Writing Well About Heavy Things

starrykitten · Jul 18, 2008

Perhaps it's necessary to start with a disclaimer that I find myself loathing most political poetry that I read. I'm fine with the concept; I just feel that a lot of is is preachy and manipulative of the audience. I don't need a poem to tell me that genocide is sad or war is tragic, and I rarely find political poems that deliver a more nuanced message than that.

It's that distaste that has made me feel afraid to write about topics that include really heavy things drawn from reality. For example, it took me forever to write a poem that was really just about a friend's birthday party, but I knew I had to bring up this friend's divorce from an abusive, bipolar husband and the fact that this friend's best friend had committed suicide the previous year. That information really was crucial to the poem, but it was so hard to find a way to include it without it being soap-operatic or seeming gratuitious. In the end, I think I pulled it off, though it's not one I've ever submitted, and I've only performed it at a reading once.

And now I'm struggling with that, either again or still. I have some poems I've been working through about another friend who lost sanity and killed two people. (Clearly, I've had a very happy life.) I think these poems are important to write. I know I'm not writing them for the sensational aspect of it. Yet, it's incredibly hard for me to write about topics such as this. For example, how do you even give the reader enough information about the basic facts without being journalistic or sensationalizing? Is it possible to get enough distance from works like this that you can just see them as writing projects? (I've noticed that I'm very reluctant to have outside readers help with these poems, most likely because of their sensitive subject matter.)

The only thing I know with certainty about this kind of writing is advice that applies to most writing, namely the importance of specificity and personal details. That part I can do, but it takes more than that.

Has anyone found a good way of creating a strong piece that happens to be about something heavy rather than simply writing a decent piece about something heavy?

Maryn · Jul 18, 2008

I'm not sure I've succeeded, but baring yourself emotionally is an excellent first step. If it's got you crying, enraged, or otherwise fully engaged even though you've read what you wrote many times, the odds it will do the same to the reader are vastly improved.

Among the best compliments I ever got about my writing was, "You made me cry. Twice!"

Maryn, who was quite pleased, as she'd cried while writing and revising it

Alpha Echo · Jul 18, 2008

I agree with Maryn. When you can make your reader cry (or laugh out loud) you know you've done your job.

In my WIP I wrote about a very heavy subject, and as I wrote it, my body shook and I cried. Of course, it helped that I had experienced it myself, but once you let go of your own barriers and put yourself in the poem or story you're writing - so that you're not just telling about it but rather living it, then I think you'll be able to write something believable and not preachy.

Good luck!

Finni · Jul 18, 2008

I used to write poetry about past pain and anger. I would dump everything on the page and then shape what I wrote into a poem. As I grew I shaped a poem with words without having to emotionally vomit on the page first. Those poems seemed more mature and people said they could relate to my words. As a poet it was nicer to hear people say they can relate than it was to here them say, "it made me cry."

It wasn't that I didn't feel emotion anymore, it was that I was directing them in a different way. I was using them and letting them help me grow instead of letting them keep me down and depressed. I looked at them as an observer, and started to see pain in other people's eyes. I saw many others around me sharing the same world with me, and I was no longer alone. This is how I stopped writing poetry just to release MY pain, and started writing it to acknowledge everyone suffers and there are ways to not suffer.

I stopped writing poetry though, when my best friend and sister in law killed herself. I went right back to emotionally vomiting on the page. I decided to direct my energy and emotions to writing novels and short stories. I find that they give me the emotional distance I need in order to write without vomiting.

JoNightshade · Jul 18, 2008

This is in terms of novel-writing rather than poetry so perhaps it's different, but for me writing about a 'heavy' subject involves making sure the issue is not 'polarized' for me. That I can see it from all angles, not just my own. So, for example, if it was abortion, I would be able to understand my own religious objections to it as well as empathize with the panicked, lonely teen who feels it's her only option.

Sometimes, for stuff that really hits me hard, that kind of perspective takes a while to attain. But if I can't see the "other" point of view, then I know my own writing is going to take on that preachy, one-sided tone that I hate!

starrykitten · Jul 18, 2008

JoNightshade said:
This is in terms of novel-writing rather than poetry so perhaps it's different, but for me writing about a 'heavy' subject involves making sure the issue is not 'polarized' for me. That I can see it from all angles, not just my own. So, for example, if it was abortion, I would be able to understand my own religious objections to it as well as empathize with the panicked, lonely teen who feels it's her only option.

That's a really good point. When this comes up in fiction, it's so important to be faithful to your characters and how they would respond to similar things. I write fiction as well, and I don't feel as troubled by writing about some of the same issues because the details are fictionalized, I have distance, and I'm also seeing it through the character's eyes.

It could actually be a really good idea to try to write about my own experiences as if they were fictional. In a strange way, I have more sympathy for my characters often because I let them screw up much more than I ever let myself. I think this weekend I'll play around with pretending I'm a character I'm writing about and see how that changes things.

Jackfishwoman · Jul 18, 2008

I write about rather intense subject matter much of it based on my own experiences and that of the people in my life. Check out the reviews of my book to see if I've been successful in this endeavor (see links).
Anyway, I write from the inside out - a phenomenological approach. I try to get at the essence of an experience... what is under the surface, the core of the emotional experience. I am interested in the lived experiences of trauma and how that affects a person years later in life. I study people (and myself) because I was trained as a social worker and also have a background in fine arts, women studies and history - so that all contributes to my approach to writing.
This type of writing is not for eveyone - that is to say, not evey author can pull it off, and not every reader can stomach it.
But we do this to reach people and to gain a better understanding of each other, ourselves in suffering & resiliancy. To help people, essentially.

hammerklavier · Jul 18, 2008

I like when the poet takes almost a journalistic fashion for heavy topics, like Carolyn Forche in The Country Between us or Robert Frost in Home Burial. But it can also be appropriate to describe your feelings as James Baldwin does in this very poetic opening to his short story, Sonny's Blues:

I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn't believe it, and I read it again. Then perhaps I just stared at it, at the newsprint spelling out his his name, spelling out the story. I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside.

It was not to be believed and I kept telling myself that, as I walked from the subway station to the high school. And at the same time I coudn't doubt it. I was scared, scared for Sonny. He became real to me again. A great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting there slowly all day long, while I taught my classes algebra.

kuwisdelu · Jul 18, 2008

I rarely write poetry, so this is coming from a prose point of view.

I very often write about "heavy" things. In fact, I find it hard to write about anything else. I crave the inspiration and strength of emotions that personal turmoil gives me. I write best from such personal experiences. The harder it's hit me, the better.

I see it as a kind of exorcism, maybe. I'm not sure. I just use the "heaviness" as a source of inspiration. I've never really found it difficult. I don't generally like talking about personal issues with other people, but it's a completely different issue on the page, for me. I can completely bare my soul, fearlessly, facelessly.

I think you have to be honest with yourself. Don't bury things deep down. Let the difficulty come out, let yourself come face to face with the demons, and embrace them. It might be painful, but--for me, at least--out of that pain can come some really great writing. Once you're honest with yourself, you can be honest with your writing.

You don't have to be journalistic. Don't be sensationalist, either. Write like you'd write anything else. Most importantly, I think, write honestly. Don't be afraid. Don't shy away from portraying things as they were. You don't have to hide emotion, but sometimes holding back, keeping it reserved, and staying simple strengthens the writing, because the reader can feel the turmoil beneath the words. Describe like you usually do. Don't exaggerate and don't under-elaborate. There's an saying that if the character is bawling, the reader won't have to shed a tear, but if the character can't cry, the reader will do it for her. That's true to an extent. Don't make your point through your character's tears. Of course, at some point, it will be completely unnatural for a character not to react extravagantly, to cry, to rage, to scream. Show it, but make sure that isn't how you get the depth of the events across. Show what happened, and let that speak for itself.

I don't know. It's hard for me to analyze my own methods.

Don't be afraid to bare your soul on the page, and write honestly, I think, is the best advice I can give you.

Writing Well About Heavy Things

starrykitten

practical experience, FTW

Maryn

At Sea

Alpha Echo

I should be writing.

Finni

discipula vitae

JoNightshade

has finally arrived

starrykitten

practical experience, FTW

Jackfishwoman

hammerklavier

It was a dark and stormy night

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World