ive written with some success in the past. but i seem to lack that drive or ambition to really be a writer. im not dedicated or focused enough to really be a writer right now, i have to worry about how im going to eat and whatnot first. ive always enjoyed writing and it would be wonderful to be published one day, but odds of that are prety slim. i havent written anything in a long time... but i've always felt if i really threw myself into it... i just might be able to make it. a few people even told me the rough draft of my law school personal statement reads like it's right out of a good novel.
*edit* i meant to talk about... the subject thread reminded me of a line from one of the greatets movies about writers ever (wonder boys)... rip torn behind a podium saying "I... am a writer!"
That's it! Enough of the self-conscious no-label-applies-to-me boohoo-ism. I'm your heroine! I'm going to be the resident poet if no one else will grab that title and just go with it. I'm a poet, I'm a poet, I'm a poet! Bibliobella the Superhero Poet.
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
That's it! Enough of the self-conscious no-label-applies-to-me boohoo-ism. I'm your heroine! I'm going to be the resident poet if no one else will grab that title and just go with it. I'm a poet, I'm a poet, I'm a poet! Bibliobella the Superhero Poet.
That's it! Enough of the self-conscious no-label-applies-to-me boohoo-ism. I'm your heroine! I'm going to be the resident poet if no one else will grab that title and just go with it. I'm a poet, I'm a poet, I'm a poet! Bibliobella the Superhero Poet.
im with you. this grunge-style, "im way too humble to claim im a real artist when so many people deserve it more" to me reeks more of insecurity than anything else.
That's it! Enough of the self-conscious no-label-applies-to-me boohoo-ism. I'm your heroine! I'm going to be the resident poet if no one else will grab that title and just go with it. I'm a poet, I'm a poet, I'm a poet! Bibliobella the Superhero Poet.
You Are! I picture you in the typecast librarian look: long skirt, white blouse buttoned to the neck, reading specks, hair all tied up in a bun, quietly policing the isles at the library......but, alas, an idea takes hold and behold, she morphs into Bibliobella the Superhero Poet, sexy and seductive, the zipper at the side of her skirt is opened further, revealing a sumptuous thigh, the buttons on her blouse pop open just enough to reveal her ample bosom, the glasses fly off and her long, shiny locks blow in the ghost winds, pen and paper in hand......oh yes, she makes me want to write!!!!!!!
I write. To me, that makes me a writer/poet (notice I did not say a great writer/poet ). I do not do it to feed myself or to become published but purely for the joy of writing. My payoff is that I get to articulate things that I feel and in knowing that sometimes, what I have to say moves someone else, or even inspires them to write as well. It's not about how many people know my name or if I'm going to be paid, it's a labour of love. Pure and simple and true. I love to write!
Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen
Yes, but what about "I think therefore I am" business. Isn't that right up your alleyway of thinking? So, if I think I am a poet, then I am a poet. Yes, that's right, I agree with me! I want to be included in the present day Fili! What is that group called?
Dah James Brown soul brothahs. "Ah fili good, ah knew dat ah would now". ;);)
im with you. this grunge-style, "im way too humble to claim im a real artist when so many people deserve it more" to me reeks more of insecurity than anything else.
One should be secure in the notion that one is not much good to start with, and that one should strive to learn one's craft to become better. That's not grunge-like false humility. That's the starting point of knowledge, to perceive one's ignorance or one's false self-opinions.
The next stage of knowledge and self-fulfillment is in developing a true, informed opinion of how to advance in relation to other people's applauded standards. No man is an island, said John Donne, and no one is a writer until one's words are felt to change society to a noticeable degree. To be a writer is to be a communicator of often unspeakable, radical and dangerous truths. One must learn one's trade to be able to achieve this. It takes an interloper's skill to interrogate received perceptions of what it is to be a human being, and to rescue language from dominant ideological misrepresentations of identity, experiential reality and our society. To change society one must engage with it: To learn one's craft and subvert it from within to find new ways of seeing and speaking.
i am not a writer. i do occasionally write, but i don't have this *need* to write...or not too often in any case. however, yes, i do consider myself an artist....b/c yes, i do make art. i subscribe to the line of thinking, in this regard anyway, you are what you do. i may not work on my art daily...sometimes i even go weeks...and in really bad times...months....w/o it. however, i am usually doing something creative, and art-related....but i digress. one does not need to be a professional....does not need to get paid, publish, exhibit...to be considered anything. at least that is what i have always told my former students. you make art, you are an artist. to me it really is that simple. now to say if you are good or bad....well that's a whole other question there.
