Good Poetry

In my last post I talked briefly about poetry and some of its good qualities, however I think there was a lot I left out when discussing it. So, I'm going to revisit that and talk about some of the better qualities of poetry and what these qualities do for a poet. So, what is, in my definition, good poetry?

Good poetry is a creative piece that presents an idea in a unique way in which it makes the reader think or feel emotionally connected.

What does all that mean? Well, lets go through that bit by bit. 'A creative piece,' simply means that it is written in a way that isn't prose and that uses devices to capture the attention of the reader: these could be things like rhythm, rhyme, word play, etc. You can make some really interesting presentations of ideas through different paragraphing and spacing, and, with most everything related with poetry, the more original it is, the better.

'That presents and idea in a unique way.' This, more or less, is the point of your poem. Don't get me wrong, poems can be extremely fun and visually appealing, however every poem should have some sort of idea or moral they're trying to get across to the reader. This idea doesn't have to be immediately clear, in fact many great poems are quite ambiguous, but they should be decipherable with time and thought, just like many good stories. Again, I can't stress this enough, the more original and unique your idea and how you present it, generally the better the poetry is considered.

'Makes the reader think or feel emotionally connected.' This pertains pretty closely to the previous point about getting your idea across to the reader. The only difference here is that it's trying to describe the quality of the idea rather than the presentation of the idea. Whatever you're trying to get across, it should be effective in making the reader: question previous things about his or her perceptions; feel emotionally understanding of your idea; or simply learn something new about the world or his or her self. You guessed it; the more original the idea and the more effectively it achieves these things, the better.

Hopefully reading this gives you a slightly better understanding of your poetry as well as poetry in general. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

A Beginning to Poetry

I think when most people think about poetry, they instantly jump to confusing lines of unintelligible text that have seven different meanings which has a meaning which has meaning which has a meaning...

My point is, people assume its just really hard to understand, and that they don't/won't understand. Really, poetry isn't that complex. It's just trying to present an idea or feeling in an interesting or new way. Most poetry isn't that ambiguous, and you can understand it with a little discussion and analyzing, and even past that most poetry you'll understand right away. I'm no grade A poet, but I'll give you a little poem to show you what kinda poetry I, a poetry fan, write. Normally it'd be a in a bit nicer format, but you'll get the point. the poem is titled, I Am. 

I am the smell of coffee grounds, at the crack of dawn

The smell of sizzling bacon and eggs, as you cook for your friends

The smell of smoke on your jacket, after a long summer weekend

The smell of sweat and rubber, going into the sixth mile.

I am the feeling of grass on your feet, and mud between your toes

The feeling of cool lake water, snatching your breath away

The feeling of a warm body and soft fur, next to you after a hard day

The feeling of warm Chai tea, hitting your cold stomach.

I am the taste of dull Chamomile, as you curl up on the couch

the taste of sushi and laughter, as we talk around a sizzling counter

I am the sound of a cicadas song, right outside your tent

The sound of restless fingers on keys, driven by an even more restless mind

I am the sight of a mornings first light, by a glowing orange dawn

The sight of a gleaming, happy smile, paired by well-used laugh lines

The sight of a newly fallen snow, on a frozen Winter's morning

The sight of a wide open book, bathed in warm lamp light.

I am hour long conversations, when no one else is awake

I am listening when everyone talks, to better understand

I am putting a song on repeat, to know its true message

I am present, always here and now, while others are past and future

This is who I am.

Down the Rabbit Hole

So I was trying to think of where I want to start my critiquing, should I start with fantasy? Horror? Maybe a comedy for starts, or possibly an action flick.

But when considering it I realized, what better way to start my reign of critiquing and oppressing my opinion over defenseless films than to first go under the hood, or perhaps a better allusion would be down the rabbit hole, to figure out what I look for and see how I critique these movies.

First is the mad hatter of movies, because it can be funny or serious, witty or wise, cruel or kind, you get the gist, dialogue. I've touched on how important this is in books, and in movies you get very little difference, the biggest being that it's just even MORE important! Dialogue can be many things, but what it should be, no matter what genre of movie, is compelling and entertaining. It should be clear and understandable (unless its purposefully misconstruing, in which case I totally dig it if it's done well) and should always have a purpose. If it fits all these things, then I consider it as passing level dialogue. If not, well go read my post about Left Behind, then you'll see what I think of bad dialogue. Hint, not much.

Alice falls down, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat, Alice goes on an adventure, blah blah blah, Alice gets back home. You guessed it, second is the plot of the movie which shares many characteristics with the plot. In that I mean that it has to be compelling, entertaining, and with a clear and understandable story. Sure it can be twisted and curvy all over the place, but in the end you should be able to say in a quick and clear summary, "Blank wanted Blank, but then blank happened, but in the end Blank finally did Blank." Some movies seem way to confusing to sum up in that format, but really all should be able to, especially classics. Besides that there are a view requirements; one being that in should be chronologically accurate. Not that that effects the enjoyment of the movie much, but it can be quite confusing if done poorly. Also it should challenge the character, movies are ultimately about facing conflict, and if a plot is too easy on the character or really has no sense of difficulty, then whats the point?

The last thing would be characters; Alice, Cheshire, Mad Hatter, all iconic characters, but why? Because they're all well rounded. What I mean is that each has their own unique wants, needs, morals, traits, and skills. You can't quite sum up a good character in a mere sentence, they should be authentic. They should feel real. If they can do this, then you got a chance at being a good movie.

That's usually the stuff I'm most mindful of when critiquing, and you'll probably hear all those things pop up during my posts. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

New Year New Blog

So I'm back at it, and it's time to put the nose back to the grindstone. I'll be blogging weekly again, or at least biweekly, putting out content to inform you guys. However, I think you'll find that I'll be shifting the topic a bit. The first half of the year I focused pretty intently on the art of fiction writing and story development, as well as critiquing of pieces that apply these ideas.

This time around, I'll be doing more of what I said I would be in my About page. That means I'm giving fiction writing the cold shoulder and moving to, well, movies. Along with that, I'll probably add some pieces here and there about other writing/entertainment things, such as poetry, games, and essays.

The ideas on writing and fiction will probably pop up every now and again still, I just wouldn't be expecting them nearly as much. So! What does this switch mean? Well, you can start expecting more content/posts then last year, possibly longer posts, and a wider variety of ideas! Fun for the whole family, right?

One other thing I think I'll add, I'll probably start showing more of my own work, and not just short snippets like my old writings, but full pieces, especially when it comes to poetry. I'm hoping it'll be a nice way to spice things up for me, make it more entertaining for you, and make both all of you and me better at what we do, write!

That's all I have for now folks, but until next time, keep calm and write on. Peace.

-Ink