Month: April 2018

Publishing is the hardest aspect of writing. Some say it’s editing, while others argue that it’s the writing process itself. But it isn’t. Editing and writing are inside a writer’s control. Getting published is not. It can be very easy to stake our self-worth on how much we get published, and where we get published. If a piece of writing doesn’t get published, we can easily assume that no one in the entire universe will ever like this piece. But that’s a ridiculous notion. We, as writers, Publishing is the hardest aspect of writing. Some say it’s editing, while others argue that it’s the writing process itself. But it isn’t. Editing and writing are inside a writer’s control. Getting published is not. It can be very easy to stake our self-worth on how much we get published, and where we get published. If a piece of writing doesn’t get published, we can easily assume that no one in the entire universe will ever like this piece.

But that’s a ridiculous notion. We, as writers, are constantly blind-sided by the industry. A finished work has just as much chance of rejection as an unfinished work; publication cannot gage how “good” a piece of writing is. Writing is an interpretive art form. The bad news is, not everyone is going to like everything you write. But the good news is, there is always going to be someone out there who loves what you’re writing, and how you’re doing it. A lit mag somewhere might decide to publish your writing–but you have to take that chance. 

I recently (and by recently, I mean about twenty minutes ago), had an encounter where my writing became a literal necessity. I am very energetic and READY to write right now, since the topic is fresh and the cut is deep, and that’s why this blog post is relatively spontaneous–but SO important. 

Long story short, my friend has been physically, mentally, and verbally abused for the past year and a half. What started as a fun, and lovely college relationship, turned toxic extremely fast. However, by the time the moment came for her to step out, she was too deep in. Let’s call her Amy. Amy was so manipulated, and mentally abused that the things her boyfriend, let’s call him Bill, would do, she deemed as normal. Her ‘phone checks’, ‘outfit checks’ and regulation of where she can/can’t go, were SO normal to her, that she had no idea they were wrong. She was treated like literal PROPERTY for so long. As friends, we would constantly try to help and protect her, but it was almost a lost cause. We persuaded counseling, and advice. We involved parents–but nothing could get through to her. She loved him so much, she was blind to the manipulation because she just wanted to make him happy. 

This past weekend, the ‘fight’ that I referenced in class was because of their relationship. It dragged many people in the middle, and created a literal fist fight due to a threat he proposed. This was the final straw for Amy. She finally saw the light, and understood what we have been trying to tell her for a year. It finally clicked for her when she saw the dislocated thumbs, broken wrists, and bruised cheekbones. The impact that her relationship had on an entire national fraternity was actually insane.  I was in shock. 

Amy finally decided to say something. She went to the ARD, and then the Title IX Coordinator–THANK GOD, FINALLY. My friends and I were literally screaming of excitement. As support, Amy asked me and another friend to come and sit with her at the meeting. After describing the relationship to the counselor, she asked us to create personal statements of everything we could remember from the relationship–anything abusive, anything that the police or Dean needed to know. She then sent us on an hour break.

Within this hour break, I was so TRIGGERED and so HEATED from simply recalling all of the acts Bill completed, I sat down and started writing our personal statements. I was done within the hour. I made a 5-page bullet list of dates, explanations, acts, results, and impacts in regards to what has happened over the past year and a half. I then shared this document with Amy and our friend. They read it, and were confused how I asked my mom to write this so quickly. Instantly I was confused. 

My mom was an English major, and is now a lawyer. My friends literally thought that I called my mom, and told her everything and she typed it into a professional document and emailed it back to me to print. I replied and said “What  do you mean… I just wrote this in the hour gap between meetings?” 

My friends were SHOOK. I guess this proves that they have never truly seen nor appreciated my writing (until they needed it…).

They were impressed by the language, the efficiency, and how mature and how professional it was. To say the least, I was flattered. I suppose watching my mother type her legal documents all these years in correlation with my English Major really paid off…

Again, it is amazing how much my writing can have on people, and that is why I continue to write. From my Odyssey publication about my Ex that reached and helped so many people, to this ‘legal’ document that will reprimand this boy, I am ecstatic to make a difference, and to impact people simply with my words.

My suitemates, and the counselor, then proceeded to talk about how I should be a lawyer… go figure.

All in all, this has to do with the power of English, and of confrontation–that little ol’ subject we brought up last class. This disposition is the most confrontational thing that I have ever written. It is direct, bulleted, and doesn’t hold back. I am proud of it, as a piece of writing, and as something that could effectively help someone. 

 

 

Jules xox

I’ve been listening to a lot of music for inspiration, and I’ve been thinking about how poetry and song lyrics are tied together, yet so different. Rythym in poetry needs to be carried by the meter- the words themselves need to have a consistent pattern in emphasis and release that create a rhythm where there is none. Music does the same thing- but with an underlying beat and rhythm, the lyrics need to conform to the beat. 

A lot of pop songs, I’ve noticed, resort to simpler and repeating lyrics to do this. It’s difficult, to have a song that has no repeating lyrics and still conforms to the beat. It adds that extra layer of difficulty, and I’m blown away by artists that can pull it off and have their lyrics still sound good. But, the song has roughly four mins to kill, the artist might as well repeat the same word or phrase a couple times to emphasize the beat. You can see this, when you look at written song lyrics versus heard. There’s an incredible amount of repetition. 

A lot of experimental songs get around the incredibly difficult meter and rhyme scheme by using partial or internal rhymes, along with lyrics of a similar syllable count. R&B is interesting, in that it uses the same repetition as pop songs, but it gets around the meter constrictions by just changing inflection to fit the rhythm. Most electronic music forces the lyrics to fit to the beat by chopping them at the needed intervals. This is all generelization- each genre, artist, and even song will approach this problem differently. It’s impossible to narrow down each method without creating millions of sub-genres within sub-genres. 

The written word, however, gets around this by not having any beat to conform to, but presents unique opportunities as a visual medium. The words are the same- but the medium changes everything. You can’t use shape poetry in song, and it’s incredibly difficult to convey tone through written words without resorting to sheet music. 

[i have zero music experience so this is all very interesting]  

We’ve talked about poets each having a signature style, such that their work is recognizable. I would love to know what my poetic signature is, that is what makes my work distinct. At the same time, I do not consider my writing to be fully developed. Upon entering college, my poetry has changed drastically. This change is even apparent from semester to semester. Therefore, this poetic signature that I am longing for might not even be established yet.

Do established poets feel the need to keep writing a certain style to appease their fans? Similarly, when music artists transition from one genre to another, they often receive quite cynical feedback, is the same true with poets? Do poets have an obligation to stick to one style? Are poets allowed to jump from one style to another and have both types be considered good?

On the other hand, when does this much-coveted poetic signature indicate stagnance. In other words, can one overdo a particular theme or tone? How can a poet keep pushing outside their comfort zone while maintaining a unique quality?

I would love to know what other people think about this topic. I know some of my peers have distinguishable poems and was wondering if they feel pressure to continue writing these namesake poems or if they desire to branch away. Does venturing away from your style prove to be nerve-wrecking?

So I’ve been asking myself this question since my last post and thought I’d bring it up here. Reading through other posts put up this week, I saw that Henry actually mentioned the same thing I’ve been thinking in his post “Poetry I don’t understand”. A couple weeks ago, I wrote a review on Matthew Dickman’s Wonderland. I remember feeling like my review couldn’t possibly be enough to express how fascinating Dickman’s work is because I could barely understand it. I got a basic idea of what he was saying, but I wasn’t sure how since (to me) nothing was clearly connected. But it was. And I know this because I got something from it. I kind of wish I could have a better understanding of the poems in his book, but I also loved how I was able to thoroughly enjoy it despite how little I “understood.” Now I want to ask you all this: Continue reading “Definition: poetry”

I’ve been using the words “poem”/“poetry” and “song” quite often in my poems this semester, and I’m not sure if they’re warranted, but I’ve just been thinking about what a poem is, what poetry is, their relation to sound and song (all loaded terms).
Continue reading “her swansong”

The other day I was reading this Keat’s poem “The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream”, I was thoroughly enjoying it but also understanding none of it. The rather long piece was chock-full of mythological references I didn’t get and the wording was archaic. I had an understanding of this being a very good poem, and certain lines did make me smile in delight, but overall I didn’t grasp a lot of it. I’ve had similar situations reading poems such as T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland.” I didn’t quite get the themes of “The Wasteland”, until I read up on them a little bit after finishing the piece, it doesn’t help that I read the bulk of Eliot’s revolutionary poem while waiting around grand central station, being hassled by people telling me, most likely fabricated, sob stories in an attempt to get me to open my heart and wallet to them. I’d still say I liked The Wasteland, but on some level I feel insincere making this claim seeing as I didn’t grasp a good amount of it.

I have the same feeling with movies but to a greater extent. Watching long and slow paced films like Solaris or Stalker, both by the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, often feels a bit like a chore, even when I acknowledge them as being objectively well made. Solaris in particular is composed of absolutely gorgeous shots, yet throughout its duration I had to struggle not to check my iPhone for bursts of easy, ephemeral entertainment. At the end of these movies I’m not left questioning my sanity, as I hoped I would, but my intelligence. With complex poems I may not get what’s going on, but I’m not usually bored.

I don’t necessarily think it matters if I don’t get all of what I read, but I still worry that it makes me Holden Caulfield’s favorite word. Maybe I should be honest with myself, acknowledge my technology-fried attention span, and lay off the long movies, but I still derive a lot of pleasure from elaborate and cryptic poetry, so I’m going to continue to read it. Perhaps I’ll picture myself as a deep sea diver, surrounding themself with creatures they may not understand, but which they find fascinating all the same.

I recently made a blog post talking about Lack of Confidence and how I put myself in a position to feel vulnerable by submitting some of my pieces into Gandy Dancer. I was extremely nervous to do something like this because I have never submitted my work anywhere besides for a workshop with my peers.

Unfortunately, the pieces I submitted were not accepted into Gandy Dancer because it was not what they were looking for at the time. After I read the email, I grew self conscious. I set myself up to be in a position to fail. But then I thought to myself, if I don’t push myself out of my comfort zone, how am I supposed to improve? If everything works out in my favor then what am I working for? What do I have to change or improve in my work to make me a better writer?

Although I am disappointed by this, I know its part of my journey as a writer and I will continue to push myself, as should everyone who is reading this.

My undergraduate writing career began in my INTD: The Woman Writer. From my high school experience, I knew that I enjoyed reading and writing; however, I pushed my love for creative writing and reading to the back burners when I entered college.

Thankfully, my INTD class reawakened or perhaps reminded me of my love for the English language as an art form. After much debate, I decided to pursue an English minor my sophomore year.

Let me tell you, adopting an English minor made its way to my “Top Three Best Decisions in College.” I needed a creative outlet and my English classes served this purpose. After taking the select number of required classes I joyfully enrolled in some upper-level electives.

That’s when I realized that I was in over my head. Although I had taken the required classes, I still felt like I was under-experienced relative to my peers. I generally would sit back and absorb their comments in an attempt to distinguish the “good” from the “this could be better.”

Needless to say, it has taken several classes, workshops, and writing exercises to be able to critique a poem and form opinions about it, without feeling like I was stabbing in the dark. As I have gathered experience and confidence in my capabilities I have less of a problem voicing my opinions and supporting them.

I hope that any student struggling with imposter syndrome in their classes has an “aha moment” and finds their confidence and sense of belonging. It’s worth to note that my “aha” moment took a solid year or two.

Has anyone else misinterpreted their lack of experience/confidence with a lack of capability/skill?