|| Replies ||

User	Lost Sheep | 2006-05-12 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I write for a number of reasons, but then again I write a number of styles in a number of forums. I write railroad history, computer how-tos, line dance step sheets, all kinds of things. Most of my writings are completely non-poetic and they’re written to convey facts and knowledge. On the other hand, when I write poetry, my goals are different. I do write to draw emotions from the readers, in act that’s really my only goal. If I can draw a tear or a smile that wasn’t there before, then I’ve added a little bonus to someone’s life. That makes me feel good. To be honest, if my goal in writing was anything other than emotion, I wouldn’t be using poetry as my tool. It’s a lot easier to capture a moment with a photo or an idea with a technical paper.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I have to say I don’t write to draw emotions from someone else... I write to capture moments, or ideas, or my moods. If someone else is touched or moved by them, Then I’m flattered. The warm welcome a number of my religious pieces have received makes me feel good, but it’s never been something I really looked for or hoped for.

User	mae | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Very funny, smartypants! She didn’t say - I didn’t ask - so I’M going to say joy! Of course! mae 8>p

User	Fantastic Freya | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	David is quite correct -- if you are assigned a writing task it is possible to create something of high quality without an emotional attachment. That’s professionalism. Just as it is possible to take a contrary stance in a debate without it reflecting your true opinion.

User	Blue Monk | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	Vanity?
Message	"Is it Vanity to think our words can evoke anything, thought or emotion, in another person?" I don’t think there’s any vanity or personal glory involved during writing. People are people and some will react predictably while others will not. Good writers know what pushes buttons. While (deep) thought may be considered as being opposed to emotion in some cases, to bring about both would truly be worthwhile. In any case the true value of such "art" is always at the mercy of the reader, not the author. Hence, no vanity is available unless the readers actually support it - after the fact. What the writer thinks is great may get trashed around here by the other writers.

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	were they tears of happiness or pain?? XD Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself, mae...

User	mae | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	David - "You’d be surprised how many times in college I only wrote on something I had to and had no emotional connection too, Mae. " Well, David, that’s just sad. I’m really sorry. Re: vanity - it might be considered vanity to THINK that our words will evoke emotion. I don’t think it’s vanity to HOPE that they will. I brought several of my poems to a conference I attended recently and asked one of the instructors to look at some of them. My hope was that she could show me how to improve them and that’s what she did with a couple of them. But on one, she just cried. I was THRILLED!! It’s that sort of connection I think most poets are looking for. I think most of us are realistic enough to know that that strong a connection is rare, even for the best poets (in whose company I do not include myself). But we always hope for it. mae

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Another question. Is it Vanity to think our words can evoke anything, thought or emotion, in another person?

User	Blue Monk | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I do not take to any such notion that emotion is necessary in a poem for it to be good. It’s nice, however, to be able to envoke thought and/or emotion from the reader any time.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	You’d be surprised how many times in college I only wrote on something I had to and had no emotional connection too, Mae.

User	mae | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Even in school, you’re probably not going to write something you’re apathetic about. A writer will find some way to make it interesting, even if it’s only interesting to him/herself. mae

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	The only reason I disagree with that, Tox, is because I don’t think Any writer would take the time to write about something they didn’t care about it, unless it were required writing, such as in school.

User	Toxic_Rayne | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I think one will feel disintrest in a poem if they read it. Apathy if they are writing it. *Tox*

User	Lost Sheep | 2006-05-07 |
Subject	untitled
Message	" What if you’re apathetic to a poem? Apathy is the negation of emotion, the lack of it. " Then I think the poem is a failure. That might sound harsh, but I do think the goal of most poetry is to communicate emotion. Similarly if you read a how-to book and you can’t figure out "how to", then the book has failed to communicate knowledge and it’s a failure.

User	ghostknight | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	apathy... don’t really see that. disinterest, more like it to me. but i’ve got a short attention span, that might create unreal expectations. who knows? ooh, is that a penny over there?

User	Toxic_Rayne | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	If you’re apathetic to a poem, I’d think that it didn’t mean anything to you, or wasn’t about your life, more about someone else’s, or someone who does not really exist; a fictional *Tox*

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	What if you’re apathetic to a poem? Apathy is the negation of emotion, the lack of it.

User	Munchie_1226 | 2006-05-04 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Any kind of poetry you will get an emotion from. That’s why the words are there. Whether you laugh, smile, frown, cry.....it gives you an emotion.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-03 |
Subject	untitled
Message	You’re more than welcome to call me Dave Ghostknight. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier. Like LIB says, I was in slavery at work without, <gasp> Internet acess. As to the fault being with reader or writer as too the effectiveness of a poem, I suppose that happens when the metaphors become too personal. At the same time, if it becomes too cliche, well, that always turns me off as well.

User	Lost Sheep | 2006-05-03 |
Subject	untitled
Message	"But is that the fault of the reader or the poet?" I think both, but I put more blame on the writer. A reader has to make an effort and actually read the piece, start to finish. He needs to ask the question "What does this mean"? Still that’s about the end of the reader’s responsibility in my book. It’s up to the writer to use vocabulary and subject matter appropriate to the intended audience.