One theme I notice to be steadfast in this thread is the willingness of many of you to not describe yourselves as writers. I write a fair bit, have been doing so for about 9 years, never been published. I do find things that inspire and when they make their appearances, I put pen to paper and strive to capture whatever happens to need capturing with a thought that will lend meaning and memory. If you do this as well, you're putting forth more effort than that of most. Just my opinion.... Don't be afraid to call yourself what you are ~ Cheers, Danny
Trading magic for fact, no tradebacks... So this is what it's like to be an adult...
If I were a wise man I would answer,
when i'm thirsty i drink, when i'm tired i sleep.
i'm not a wise man and i'm not a writer,
T
Is it Ok if I consider you a poet? Will you be offended and consider me immature? hmmmmmm
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
Alright, I admit it. I was being the bloke in Monty Python's argument room.
You're all good writers. That's why I come here. But I love a debate.
Bloke, bloke, Fins a bloke!!! Thank goodness you're not a promise keeper - inside joke from a moving train thread.;)
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
Calling myself a poet would be like riding my bike to the train station and calling myself a 'cyclist.' What I would instead say is that I occasionally ride a bike. I'm not a writer, but I write poetry.
This is not false modesty or self-loathing insecurity. Instead it is simply a concerted effort to not seem pompous, or to not lend myself more creedence than I deserve. How many of you have met 'writers' who ruined any enjoyment you may have gotten from their work because they were so caught up in calling themselves a 'writer' and living the lifestyle and imagining themselves in the canons of the future? I know I've sure met plenty of them.
Like Fins said, a 'writer' or a 'poet' must somehow interact with society, change things in some way (I'm not talking about being President, but change the way a pebble changes the surface of a lake)....I am proud of my poetry. I think I write good poetry. But sometimes a label is more than just semantics. I babysit my nephews every now and then. I don't tell the folks at my job that I am a father.
Oh yes!
Many poets are immature so i'm not surprised you are too...
hmmmmmmm
T
Thank you, T!
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
Comments
Nail on the head. Definitly.
Maya Angelou could live off of poetry. Bad poetry, but nonetheless.
Is Corso still alive? I bet he could live off royalties.
*edit* i meant to talk about... the subject thread reminded me of a line from one of the greatets movies about writers ever (wonder boys)... rip torn behind a podium saying "I... am a writer!"
Bibliobella the Superhero Poet.
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
Oh so you're one of those poet snobs huh?
im with you. this grunge-style, "im way too humble to claim im a real artist when so many people deserve it more" to me reeks more of insecurity than anything else.
I write. To me, that makes me a writer/poet (notice I did not say a great writer/poet
Dah James Brown soul brothahs. "Ah fili good, ah knew dat ah would now".
One should be secure in the notion that one is not much good to start with, and that one should strive to learn one's craft to become better. That's not grunge-like false humility. That's the starting point of knowledge, to perceive one's ignorance or one's false self-opinions.
The next stage of knowledge and self-fulfillment is in developing a true, informed opinion of how to advance in relation to other people's applauded standards. No man is an island, said John Donne, and no one is a writer until one's words are felt to change society to a noticeable degree. To be a writer is to be a communicator of often unspeakable, radical and dangerous truths. One must learn one's trade to be able to achieve this. It takes an interloper's skill to interrogate received perceptions of what it is to be a human being, and to rescue language from dominant ideological misrepresentations of identity, experiential reality and our society. To change society one must engage with it: To learn one's craft and subvert it from within to find new ways of seeing and speaking.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
You're all good writers. That's why I come here. But I love a debate.
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
oh, oh, im sorry... this is abuse. you wanker!
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
http://www.mindspring.com/~mfpatton/sketch.htm
This is not false modesty or self-loathing insecurity. Instead it is simply a concerted effort to not seem pompous, or to not lend myself more creedence than I deserve. How many of you have met 'writers' who ruined any enjoyment you may have gotten from their work because they were so caught up in calling themselves a 'writer' and living the lifestyle and imagining themselves in the canons of the future? I know I've sure met plenty of them.
Like Fins said, a 'writer' or a 'poet' must somehow interact with society, change things in some way (I'm not talking about being President, but change the way a pebble changes the surface of a lake)....I am proud of my poetry. I think I write good poetry. But sometimes a label is more than just semantics. I babysit my nephews every now and then. I don't tell the folks at my job that I am a father.
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird