Your writing style…the who’s, what’s and where’s

[HumpDayHoratio]

As a relatively new writer of poetry, I wanted to open up a dialogue of what inspires you my fellow writers. How do you go about writing? Is it an organic process or bolt of lighting type style? How are you inspired? Do you reserve the right to change what you’ve published, or do you make it stand the test of time? There are no hard and fast rules here, I just wanted to get some conversation going!

In my case, I never wrote any poetry until I came to Lit. I was that kid that in school assignments just couldn’t find the words or my voice. My first attempt was perusing the poetry section of Lit and stumbled across a “Lost Loves” thread. I was recuperating from surgery and laid up and semi-hi on meds and getting way too deep in my head, was suddenly inspired and churned out two poems in two days. Not good but passable.

Those two poems sat in that thread for almost a year before I decided to publish them in the poetry section. Suddenly I found I wanted to write more. The inspiration in my case has been my failed relationships and thinking about the how’s and why’s of why I’m so bad at them.

My style or more apt, the style of medium that inspires me to put pen to paper (or tickle the keyboard) has been music. I’ll hear a line and then relate that to my life. Usually it’s then a bolt of lightning style of brainstorming and I get the bones down in ten to thirty minutes. Tweak it maybe for a couple of hours then send it off.

I’ve never went back and tinkered with it because I look at it as a snapshot of my thoughts at that time. I will be the first to admit, I’ve reread some and wanted to change a line but sticking to the snapshot theory, haven’t.

Anyhow, thanks for indulging me! I’d love to hear others approaches to writing and your own “style”!

 

[Sappho_CGN]

Despite my nickname I cannot write poetry, only fiction.

My process of writing is similar to carving. First I have a rough idea. Then I start with an outline, making a first script ... noticing that this and this does nor really fit, is weird or unrealistic, not convincing and sostep by step I come nearer to the final result.

 

[Bigtitsbitch1000x]

I was born into the circle of Beat writers. My father was one of the first publishers of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and a friend of Henry Miller. I am a nepo baby.

My mom, who understood my gender dysphoria at a time when such comprehension was rare, was responsible for my intellectual formation.

I was first committed to writing rather bad verse on antinuclear topics.

I moved on to imitating the famous Communist writers like Brecht, Mayakovsky, Rafael Alberti.

I didn't much like them.

My big discovery was French Surrealism. I was the last American admitted to the Paris group, thanks to René Magritte.

My process of composition is founded in the Surrealist exploration of the unconscious. This approach I refined under the influence of Chomsky. I studied linguistics as an academic pursuit.

In poetry I accumulate words that have particular resonance for me, and phrases from dreams, hypnagogia, and other eruptions from the unconscious.

I do cannabis to facilitate the process of diving.

I listen to human sound similarly. For example:

I meditate and chant.

I dance in clubs. As a performer.

I work in the film industry.

All contributes to my poetry.

I have neglected fiction in the past few years. My process there melds my poetic and prose praxis.

In my journalism, historical, and political writing I do the same.

I work in English, Spanish, French, Catalan, Albanian, and Bosnian.

I have had notable success as a writer. My trans situation was a birth defect. The Goddess made up for that by giving me special gifts. I suffered... Joyfully!

Thank you for asking.

( O )( O )

(Stephen "Lulu" Schwartz)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_Schwartz

https://youtu.be/4fdDYO8uYR0?feature=shared

 

[Ambient4190]

Hey –

Muse “a person, or an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint, or make music:”

Mine is a force. This forum is so very special. Poetry is incredibly incredibly incredibly personal. How many times have I seen someone ask for feedback on their poem, receive thoughtful and valuable feedback, then react as if they were stung by a bee…often they leave and not seen again

I have learned so much from the patient moderator(s) and the poets that frequent this form.

Just go for it!

 

[HumpDayHoratio]

I was born into the circle of Beat writers. My father was one of the first publishers of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and a friend of Henry Miller. I am a nepo baby.

My mom, who understood my gender dysphoria at a time when such comprehension was rare, was responsible for my intellectual formation.

