newbie help; secret scriblings

Jay.H.Hill said:

How do you find out if your secret scriblings are any good??

I've always enjoyed words & have written things for years to express myself, privately.
A writer should write? Ive written pages of song like lyrics for years. Self consciousness dictates, and i call it prose at best.
Recently i had a couple of, what i would call poems, pop out. I impressed myself, & looked back at some other favorites.

How do i finally find out if there is anything to this?
To find out if there's something there of promise, or simply the mildly stoned ramblings of a well read romantic?
It would mean stepping into the vulnerability. What do i do next? No one has seen it except the odd lady friend.

How did you??

Appreciate your feedback
J

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You might be writing prose poems You don't have to get feedback, it can totally be yours for you (and the odd lady friend) - but if you did want feedback, we have the SYW pages. Mostly they're for people who are planning to get published, so there's critique involved. You might not want critique so much as just to put the work out there. For that, there are display sites all over the internet, and someone much more tech-savvy than I will undoubtedly be here in a little while to point you towards them.

I love poems. And lyrics. And prose-poems. Basically anything with words...

The only way to know for sure is to let other people see and give their honest feedback. For poetry, I wouldn't ask ordinary people. Instead, I would consult with people active in the field--experts and serious connoisseurs. Taste and appreciation are more limited. I doubt the average person can well distinguish between a limerick and WH Auden.

SAWeiner said:

The only way to know for sure is to let other people see and give their honest feedback. For poetry, I wouldn't ask ordinary people. Instead, I would consult with people active in the field--experts and serious connoisseurs. Taste and appreciation are more limited and I doubt the average person can well distinguish between a limerick and WH Auden.

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Wha - ? No. Poetry is for everyone. Even ordinary people. I'm very ordinary indeed and I love me some poetry.

Jay.H.Hill said:

How do i finally find out if there is anything to this?
To find out if there's something there of promise, or simply the mildly stoned ramblings of a well read romantic?
It would mean stepping into the vulnerability. What do i do next? No one has seen it except the odd lady friend.

How did you??

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I worked the "idea of what I needed to write" into the best version of what it could be.

When I reached the point that editing became an exercise in futility ... because any editorial change only made it different, not better ... I called it done.

I did not worry what people might think, because 99% of people will dislike what I wrote, just as I dislike 99% of what I read.

I did my best. Like Mom and Dad said.

The only way to know if there's anything "to" this is to share it with outsiders, unfortunately.

If that's not something you feel like doing... there is literally nothing wrong with that. Writing for yourself is a perfectly valid activity.

But if you ever do intend to publish - even self-publish - that requires putting these little bits of your heart and soul out there for others to see.

As has been said, the SYW subforums are a good proving ground, provided you go into it with the right attitude (crits are about the writing, not about the writer, and the goal is to ensure you are communicating your ideas clearly.) You can't post your work until you have 50 posts in the forums, but you can see how it's done, and offer your opinions on other people's writing.

Good luck!

Jay.H.Hill said:

I really appreciate your thoughts.

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One of the thoughts I thought was - are your lady friends really odd? How odd? Do they wear unmatching shoes or something?

I just wondered....

(yes, yes - I'm teasing. I really do know what you meant. )

SAWeiner said:

The only way to know for sure is to let other people see and give their honest feedback. For poetry, I wouldn't ask ordinary people. Instead, I would consult with people active in the field--experts and serious connoisseurs. Taste and appreciation are more limited. I doubt the average person can well distinguish between a limerick and WH Auden.

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As mccardey says, poetry is for everyone. There's an Auden poem at the dramatic turning point in Four Weddings and a Funeral -- and didn't we all cry? (No? Just me? Oh well). But Auden also wrote The Night Mail for a documentary about the British postal service. T.S. Eliot created The Hollow Men and Macavity: the Mystery Cat. There are no rules about who can write poetry and how they must write it, nor are there rules about who can like poems.

Jay.H.Hill said:

indeed. This did occur to me. in my rush I struggled to replace it. Suggestion??
" ..except the odd lady friend."

In hindsight, i could have said, Occasional? Not my favorite tho.
In fairness, there was some oddness.

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Hush. It doesn't matter. It just tickled me - but it's a perfectly valid use of the words you used.

Being a good writer and being a popular writer is not always the same thing . Critiques are easy to find , even when they are unwelcomed.
Personally, I believe it is reasonable to decide , what it is you want and then work out how to get there .

I worked the "idea of what I needed to write" into the best version of what it could be.

When I reached the point that editing became an exercise in futility ... because any editorial change only made it different, not better ... I called it done.

I did not worry what people might think, because 99% of people will dislike what I wrote, just as I dislike 99% of what I read.

I did my best. Like Mom and Dad said.

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Beautifully said, and true for me as well.

I write because there are stories in my mind that want to be told. Writing is a much richer experience than reading, and I love every minute that I spend doing it.

I self publish to share my stories, and am pleased when people say they enjoyed them. Fortunately, I'm at a place in my life that the money I make from them doesn't matter much - my reward, as mentioned previously, is in both the writing and knowing that I've entertained others.

To be content in life, we must first be at peace with ourselves. All else is trivial.

Helix said:

As mccardey says, poetry is for everyone. There's an Auden poem at the dramatic turning point in Four Weddings and a Funeral -- and didn't we all cry? (No? Just me? Oh well). But Auden also wrote The Night Mail for a documentary about the British postal service. T.S. Eliot created The Hollow Men and Macavity: the Mystery Cat. There are no rules about who can write poetry and how they must write it, nor are there rules about who can like poems.

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I'm not saying ordinary people can't like poems. However, it can't be disputed that the market for poetry is much, much, much, much smaller than for novels. So, I would definitely seek out feedback from active participants in the poetry world. BTW, a person should be able to find some qualifying individuals here, once he or she is able to post in the SYW section.

I don't much like reading poetry, but I love listening to it.

I'm just an ordinary person. I write the odd poem. I've had more than one odd poem published. I also know what is good and what isn't. I'm a writer like that.

SAWeiner said:

I'm not saying ordinary people can't like poems.

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Oh, okay. It's just that bit

SAWeiner said:

I doubt the average person can well distinguish between a limerick and WH Auden.

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that I took exception to. Poetry is for everyone - and I wouldn't say that it only belongs to those with some secret degree of

SAWeiner said:

taste and appreciation

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.

For a long, long time I showed no one. Mostly because, when I was a teen, these forums didn't exist.

But eventually I started to nose around different forums and join them and just get a feel for the people. I was looking for a place with a supportive but honest group of people who would understand I was a novice and sharing my less than perfect work for the first time. I needed people who would be honest but not discouraging or just plain mean.

I picked some recent work, a short-story called "The Train" and I uploaded it here. I was surprised by the feedback I got and that it wasn't as bad as I thought. So I posted it on a totally different forum. I then compared the feedback and looked at what came up the most. What problems did people commonly see? What did lots say they liked? I then began to work on my weaknesses which is mostly grammar and punctuation. It was so worth it!

A few told me I had talent and skill it just needed working on. But mostly you have to trust in yourself that you're good enough.