Thesis: Rhyming does not define poetry
Firstly, all the formality in this piece is in the title. The rest is my unfiltered opinion, conclusion, and judgement. If you are easily offended then HELL YEAH! you have found the right place.
Read on.
Dear God I Hate Whining
Literally, I physically despise it.
For while I understand some people, obviously, cannot exist without it, this, like racism, is something I don’t want to understand.
Style VS. Structure
There’s a point to this, so stay with me. It all relates back to writing in general and poetry specifically even though it sounds, initially, as if I am going off on a wild and self-congratulatory rant.
Pain, it's not just for poetry anymore
Arrogance
Let’s be clear on one thing up front.
I am not a nice person. I try to be polite, I try to treat others well, but I am not a nice person especially when it comes to one area:
Arrogance.
Offline through August 9th but here's something to review
Just a note to let folks know that I’m off soon on a vacation that will preclude me being active on NeoPoet.com.
Before I go I wanted to post a link that may be of interest:
They’ve requested Spewgilist.com, the Interview and Review site focusing on geek culture site that I run, do a review of their next magazine and upon review of their site i have to say that folks here may wish to review it as a possible submission site.
Self Publishing Follow-up
As indicated in my last entry, I had decided to self publish. CafePress.com offers an easy path but, even with bulk pricing, can get expensive fast with a per book cost for my collection at nearly $6. The nice thing about CafePress, though, is that you can get a proof copy of a book for around $15, depending on manuscript size and shipping option, of course.
Publishing in the new millennium
I’ve been writing for a lot of years now and I’ve been collecting rejections for that writing for some of that time. About 25 years ago I realised that my writing, especially my poetry, did not fit the mold of what established publishers, always following the next big thing, wanted. I also don’t write in such a way to endear myself with print magazines. My work is normally highly structured, rather old-fashioned, and invokes images of pure fantasy of worlds and circumstances drifting through my mind.
Minding the Basics
Let me start by stating a few salient facts:
- I am mildly dyslexic and thus have a horrid time with spelling
- Punctuation remains a sore spot for me thus I have to rigorously review and correct it
- My lack of social skills often translates into overly formal rhetoric
This is part of my daily life, my business life, and is greatly magnified when I write poetry.
The Perils of Rhyme
Rhyming in poetry is treacherous because it appears to be one of the easiest things we can do. It’s a game we play as children, it’s in all of our nursery tales, it’s in our songs, it’s in the great poetry we are forced to read.
So everyone who can rhyme does so.
And that’s not the problem.
Friday, April 11 Brain Dump
I’m a structure geek, it’s the way my brain is wired. I solve patterned IQ questions with subjective ease. I make associative leaps and match likeness in statements or positions or techniques almost instinctively.