I was first committed to writing rather bad verse on antinuclear topics.

I moved on to imitating the famous Communist writers like Brecht, Mayakovsky, Rafael Alberti.

I didn't much like them.

My big discovery was French Surrealism. I was the last American admitted to the Paris group, thanks to René Magritte.

My process of composition is founded in the Surrealist exploration of the unconscious. This approach I refined under the influence of Chomsky. I studied linguistics as an academic pursuit.

In poetry I accumulate words that have particular resonance for me, and phrases from dreams, hypnagogia, and other eruptions from the unconscious.

I do cannabis to facilitate the process of diving.

I listen to human sound similarly. For example:

I meditate and chant.

I dance in clubs. As a performer.

I work in the film industry.

All contributes to my poetry.

I have neglected fiction in the past few years. My process there melds my poetic and prose praxis.

In my journalism, historical, and political writing I do the same.

I work in English, Spanish, French, Catalan, Albanian, and Bosnian.

I have had notable success as a writer. My trans situation was a birth defect. The Goddess made up for that by giving me special gifts. I suffered... Joyfully!

Thank you for asking.

( O )( O )

(Stephen "Lulu" Schwartz)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_Schwartz

https://youtu.be/4fdDYO8uYR0?feature=shared

That’s a lot bone to naw on Lulu! What an interesting life and career! I have some homework to do for sure! Please feel free to drop in and talk about your process anytime!

 

[HumpDayHoratio]

Hey –

Muse “a person, or an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint, or make music:”

Mine is a force. This forum is so very special. Poetry is incredibly incredibly incredibly personal. How many times have I seen someone ask for feedback on their poem, receive thoughtful and valuable feedback, then react as if they were stung by a bee…often they leave and not seen again

I have learned so much from the patient moderator(s) and the poets that frequent this form.

Just go for it!

Totally agree! My first few, in fact all but one are very personal, and reflect my mood and state of mind at this time. I don’t think I’d ask for feedback at all. Just put it out there and let the critics lambaste it or praise it. Either way, it has given me a much needed outlet for my feelings and I appreciate your feedback on the process!

 

[HumpDayHoratio]

Despite my nickname I cannot write poetry, only fiction.

My process of writing is similar to carving. First I have a rough idea. Then I start with an outline, making a first script ... noticing that this and this does nor really fit, is weird or unrealistic, not convincing and sostep by step I come nearer to the final result.

I wish I was more structured like this! I’m very scattershot at this point but strive to make it a process…

Thanks for the input!

 

[Wonderer67]

I don’t know why, but whenever I write or read my own poetry to myself, I feel like I’m listening to Courtney Barnett.

I don’t even know if she’s a poet, but her song lyrics are like poetry to me and somehow when I wrote I hear them like she “sings”.

I have to be in the right mind frame to write poetry. I was in a better place to write it last year, and I really liked the weekly challenge last year. But there are definitely moments of inspiration for me this year.

 

[HumpDayHoratio]

I don’t know why, but whenever I write or read my own poetry to myself, I feel like I’m listening to Courtney Barnett.

I don’t even know if she’s a poet, but her song lyrics are like poetry to me and somehow when I wrote I hear them like she “sings”.

I have to be in the right mind frame to write poetry. I was in a better place to write it last year, and I really liked the weekly challenge last year. But there are definitely moments of inspiration for me this year.

Thanks for the input Wanderer! Mine is coming from a place of pain at this point but it’s been very cathartic and motivating also. I can’t wait for the tide to turn so my poetry is a little less dark.

 

[Wonderer67]

Thanks for the input Wanderer! Mine is coming from a place of pain at this point but it’s been very cathartic and motivating also. I can’t wait for the tide to turn so my poetry is a little less dark.

Mine in dark as well. Not pretty.

I’m gonna start a thread. You can join in if you want.

 

[Ambient4190]

Mine in dark as well. Not pretty.

I’m gonna start a thread. You can join in if you want.

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King Jr

Fallen, not forgotten. Memorial Day.

 

[Wonderer67]

 

[Wonderer67]

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King Jr

Fallen, not forgotten. Memorial Day.

Some dark humor sent by one of of my friends.

 

[Ambient4190]

View attachment 2350731
Some dark humor sent by one of of my friends.

....may I suggest writing a poem?

 

[Wat_Tyler]

My stuff comes out. It's like when you gotta go. You know when you gotta go, right? When you gotta go, go already!!!


The good news is, there's not a lot of editing involved.

 

[Wonderer67]

It's like when you gotta go. You know when you gotta go, right? When you gotta go, go already!!!


The good news is, there's not a lot of editing involved.

totally agree. A few Saturdays ago, we were on our usual go go go, errands, chores, full schedule…

so I told my wife, “ I just have to do some writing.” She knows what this means and the words just come out.

They're not always good, but it’s just stuff that has to get written out.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

totally agree. A few Saturdays ago, we were on our usual go go go, errands, chores, full schedule…

so I told my wife, “ I just have to do some writing.” She knows what this means and the words just come out.

They're not always good, but it’s just stuff that has to get written out.

They're usually sincere, and they are certainly Of The Moment. My editing of those disgourgings are mostly a bit of spit and polish and not much heavy lifting.


I try to stay in the habit of keeping a note pad. It rarely lasts long. It's Spring, so I'll be sweating all over this one before you know it.


The bitch is when I forget and leave it at home, or when I forget that I'm carrying it.

 

[Wonderer67]

They're usually sincere, and they are certainly Of The Moment. My editing of those disgourgings are mostly a bit of spit and polish and not much heavy lifting.


I try to stay in the habit of keeping a note pad. It rarely lasts long. It's Spring, so I'll be sweating all over this one before you know it.


The bitch is when I forget and leave it at home, or when I forget that I'm carrying it.

I actually use my cell phone a lot for thoughts that come up randomly.

Mine has a notepad and also a voice memo. Sometimes helps when you’re driving in the middle of nowhere and some words just need to come out.

Like poetic shit paper for emergencies.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I actually use my cell phone a lot for thoughts that come up randomly.

Mine has a notepad and also a voice memo. Sometimes helps when you’re driving in the middle of nowhere and some words just need to come out.

Like poetic shit paper for emergencies.

I'm getting better at using the phone for stuff like that. Not very quickly, mind you, but better.


I still have another horse story about ready to drop.

 

[Bigtitsbitch1000x]

That’s a lot bone to naw on Lulu! What an interesting life and career! I have some homework to do for sure! Please feel free to drop in and talk about your process anytime!

It's great to have a new friend! Thank you!

I prefer to be called BTB on this site. I would have kept Lulu and Stephen off this site had I been able. I now have a very serious problem in that I am watched by the Russians and subjected to various vexations because of their harassment. I was put in jail briefly because four of their identified assets conspired to get a restraining order on me barring me from my own neighborhood.

The main such malefactor was a national political candidate in 2008. Neither GOP nor Dem. Thinks he's a pote.

Literotica has rules against naming real people. Which of course have been violated in my case.

The police in my city side with me on this issue but the creeps are bold. There are now two old white men with thug habits tracking a young Latinx male comic who introduced me to the standup scene. I am quite concerned about that. Under the RO I am barred from possessing a firearm.

The claim is naturally that the young comic is my lover or my sex servant. I do not mack on the young or innocent. The comic is 25 but very vulnerable. I don't go near such individuals. I was subjected to very extreme and bizarre sexual abuse as a child and youth because of my gynecomastia.

I am a sex worker but my encounters are always with adults and now only in places where minors can't observe.

I drafted more here but the software, like a lot of other things in this site, seems intended to impede expression.

That's fine. I suggest you get this:

Break of Day (French Modernist Library) https://a.co/d/icZuQYZ

Read the essay therein titled "The Automatic Message." Explains my method of composition.

I've posted this frequently on this site. It's good for Memorial Day, which was originally called Decoration Day and was an occasion for decorating the graves of the Union dead.

Lowell's poem FOR THE UNION DEAD is worth reading today.

Let me add that in my view the Union Army marches today with the Israeli Defence Forces. Both were called terrorists.

Remember on Memorial Day above all:

Israel prevails from the mountains to the sea!

( O )( O )

 

[butters]

I'll write when inspiration jogs me to... might be a word, a phrase, an image, a sound, a feeling. If i'm not in a place to use my pc at the time, i try to hang onto that prompt. Used to only ever use ink and paper to write/edit, but have now (decades later) found things happen as well if not better when i can see the words appearing on the screen. I find judgements easier to make and edits less time-consuming; i can assess as i type the balance of how it sounds, how it reads, and how it looks on the page—all in one go. As for how engaged i am with a write as i create it, i've written in circumstances ranging from the silence of 3a.m, standing on a landing with a pen and scrap of paper, to the hustle of many people all around me, even interruptions though i hate interruptions. With age and changed circumstances, i tend to have the luxury now of writing in peaceful conditions; a lot of my stuff comes as 'live writes' which may or may not be edited into something better with time. The Live Writes thread doesn't allow for changes to the poem on the thread, but that doesn't mean i can't change it for elsewhere.

Sometimes a piece comes more or less fully formed, the concept if not the exact wording. Wording arranges itself as i write, as my ear/styling feeds off what's come before and (in the majority of my writing) musicality and stresses automatically suggest how it's written. Not really something i have to give conscious thought to until it's written and i begin editing. That's when i try to reconciliate any misalignments of messaging or clashing imagery/metaphor that muddy the writing; it's not uncommon for me to write something longer but then reduce it to maybe half or even a third as i discard indulgences. It's not unusual for me to notice i've used a word twice and will swap one out, or realise there's a piece in there that just doesn't do any service to the poem.

It can be hard to discard a phrase i personally like, or an image that strikes me... but it's something time has taught me: keep what makes your poem stronger, omit what doesn't. That might translate to losing a few lines or even half a poem; there's nothing to stop you using the material you've dropped for another poem.

Once i post a piece, i'm generally pretty happy with it nowadays but will still listen to feedback and see if it confirms or opposes my choices. That might mean something as simple as dropping a single word or making a change in a line-break, or as much as cutting off the piece halfway through for a stronger poem even if it creates a message a little different from my original train of thought. Let the poem's voice speak, don't get in its way.

Over time, i've learned to not only listen to and trust my own instincts but to do the same for critique offered by certain poets here whose work i admire and respect. Doesn't mean i'll make every change suggested, but i do take it onboard and think about it, possibly use it in future writing. Use twelve-o-one's 'rule of three': if 3 people you trust are all picking up on the same problem, they've likely got a point and you need to take a good look at it; if they all pick up on a strength, you're probably good to go with it.

Finally, though i don't tend to change published pieces, it can be months or even years later that i'll return to a piece and decide changes need to be made; often changes suggested by others in the past. I grow as i hope we all do as writers, and sometimes we're just not ready—not enough distance between the poem and ourselves—to see how right another person can be. I DO still have many pieces that (for now, at least) i feel are cooked and have no intention of changing a thing about them. They leave me content to have written them. Keeping your old poems helps, too; it gives you a marker: might well be the best thing you've ever written (up to that point in time!), but years down the road you can look back and see how far you've progressed—or not

 

[Wonderer67]

So now that I think about this further.

A lot of my poetic ideas and thoughts come to me when I’m driving or mowing the lawn. I will see something beautiful: a flower or tree or part of the tree that will strike me. Or driving thru somewhere pretty that stirs up an idea or poetic thought like a the sun shingling between trees, or the winter landscape, or a collapsed old barn.

Sometimes working on my farm, I will see something beautiful or my mood will be just so that something feels sorta poetic.

For many years, I used to walk laps in my house at night when I couldn’t sleep or was having ptsd or anxiety episodes. Sometimes I did or do write about what I am feeling when that happens. Memories or despair.

The inspiration has to be there tho. I could never just sit down and write something.

Beauty, a feeling, my own feelings…

Reflecting on that time, I then write and just get it out there: blech - I vomit it out there and just write. Sometimes it’s on my laptop, sometimes on my phone. Sometimes it’s just a line or two that sounds or feels right and I extrapolate on it at a later time. But what’s most important is to write the words.

Either right then or sometimes afterwards, I will go back and edit. Cull things down or rearrange them. Maybe reorder some lines. I should probably take out more out than I do.

I wrote one very long and introspective poem that took me months of redoing and editing. Finally I just had to stop and say to myself: this is as done as it will ever be. But most poems are much much faster. Same day, usually. Sometimes in as few as 10-15 minutes.

My poems - like love - cums in spurts. Sometimes I can’t stop writing. Other times I’m just dry.

I like the June challenge. It’s free form, one poem a week like last year… and that was a really good cadence for me.

 

[ZfrkS62]

I put zero thought into it. I have been told I have a cadence to my short story writing, I tend to keep paragraphs short, not dwell to much on a thought.

I wish i could find what I did with the short story I had started as a crossover with characters from a short series that I discovered on an image board around 2006. The author and i had become online friends and chatted regularly. I lost touch after losing interest in Tumblr, after we all migrated there when the image board crashed. But I digress. I sent her what I i had to that point, and she had said that she could tap her foot to my pacing. Like most of my stories, I never went back to finish it, and if it still exists, it's on a hard drive I salvaged from my laptop at the time.

As for my poetry, I'll mull on a line that sounds good, and typically make the mistake of starting with it. When i try to put it in the middle, i usually mangle it and forget what i had started with. Oh, wait, that's my regular writing too.

I have zero training or real education on poetry beyond the 5-7-5 of haikus, or that Rime of the Ancient Mariner for a lot of metalheads through the poetry syllabus of their high school English class thanks to Iron Maiden. I only took creative writing in high school because I understood "show not tell" will enough to please a girlfriend with my letters, so I knew that class would be an easy pass as long as I went. I mainly just blurt out what I'm feeling and structure is an after thought.

 

[Zandrite]

my poetry is all over the map with inspiration, but often it's pretty simple. capture an image, a thought, an emotion. it sounds terribly basic when I put it that way, but not sure how to explain any better. I could probably provide a poem that works better... and come to think of it, I may have one. Yep, it's a bit old, but still works.

~

this is...

despite what you believe
this is not poetry
this is not a poem

this is just an overflow of thoughts and feelings
this is just a cry from one soul to all others
this is just a sigh at the back of my mind
a whimper on the inside
a struggle to open eyes
including mine

these are just words I can’t help saying
these are just lines grasping for meaning
these are just the echoes of greater achievements
shadows cast by giants
scratch-marks on the surface
fooling minds

what good do careless verses do?
what use do inner musings have?
what change can little scribbles make?
an ego trip for me
a waste of valued time
including yours

but the overflow happens anyway
and the cry still reaches outwards
and the sigh does escape my mind
no matter the good or bad
no matter the use or change
still it’s there

this is a poem
this is poetry
despite what I believe

~

So, yeah... that's my take on things.

I also felt like mentioning that started writing poetry in high school, when I went into a Literary Arts program. That experience was truly impactful because I was able to exchange with my peers, learn and grow with the help of outside perspective. In that light, I have to say that I value editing in poetry quite a bit. The core of the poem doesn't usually change in the process, but sometimes you find something to add or rephrase or rearrange. I can understand why some people wouldn't want to edit, but I like to be sure that my poem is in its best form.

Lately I haven't posted much, mostly because the recent poems are for an audience of one and I haven't asked if he minds me making them public. I feel like a lot of what I've written gets passed over pretty quick, which is somewhat discouraging. Granted, the sharing is the most important part. But I do so enjoy getting to see the inside of people's heads. Comments are golden. Discussion is even better. So yay for the forum. If someone wants to chat 1 on 1, send me a note, I'm game.

Yay for poets in general.
Nice to see people keen on it.

-Zan

 

[Wonderer67]

I try to jam too much into a poem. Some of them are lengthy.

I had a thought recently about everyone who experienced combat.

I cullef out everything I thought
was not important and a poem for the June challenge.

And I’m immensely dissatisfied with it.