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

Revisions

Oh, that dreaded step in the long process of writing. Is anything more tedious, more annoying, more painstakingly frustrating, than the process of revisiting and checking over your work? You spend hours going over work only to change two things, yet still when the moment comes to present your story, you see things that make you think, "How the hell could I have possibly missed that?"

That's one of the cons that comes with being a writer, having to deal with the hair tearing out anger of not being able to check your own work. But, hopefully, I can teach you a few of my methods for checking and revising, and that can ease the process for you!

One of the first things I do after finishing is just read the whole thing to myself, checking to make sure there aren't any holes. No sentences I left out, gaps in the story, blatantly obvious content mistakes, etc. After that, I reread one more time, instead looking at individual sentences in particular, just to try to catch any punctuation or grammar mistakes. Personally, that's the end of my step one, because I know from there that there's not much more I'm going to catch myself without wasting tons of time.

Side note; another good strategy I've heard of is reading your story backwards, from the last sentence to the first. I don't do this myself, but it's supposed to be good as far as working on sentence structure and grammar.

After that I usually take a break, one or two days off where you can clear your mind and not think about the writing. The reason for this is so that when you look at it next you have a slightly different perspective and are more prone to catch things. How I normally do it from there though is I'll find somewhere quiet and just read to myself out loud, as if I was presenting it. Again, this'll just help provide a different perspective and just make you much more prone to catching things, especially when it comes to smoothing it out and making it flow better.

The last thing I usually do then is probably the most uncommon. A lot of authors, especially quieter ones who don't exactly like publicity, will only rely on themselves for revision, as well as maybe one other trusted person. However I think for the best revisions I think you should be open with your writing! Share it with friends and family, or really anyone you know who has any kind of writing or reading interests. You'll get a lot of solid feedback, as well as get a feel for how people will receive your writing and whether or not you should change it accordingly.

Anyway guys, that's about all I got for this topic. Until next time, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of A Fine Balance

Coming into this book, I really wasn’t too excited. I knew it was about India, and that it was historical fiction, and those two combined just really didn’t peak my interest much. However when I started getting into it I had an odd feeling. Something about it was just different. The way it flowed, the dynamics of the characters, the realism and historical context; all of it just created such a surreal story, something I hardly ever experience while reading historical fiction.

It was real. A true depiction of Indian struggle that hit me much harder than I could’ve ever expected. As someone who enjoys writing their own stories, I LOVED the character development in this book. Every single one was interesting and unique with their own strengths and weaknesses. That’s what made this book so hard hitting really, that although the context and struggles make the setting seem very real, it was the good characters, the ones that felt more like real people than characters, that made it relatable and so emotional.

That being said, I really have nothing bad to say about the book. The plot is lackluster, but that can be expected when a book is shooting for realism rather than entertainment. The flow of the story was simply artful; the way it would ebb and flow between the present and the past as new characters are introduced and interesting backstories are presented. Granted, it was a bit confusing at first, because you don’t really see the relation between the characters initially, so it feels like you’re just being thrown back and forth, but once you catch the pattern it becomes really quite enjoyable.

                I’m no fan of this genre typically, but after reading it I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a good eye-opener. It really does give you a good dose of reality check, reminding you why we should be grateful and how people can be strong, even in the face of poverty and chaos.

Long story short, this was simply amazing, and I'd give this a solid nine out of ten. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

P.S.

                Might I add that I was really having some flashbacks to Pursuit of Happiness starring Will Smith? I mean seriously, it’s great and all, but every time, every single time, something good happens, we just have to get knocked right back down. Cut us a break, will you? I mean we readers can only take so much! Kind of inconsiderate, I know, but man this was such a sad story. I just wanted the characters, at least one, to get a happy ending. Sorry for the informality, but I had to throw that out there. 

B.R. of To Kill A Mockingbird

If you have never read To Kill A Mockingbird, I would advise you to stop reading this review immediately, and go and buy yourself a copy.

For any that don’t know what the book is about, I’m going to describe it briefly, because the beauty of the book is that the reader follows the story with the characters. It’s set in the 1930s, when America was hit by the Great Depression, and filled with prejudice. It’s told in the voice of Scout. Being in the voice of a young girl made a story about such brutal prejudice and discrimination different: it was youthful, it was playful, it was innocent, and to see such innocence corrupted by a genuine sense of reality throughout the novel was one of the most worthwhile parts of the book. Scout has an older brother, Jem, and they live with their father, Atticus: Atticus is a lawyer, and possibly one of my favourite characters of all time. I feel like often writers feel their characters need a defining trait, a fatal flaw: but Atticus was just genuinely a good person. He wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t this macho and masculine protagonist that some books seem to need. He was moral, he was good, he was inspirational, just because he was such a good person. His wisdom gave a sense of continuity throughout the novel, and seeing how his words impacted his children, and how subtly in awe they were of his presence was done with a skill I rarely see in fiction. Atticus Finch is wonderful. He viewed the world in a way that didn’t judge people, and this translated perfectly through the pages of the book.

I found this review almost impossible to write. I don’t want to tell you the plot, to list every character, every theme tackled in it: dive straight in, and discover it for yourself.

If you are a human being with emotions, this book will impact you, regardless of age, gender or background. This book makes you FEEL: that’s the best way to describe it. Ultimately, there’s a reason why people still read this book. It’s a reason you won’t understand until you pick up the book, and feel the words speak to you.

Until you see this for yourself, you’ll just have to trust my rating, which I give a solid nine out of ten. It really doesn’t get much better than this one. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink