| Author | Message | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 30814 Registered: 11-1998 |
. Dearest Membership -- Here is the seventh in The Poet's Note Card series. These Note Cards come from a book entitled The Mind's Eye: A Guide to Writing Poetry, by Kevin Clark. Mr. Clark is a winner of the Distinguished Teaching Award, is a university professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, and a widely published poet. This book on the teaching of poetry writing is concise, practical, and has been designed specifically for a college-level term. It includes a progression of lessons, example poems, and stimulating exercises. While most advanced poets already know these things, it doesn't hurt to review them. Or to learn them if you are a beginner to the craft of poetry making. I'll try to bring you a Poet's Note Card every so often. While you might not agree with every point Mr. Clark makes, I do hope these note cards serve to help those who are new to poetry by providing some basic foundation of information on which to build. Oh, and I do recommend that you acquire the book. It's an excellent textbook, especially if you would like to attend a college-level poetry writing course, but cannot for whatever reason. The link above (click on the book's title) will take you to the WPF BookShop and the Amazon description of the book. Thanks for reading! Love, M (Administrator) ------------------------------------------------- The Poet's Note Card -- #7 from The Mind's Eye: A Guide to Writing Poetry by Kevin Clark The World Without, The World Within 1. Regional or world events can provide excellent subjects for poems. 2. One of the poet’s jobs is to imagine what the experience felt like and to render that experience for the reader. 3. Repeat: It’s okay to lie to get at the truth; don’t be hostage to actual facts. 4. Myths and legends are good starting points for poems. 5. By changing traditional perspective, myths, legends and historical figures can be transformed as subjects into fresh new poems. 6. Narrators under psychological distress are often good “voices” for poems. 7. Readers are usually intrigued by situations in which human beings undergo severe emotional responses. 8. The place where key change takes place is always in the interior. 9. That interior must be rendered with urgency. 10. Anger and/or desperation are often the hallmarks of distress poems. 11. A good poet needs to listen to people express anxiety and mimic it. . | ||
| Lazarus
Senior Member Username: lazarus Post Number: 3631 Registered: 10-2005 |
This was a great reminder of all the stories that are out there to tell in new ways. I didn't find one with anger or anxiety to do, but I found something interesting. Thanks again for posting these (and the links to past ones in case we missed any). -Laz | ||
| Judy Thompson
Advanced Member Username: judyt54 Post Number: 1237 Registered: 11-2007 |
it does seem there should be a caveat with 'world events' to not be too historical or all encompassing: and 'local events' are tricky, since topical poems rarely last beyond next week's Sunday edition. Unless it can be linked in some way to a larger (or smaller) metaphor that gives it deeper meaning, most of the time topical poetry ends up being an embarrassment. Afraid of the Dark | ||
| Rania S. Watts
Advanced Member Username: cementcoveredcherries Post Number: 1123 Registered: 04-2008 |
Dear M, Thank you so much for posting number 7! This one especially is really going to help me, with a story I am working on. Warm wishes, Rania S. Watts "You will hardly know who I am or what I mean" ~ Walt Whitman Cement Covered Cherries |
