04-02-2013, 08:50 PM
Hey AJ,
It's a complex issue you raise. Sites like this swing back and forth. It all depends on the current makeup of its contributors. Poets like well anyone are a biased bunch on what constitutes good poetry. The louder voices will sometimes influence people new to critique. If those louder voices came to their views from a more blunt or harsh source that will sometimes be conveyed with the message, and unfortunately the tone can sometimes obscure what is often good advice.
When you joined the site, we had a rash of people who didn't believe that poetry could be critiqued. At that point, we were dealing with the pendulum swinging the other way. I guess I would encourage you to mostly just keep writing and posting. If you feel that the tone is authoritarian meaning that a person is trying to get off on being prickish and isn't really focused on helping you improve--take what you can use from them and ignore everything else. And...And here's the hard part...try not to let it effect you.
The reason the poetry chess thing works for me (oh, and the chess game is unimportant) is that I focus on getting the first thing I think about related to game (very loosely) written. I don't care if it makes me look bad. I'm not trying to impress anyone with what I write. Thus, I can be creative. That seems to be the trick.
Some people hate free verse and always critique it as if its a flaw. Some people have a bias against rhyme. We all have our pet peeves. It's still a good thing when everyone doesn't disagree. I like your idea of coming home, I really do but there is an equal danger on sites like this. Over time people can end up liking one another (thankfully we mods were chosen for our mutual contempt), this can result in putting a halo effect over our critiquing efforts. New blood can help this.
Also from a practical standpoint, what you might be seeing is that you also have people new to critique who see someone confident in their critiquing and begin to mirror that persons method, biases, and tone thinking ah this is how you do it. In some ways, it is how you do it. We all learn from example. True mastery though is when you can keep what you've learned and shed a lot of the add ons that come with it.
I've enjoyed having you here AJ. I've been where you are now. I return there sometimes. You raise some valid points, but I would encourage you to hang on... and remember that what Leanne says is true: Billy's a rotten sod.
It's a complex issue you raise. Sites like this swing back and forth. It all depends on the current makeup of its contributors. Poets like well anyone are a biased bunch on what constitutes good poetry. The louder voices will sometimes influence people new to critique. If those louder voices came to their views from a more blunt or harsh source that will sometimes be conveyed with the message, and unfortunately the tone can sometimes obscure what is often good advice.
When you joined the site, we had a rash of people who didn't believe that poetry could be critiqued. At that point, we were dealing with the pendulum swinging the other way. I guess I would encourage you to mostly just keep writing and posting. If you feel that the tone is authoritarian meaning that a person is trying to get off on being prickish and isn't really focused on helping you improve--take what you can use from them and ignore everything else. And...And here's the hard part...try not to let it effect you.
The reason the poetry chess thing works for me (oh, and the chess game is unimportant) is that I focus on getting the first thing I think about related to game (very loosely) written. I don't care if it makes me look bad. I'm not trying to impress anyone with what I write. Thus, I can be creative. That seems to be the trick.
Some people hate free verse and always critique it as if its a flaw. Some people have a bias against rhyme. We all have our pet peeves. It's still a good thing when everyone doesn't disagree. I like your idea of coming home, I really do but there is an equal danger on sites like this. Over time people can end up liking one another (thankfully we mods were chosen for our mutual contempt), this can result in putting a halo effect over our critiquing efforts. New blood can help this.
Also from a practical standpoint, what you might be seeing is that you also have people new to critique who see someone confident in their critiquing and begin to mirror that persons method, biases, and tone thinking ah this is how you do it. In some ways, it is how you do it. We all learn from example. True mastery though is when you can keep what you've learned and shed a lot of the add ons that come with it.
I've enjoyed having you here AJ. I've been where you are now. I return there sometimes. You raise some valid points, but I would encourage you to hang on... and remember that what Leanne says is true: Billy's a rotten sod.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson