To Read or Not to Read...

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

This won't be much of a thread, but, here are my two questions:

1) is it important to read a lot of poetry as a writer of poetry...both bad and good, and

2) is it worthwhile checking out books on writing poetry

To one I say loud and clear, Yes. How can you see what you like, see what works, see where today's has come from, without doing this. It's impossible to write without reading, IMO.

To two, it helps. Poets in earlier times certainly didn't have these manuals. But then again, to one who wants to write can't published material be a manual in itself?

I'm curiours to hear your replies.

WS

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

i'm a big proponent of the first.
i'm a big opponent of the second.

davids · Jan 30, 2007

Hey I agree with Haskins-wow!!!!

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

don't beat yourself up over it. things like this happen sometimes.

dclary · Jan 30, 2007

When I read great poets, I see new ways that I might be able to channel my own thoughts to the page.

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

Anthony Edwards...truly the bard of the silver screen.

davids · Jan 30, 2007

I wont Haskins-it is mathematical probability I expect-what er ya gonna do!

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

I think foregoing two is foolish. I have read a few, and they helped me out in the beginning. I haven't read one for a while

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

"foolish" seems excessive.

davids · Jan 30, 2007

Crap it happened again!

Norman D Gutter · Jan 30, 2007

Reading lots of poetry is important to knowing what excellent vs. good vs. bad poetry consists of. Reading poetry from all eras is equally important. As a formalist, I have the fault of ignoring the modern free-verse era.

Rather than reading how-to-write-poetry books, I read poetry appreciation textbooks. These go into lots of details on evaluating poetry, have plenty of examples, and plenty of food for thought. The one poetry writing book I bought was a big disappointment, especially as it emphasized free-verse to the almost total exclusion of formal verse.

NDG

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

Foolish? Well, every little thing can help. A little narrow-minded possibly. Amy Lowell wrote a poem that said something like, nobody would think they can make a chair just b/c they've sat in them before. I think that applies here.

WS

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

we'll have to agree to disagree. not only do i think it's a waste of time, i even think it's potentially harmful.

C.bronco · Jan 30, 2007

I love the poetry that's out there today. I think we're in a renaissance, but nobody knows about it. I'd be happy to give you suggested reading of the awesome poetry out there now.
I think it's important to have an idea of what is going on in contemporary poetry. At the very least, it is inspiring.

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

just to be clear, my stance is that reading poetry, always a good thing.

reading about "how to write" poetry. no.

poetinahat · Jan 30, 2007

wordsheff said:
This won't be much of a thread, but

"The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it will never forget what they did here."
-- A. Lincoln

I don't know that I have anything else to add -- just a few of my thoughts on how-to books:

- they're only one person's view of how to do something
- at least part of the purpose of writing such a book is to sell books to people who want to learn from a book how to do something, which may not be best conveyed in a book
- there may well be some good starting points in such a book
- however, at some point, you have to put the book down and do it yourself

kborsden · Jan 30, 2007

The only way to learn how to write anything is to write.

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

kborsden said:
The only way to learn how to write anything is to write.

we have a winner.

give me two teenagers on a basketball court—one who's read every book on the subject and one who's played every day of his life—and i'll take the one who's played and give you 1000 to 1 odds on the other.

poetinahat · Jan 30, 2007

Yes, one hundred per cent.

But there's no harm in reading about what double-dribble means.

Take another two kids -- one's been playing every day against his mom, and she just lets him shoot and yells "good shot!" every time. The other one gets beaten every day by somebody who knows one more move than he does. I know which one I'll take.

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

these analogies tend to fall apart, yes?

poetinahat · Jan 30, 2007

This is why I don't trust hammocks; I load them until they split.

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

William Haskins said:
we'll have to agree to disagree. not only do i think it's a waste of time, i even think it's potentially harmful.

Completely agree...HOWEVER...I read about four or five, they expanded my horizons...I learned from them, but NOW I don't touch them b/c I like where I'm at.

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by kborsden
The only way to learn how to write anything is to write.

William: we have a winner.

Sorry for the shoddy quoting.

My response: the only way to improve is to read others

William Haskins · Jan 30, 2007

to read their poems, right?

wordsheff · Jan 30, 2007

To read others.

What if throwing in a greek word really improves a piece? It could take you a lifetime to figure that out, or you could just read one Ezra Pound piece, and boom, now your pieces are that much better.

It's like culture assimilation.

You take what improves you and let the other stuff go, or one day you write a poem that may need the other stuff.

I don't think anyone can get better writing in a vacuum.

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