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User	Lost Sheep | 2006-05-12 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I think the name "Elite Skills" is a bit of a misnomer. It’s not that the people here have elite skills, although some do. It’s that most of the people here want to develop elite skills, at least in the realm of writing.

User	Blue Monk | 2006-05-12 |
Subject	untitled
Message	To each his own, hence my term "many genres". elite: 1 a singular or plural in construction : the choice part : CREAM <the elite of the entertainment world> b singular or plural in construction : the best of a class <superachievers who dominate the computer elite This is as opposed to elitism, 1 : leadership or rule by an elite 2 : the selectivity of the elite; especially : SNOBBERY 1 <elitism in choosing new members> 3 : consciousness of being or belonging to an elite (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) We can rule out numbers 1 and 2 around here, I’d hope. Number 3 gives a nice warm and fuzzy feeling for those who need it.

User	realpoet | 2006-05-12 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Eliteness is just a matter of being unique. That includes everyone singularly. No one has the same fingerprint as another. If this is not being ELITE then pray tell me what is.

User	Blue Monk | 2006-05-11 |
Subject	untitled
Message	The term "Elite" in this case should refer to a select few of the best available works of a given genre. This website has a broadband purpose, if you will excuse the metaphor. It is designed to serve the needs of many genres and many people, some of whom wish to develop their own skills further and/or wish to post for the enjoyment of others. Actually having Elite Skills is probably more of a goal to be worked at than a status for most of us. If Elite is to be Elite, most of us are not worthy of being called that, at least not yet (maybe once in a blue moon). We do, however, have a huge collection of works being exhibited between contributors (some Elite) for peer review. If you are not commenting at least twice what you’re posting, you’re not supporting the progress of others. All comments serve some purpose to the author, good or bad.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-10 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Those words are dangerous.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-09 |
Subject	untitled
Message	An intreresting point, Blue. What is the line between just different and elite? Are we talking Seperate but Equal?

User	Blue Monk | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Elite Skills are those which are special in some way, not necessarily better when compared one against the other. Different classifications, experience types and levels get equal exposure to both praise and criticism, even help. Call it a worldwide brotherhood of the expressively creative. Sometimes it’s even a window into a soul.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	If you’re going to write, and write poetry, Amanda, Words need to be more than just words. If it has no meaning to you because it’s just a word, how do you expect to give your feelings and emotion through it? There is no such thing as ’just a word.’

User	Amanda Lynn | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Elite .....blah.....just a word i never really pay attention to....i didnt think i was posting poetry with fellow elitists when i started shareing poetry here...i saw the activity and thought ....hmmm maybe this one will work for me .....get feed back and such... whos to say what elite is or isnt ....untill my poetry is in a book alongside T S Elliot or Shakespear im just a poet searching for her words and hope along the way they make sense to someone else other than myself..... im sure there will be responses about the vocabulary one uses along with perfect punctiuation flow and rhyme...to me that isnt really poetry...its just pretty words easily said together....poetry is a meaning, a defineing of something with emotion so others can feel it not just read it ....until every word i write inspires someone like that im not elite.... besides i feel a poet should constantly strive to write the better poem so if there is always one better in you who can say you have attained the elitness yet? i dont know if i answered your question but i sure rambled like mad!!

User	mae | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Huh? mae

User	Toxic_Rayne | 2006-05-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Some talents are elite, but it depends on the quality of the talent. *Tox*

User	mae | 2006-05-07 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Oh, David, a man after my own heart! I have a four-volume dictionary set printed in 1899 that I just love, that we got at a garage sale for next to nothing. I use it for words that have gone out of style or are considered too archaic for a modern dictionary - which I also have a variety of. I love dictionaries and old readers. Sorry. Very off-topic. mae

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-07 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I love library book sales. It’s almost always an ecstatic thing for me, to get books for next to nothing. I got this hard bound websters dictionary once for 50 cents. I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

User	ghostknight | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	ouch, a little part of me kicked around in my head when it read that i might still need improvement. it doesn’t seem to think so. need to pop an advil now, thanks a lot freya. seriously though, this is an odd bit of timing and i hope to take advantage of it right now. had the annual county library book sale, a huge event with almost any and every good book you might be wanting to buy on the cheap, and in great quality, even. managed to snag "On the Road" and god knows, many more. so here i am reading kerouac describe these youthful and soon-to-be prominent writers and how they do so many things to get inspired... and i’m wondering, where do people draw their inspirations from to become the definers of an entire generation? is it a formulated, universal thing, or maybe an occuring yet improbable crossing of time and place? (see what this book is doing to me?) i suspect there are more answers than people to give them, otherwise we’d all be famous for our writings. i’m not sure where i’m going with this anymore, it was a passing thought as i put the book down to take a piss. back to work...

User	Fantastic Freya | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Amen to that, David. The purest of intentions, when privileging one group above another, will create division, exclusionism and jealousy. Those inside the group will become pugnacious and adopt more of a swagger, thus reinforcing their own belief that they are entitled to special treatment. Inevitably their own reason for being will collapse from within, as they rest upon their past achievements and consider improvement as something that applies to other people.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I used to hang out with a group on another poetry site. It started off with good intentions but did, in fact, start to become a self appreciation party and rather snobby group. It was really sad. Since then, I refuse to belong to any cliques of writers. If I find myself starting to join one, I back out. Eventually truth in critique always falls apart in such a circle.

User	DavidHirt | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I still don’t think being elitist neccessarily makes you a snob. If I believe Maggie is a better poet than me and deserves special treatment, I’m not a snob, but I am an elitist. This is just making an example... not saying I believe it one way or another.

User	Magnolia Steele | 2006-05-06 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Barbara Cartland...I use to love reading her books when I was a teenager.

User	Fantastic Freya | 2006-05-05 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Assuming that we accept the term "elite" as something that can be applied to writing, what are the marks of an elite writer? Is it merely a popularity thing? In that regard, Barbara Cartland would be considered elite... or Michael Crichton. Political influence? Let’s bring out Salman Rushdie for that one. Clubs and cliques... let’s see... Da Vinci code and a Masonic handshake anyone? Occasionally a writer may create a work which is regarded as a masterpiece. Does a single work make one elite?

User	ghostknight | 2006-05-05 |
Subject	untitled
Message	i would think the artist would try to be humble, you know, more of a disciplined human, and only made elite by the people who respect him/her. good art doesn’t come from people who think they’re good artists. pretentious art does. in fact, throw the word out the window. if you really think being elite is important, well nevermind, nothing i can say would matter.