Noticing Newbies

          The similarity between sculpture and poetry is striking. Like sculpture, poetry attempts to convey the essence of an idea in its creator’s mind, but it is rarely explicit; each person reads by the light of his own moods, emotions, and experience. A poet’s strength lies in his ability to transform deeply personal, intensely private imaginings, emotions, and realities into a shared experience with a variety of readers, tapping into universal themes to build a bridge that touches the reader and makes him say “Yes, this is how it is!”

          Poetry does not have the luxury of a broad canvas; like sculpture, poetry must be specific, concrete, essential. It is the distillation of a moment into just those words required to communicate it; it is a snapshot with artistic composition, rather than a film. It is a single, clear note – the resonant tone of a wet finger on the rim of a glass, rather than a symphonic orchestration.

Writing.com: Your Virtual Coffee House

         Coffee houses have long been a favorite gathering place for musicians, writers, artists, philosophers, and activists. Writing.com is part virtual coffee house, part writers’ colony, and a haven for poets and poetry lovers with over 62,000 poems posted and more added daily. Whether you want to hone your poetry-writing skills, learn the basics, or simply dip into a bottomless well of free poetry for your reading pleasure, you’ve come to the right place.

         In "Writing Poetry Writing Tips"  [ASR], Vivian , provides a solid introduction to poetry and an excellent self-study course in the art of writing poetry. In my own article, "Invalid Item"  , I discuss basic principles for writing poetry that is meant to be read, as opposed to poetry that is meant to be tucked gently between the locked pages of a diary.

         If you are interested in learning and practicing formal verse – limericks, haiku, sonnets, villanelles, and such – drop by "Invalid Item"  . While the workshop itself is not active at the moment, you will find useful information there, including a discussion that demystifies the whole concept of meter – or as one person put it, “the whole ‘ta TUM ta’ thing.”

         When you are ready to share your poetry, don’t be shy! By adding poetry to your portfolio, you add to a growing collection of free poems to be enjoyed by many readers.

          One of the fundamental features of Writing.com is its review system. You will find numerous review forums that cater to poets, such as "Invalid Item"  or at least welcome your poetry. There, you can request detailed feedback for your poems. When it comes to feedback, take it all with a grain of salt. Before you revise a poem extensively, it may be a good idea to stuff it into a drawer for a while, along with any comments you received. Pull it out after a few days, weeks, even a month or more, then ask yourself whether it’s better than you remembered, worth revising, or simply serves as a great yardstick by which to measure just how far you've come since writing it.

         Once you’ve polished your poems and feel ready to take the next step, you will find plenty of fun contests, such as "Invalid Item"  and "Invalid Item"  where you can enter your work for a chance to win gift points or awardicons. Once you’ve test-marketed your work here and tasted some success, you should be more than ready to set your sights on publication – and once again, you’ll find a supportive community of writers here to cheer you on (or offer creative and artistic suggestions for recycling the rejection slips we all collect along the way). Be sure to check "Invalid Item"  for a list of excellent resources and a few caution flags to help keep you from falling into the potholes.

         If you are an avid reader of poetry, be sure to take some time to comment on the poems you read on Writing.com. By letting writers know what you liked or did not like about their work, you help them to craft that
“shared experience” of poetry, and you ensure that you will continue to find poems that will give you hours of reading pleasure.

Facing heartbreak.


A powerful poem suggested by Sophy .


Suggested reading by bianca_b!


Suggested reading by bianca_b!


Suggested reading by bianca_b!


Choices and innocence lost.




Featured Essays

Cats and kids interwine to reveal and teach us what we are forgetting: not all things are disposable.


Death and faith.

 



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"Since you don't seem to have any questions yet for this newsletter, I thought I might ask a question that I'm sure all newbies at some stage have asked: "Where do I go?" Most of us know that the Support forum is the place for general help, but I have often seen the SM or other members direct posts to other, less well-known forums such as those for reporting bugs, suggestions for the site, and so on. Bearing this in mind, I thought you could perhaps compile a list of 'where-to's for newbies." ~~ pondlife87

Where to turn to depends on what one needs help with. If your email or IMs are creating a problem, or any other site tools, go here "Technical Support Forum"  [13+]. Because of the nature of this forum, don't post OT or requests for reviews. This forum is strictly for help needed.

If you would like to introduce yourself and connect with people that pay a lot of attention to newbies, please visit "Noticing Newbies"  [13+].

If you want to get involved in a general topic, or ask a question or get an opinion, visit "Writing.Com General Discussion"  [13+]

In all cases, read the forum header before posting, then make sure the language of yoour post complies with the forum's rating, (i.e., no swearing in a forum rated G through PG.)

Warmest Regards,

Pita


Your editors:
outlawpoet
amawitch
yesnomaybe
 



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