to the reader.

For a tough subject to choose, it seemed an inventive way to write.

Has anyone tried this approach to writing on a difficult subject?

What did you think of your result?

 

[Guest]

I asked this question because I've just read a poem based on child molestation but where the poet very cleverly didn't talk straight about the molestation. She uses the family pet and she uses sounds in the house to convey her thoughts to the reader.

For a tough subject to choose, it seemed an inventive way to write.

Has anyone tried this approach to writing on a difficult subject?

What did you think of your result?

wso, did you find the poem here on Lit? I didn't think people were allowed to submit this type of writing when it comes to animals or children. I could be wrong, though. If it is on Lit, can you post the link for me please? I'd like to read it.

As far as your question goes (taboo) - I write about almost everything and it usually relates to my life somehow. What's a no-no is admitting it's non-fiction. I don't know if that answers your question or not but maybe somewhat.

 

[wildsweetone]

wso, did you find the poem here on Lit? I didn't think people were allowed to submit this type of writing when it comes to animals or children. I could be wrong, though. If it is on Lit, can you post the link for me please? I'd like to read it.

As far as your question goes (taboo) - I write about almost everything and it usually relates to my life somehow. What's a no-no is admitting it's non-fiction. I don't know if that answers your question or not but maybe somewhat.

It is NOT a poem on Literotica.

 

[Angeline]

There are no taboo subjects for me. There are things I'm not interested in writing about, but I don't censor myself on any subject.

 

[Tzara]

For me as a writer, no subject is taboo.

What about you? Do you have anything you won't write about? Anything you avoid?

Well, there are obvious things like child pornography or something with a racist theme. I would be unlikely to write about child abuse or the Holocaust or homelessness, as they are serious subjects and I suspect anything I wrote on them would only trivialize the topic. As Calli suggested, though, if I thought I had something meaningful to say about them, I wouldn't avoid these topics on principle.

 

[WickedEve]

For me as a writer, no subject is taboo.

What about you? Do you have anything you won't write about? Anything you avoid?

I have no interest in writing about incest/children/animals in a sexual way. Hmm... let me add vegetables and my ex to that list.
I do write some southern poetry that ends up causing me grief. It has not always been well received at certain sites over the years. And I suppose I do hold back at times when I write these poems.

 

[TheRainMan]

I have no interest in writing about incest/children/animals in a sexual way. Hmm... let me add vegetables and my ex to that list.
I do write some southern poetry that ends up causing me grief. It has not always been well received at certain sites over the years. And I suppose I do hold back at times when I write these poems.

i thought dildos were taboo for you.

. . . i must be thinking of someone else.

 

[Angeline]

I have no interest in writing about incest/children/animals in a sexual way. Hmm... let me add vegetables and my ex to that list.
I do write some southern poetry that ends up causing me grief. It has not always been well received at certain sites over the years. And I suppose I do hold back at times when I write these poems.

Didn't we write zucchini poetry three years ago or so? Or was it someone else?

Oh, and you don't write disco zombie poetry.

 

[WickedEve]

Didn't we write zucchini poetry three years ago or so? Or was it someone else?

Oh, and you don't write disco zombie poetry.

Veggies are so cliche! lol I've never done a veggie or veggie poem--at least I don't think I have.

 

[WickedEve]

i thought dildos were taboo for you.

. . . i must be thinking of someone else.

I'm using a dildo to type with right now.

I have several dildo poems, by the way. I enjoy writing about my closest friends.

 

[TheRainMan]

There are no taboo subjects for me. There are things I'm not interested in writing about, but I don't censor myself on any subject.

ange pretty much sums out how i feel.

i have no interest in many subjects . . . god and goddess poetry and references make me cringe . . . mystical subjects feel downright silly . . . i hate preachy, political poetry . . . like Tzara, i think writing about large subjects tends to trivialize them . . . and child or animal sex, i mean, who leans that way?

but i have no taboos.

 

[wildsweetone]

I asked this question because I've just read a poem based on child molestation but where the poet very cleverly didn't talk straight about the molestation. She uses the family pet and she uses sounds in the house to convey her thoughts to the reader.

For a tough subject to choose, it seemed an inventive way to write.

Has anyone tried this approach to writing on a difficult subject?

What did you think of your result?

ditto-ing this, because the writing process is interesting to me.

(to reiterate, it was not a poem on Literotica)

 

[WickedEve]

ange pretty much sums out how i feel.

i have no interest in many subjects . . . god and goddess poetry and references make me cringe . . . mystical subjects feel downright silly . . . i hate preachy, political poetry . . . like Tzara, i think writing about large subjects tend to trivialize them . . . and child or animal sex, i mean, who leans that way?

but i have no taboos.

You listed the same topics that I don't enjoy.
I have tried large subjects, like the holocaust. I was a silly woman for even attempting it. I had to entirely change the poem to one that dealt with my reaction to reading about it, which worked out okay.

 

[ishtat]

I am interested (but not exclusively) in mental illness, death and the decay (morally physically ethically etc.) of people .My prose work has generally been accepted and very occasionally been well spoken of but poetry on these subjects seems to disturb some readers greatly. I have received some rather agitated emails and pm's from a number of people, particularly on a piece I did on a woman contemplating suicide. I had several more poems on the same theme(of depression) which I have canned for the time being because I prefer not to cause ,however innocently, this type of anxiety.

 

[Angeline]

You listed the same topics that I don't enjoy.
I have tried large subjects, like the holocaust. I was a silly woman for even attempting it. I had to entirely change the poem to one that dealt with my reaction to reading about it, which worked out okay.

As you know, I wrote a Holocaust poem--Lodz--but it is also a poem about my great-grandparents. I think the only way the "big" subjects work--at least for me--is when I can write them around personal experience. In the case of Lodz, I made a poem of stories I had heard from family members since I was a child. I think there's an important lesson in that (and one that dovetails with RainMan's point about avoiding preachy poetry), and that is to stay away from subjects if you can't somehow draw on your own experiences. You can still write about anything you want, but you--your impressions and experiences--have to be in there somewhere or you end up sounding like you've written an editorial instead of a poem.

For example, your southern poems work like my city poems work--because we've lived the stories in them.

 

[WickedEve]

As you know, I wrote a Holocaust poem--Lodz--but it is also a poem about my great-grandparents. I think the only way the "big" subjects work--at least for me--is when I can write them around personal experience. In the case of Lodz, I made a poem of stories I had heard from family members since I was a child. I think there's an important lesson in that (and one that dovetails with RainMan's point about avoiding preachy poetry), and that is to stay away from subjects if you can't somehow draw on your own experiences. You can still write about anything you want, but you--your impressions and experiences--have to be in there somewhere or you end up sounding like you've written an editorial instead of a poem.

For example, your southern poems work like my city poems work--because we've lived the stories in them.

I agree. That's why my poem only worked (I hope it worked) after I changed it to a personal experience. Bread ended up being almost entirely different poem after the rewrite. And I owe the change to Fly and you. You both helped lead me in the right direction. I rarely ask for help on a poem, but if you remember, I was going nuts with this one.

 

[Angeline]

I agree. That's why my poem only worked (I hope it worked) after I changed it to a personal experience. Bread ended up being almost entirely different poem after the rewrite. And I owe the change to Fly and you. You both helped lead me in the right direction. I rarely ask for help on a poem, but if you remember, I was going nuts with this one.

LOL! I remember. I also remember that it's a beautiful poem and that's because of your words.

 

[Maria2394]

Well, there are obvious things like child pornography or something with a racist theme. I would be unlikely to write about child abuse or the Holocaust or homelessness, as they are serious subjects and I suspect anything I wrote on them would only trivialize the topic. As Calli suggested, though, if I thought I had something meaningful to say about them, I wouldn't avoid these topics on principle.

Tzara, you are very kind in how you dealt with that response. It sucks being homeless and you have to kinda know how that feels before you can attempt to express it. and there are different degrees of homelessness... luckily I wasnt in a situation as bad as some, but still, sleeping under bridges and not having a bathroom is an awful feeling...I was young, good thing it didnt ruin my outlook on life



I suspect if you did write about it, you would do so with grace and dignity
~~~


Im kinda like angeline in the respect that I dont censor myself, just some things are not attractive subjects, for me personally, to write about.

maria

 

[WickedEve]

Tzara, you are very kind in how you dealt with that response. It sucks being homeless and you have to kinda know how that feels before you can attempt to express it. and there are diferent degrees of homelessness... luckily I wasnt in a ituation as bad as some, but still, sleeping under bridges and not having a bathroom is an awful feeling...I was young, good thing it didnt ruin my outlook on life



I suspect if you did write about it, you would do so with grace and dignity

maria

Have you written any poetry dealing with that experience?

 

[Maria2394]

Yes, I have, but only posted one here, it was On Tattoos, Bridges and Pigeons

some people didnt like that I used the shit word in it, but heyt, thats what it was, pigeon shit, lol.


but I have never written a dildo poem so that is on my list to do..the poem, that is

 

[Sara Crewe]

No taboos for me but I think in my poems the taboo subject might be more like a setting and the poem is really about that one person's experience.

 

[Tzara]

Tzara, you are very kind in how you dealt with that response. It sucks being homeless and you have to kinda know how that feels before you can attempt to express it. and there are different degrees of homelessness... luckily I wasnt in a situation as bad as some, but still, sleeping under bridges and not having a bathroom is an awful feeling...I was young, good thing it didnt ruin my outlook on life



I suspect if you did write about it, you would do so with grace and dignity

It's lovely of you to say this, Ms. M., but I can't even park a car with grace and dignity.

You're right, though. I know absolutely nothing about homelessness (or a lot of other things, which is probably obvious). For me to try and write about a subject like that, I would have to personalize it--write about an encounter I had with someone who was homeless, for example.

The funny thing is that I happily write about physics or chemistry or mathematics, none of which I know much about. But the impact of getting something wrong there seems less potentially upsetting. To me or to the reader.