ok folks, my problem is: i want to write something, maybe poetry, but all of my stuff sucks a) cuz i'm not very good at writing and b) cuz i don't really get into what i'm writing. like i don't have an emotional connection to it. do i have to for it to be any good? or do i just have to get to be a better writer? or should i try another medium? maybe drama would be better. i could focus on content over style at least... not that my content's any good, but at least the audience would only have to suffer through shitty ideas, and not also shitty writing.
but seriously, if i do have to write poetry about stuff that moves me... or want to write poetry for a reason other than that i just think it would be cool to do so.... i'm not sure what i'll do... prolly just give up and try something else. yeah, wow, i'm such a chicken shit. whatever.

Nah, dude...it's all good. In case you didn't know, I also have a B.A. in Creative Writing and am preparing my gigantic leap into the world of freelancing. I have 100's of poems, over a dozen completed short-stories, over dozen uncompleted short-stories, 2 unfinished plays, 6 unfinished novels, and a number of other writings: such as essays and creative pieces. And all that in just 5 years time...for, when I was a teenager I didn't even particurally care to read or had any desire to write.

Writing, like anything else, just takes practice and dedication. Everyone sucks when they start out...just like you would if you picked up a pair of drum sticks (by the way, I'm also a very accomplished musician)...a simple 4/4 beat would be awfully fuckin' hard.

To be a writer, there's a few "Golden Rules..."

1. You must love to read. The more you read (not just in volume, but in style, such as: genres, essays, poetry, plays, etc.) the better writer you can be.

2. Write what you know.

3. Write, write, write, WRITE! Even if you don't finish it, or write a paragraph and then erase it an hour later, at least you're writing.

Then, it's just a matter of perfecting your craft and having knowledge in the vices used. For example: why dialogue is a dead indication of whether you're an amateur or accomplished writer.

When I first started out, I sucked balls...now granted, I've had a number of years training and have been in countless workshops, but I know how to craft a story, I know how a story works, and I know my style very well.

I used to critique peoples works here at DF (in the poetry and story section), and people would ask me to do so. I don't do it much anymore...but if you'd like, anything you post I will read and give a critique.

Anywho...any questions you have, I'm the one to talk to. There's a couple of others here that are very good...though sadly, most aren't around anymore. For poetry...anyone can really put there two cents in. But with stories, I or Jordyn (the story mod) are very excellent at critiquing.

Writing is overused, subjective and boring usually since only 1 out of a 1000 people are any good at it. I would suggest going tinto Film, its much more refreshing, and much cooler.

Now, this is just based on my college, but I would imagine there are more film students overall than there are writing students. Well, in terms of actual academics.

do what you love. Most people are their harshest critics.. you think your stuff sucks.. it might be really good. Or it might not.. but at least you can find out why. Writing what you feel gives you a connection. Avoid using the same word all the time.. try to be descriptive. ie: if you are writing about chocolate.. don't just say..
I eat some chocolate..
I shouldn't I will get fat..
But I can't help it.

Be descriptive.

The chocolate calls me
I crave it and can not resist the temptation
It's creamy milkiness melts on my tongue
Yes I may get fat..
But it is a love and hate relationship
I can not live without it's comfort.

See how different? and even that was a quick example (like 1 min to write) sometimes using metaphors is good..

The blackness poors over me
Fills me with the darkness
The light where My soul once was
Has been tainted.

this could be an example of depression, or evilness or whatever the read can connect with. By writing like that your poems tend to have more meanings to different people. Leaves it open to interpretation.

My advice to you.. is if you wish to write. Just write. Some people find style and format the easiest way. Others like freesytle. Try to avoid rhyming. it is over done and unless you are doing a ids poem.. totally ruins the mood of the poem. What do you want to convey in a poem? A description? a feeling? mood? idea? all of it? figure that out then just write. You can do some writing excersizes where you sit down and for 5 mins or however long you want.. you just write what you think. Not any preconcieved ideas. Just what you think. It will be a bit random. but it can give you some great ideas and tell you a bit about how you think.. jump around? linear thoughts? etc. This then can be used to decide what type of writer you want to be if that is what you want to do. Also what is your motivation for wanting to write? to release emotions in you? to be creative? or are you wanting to make money at it? cause that will effect your style as well.

Hope that helps.

well said...if you try to rhyme everything it might distort your poem and at the same time your true feelings won't even reflect in your writing..

haven't been here for quite a while...i have seen the light and its beauty was overwhelming..i am not aftraid anymore to face brightness...is it because i belong to the mortals now?...

I would say, just write what you feel. Even when I am driving my mind fills with words, sometime I can get them down on paper, and other times it's to late and they are gone. Sometimes if you have little thoughts here and there, jot them down and put them together and fill in missing pieces. I never went to school for writing and don't think my is great, however, if it's what you feel, it doesn't need to be great to anyone else but you. You can also, picture yourself in a place of darkness or comfort and write what you feel or see. I don't know....just me talking.

Am I the only one got turned on by this?

Lol

you are probably a bad/boring writer. anyone who writes has an emotional connexcion to it. Anyone who is passionate about anything is emotinally connected to it.

I'm curious. If you can't get into what you're writing, why do you want to write? Is it because the ability to write well is something you admire in others or is it because something inside you is telling you that you need to? If it's the latter then I would suggest that you stick with it. Write as much as you possibly as often as you can on as many subjects as possible. Yes, stick to writing about what you, but also choose to educate yourself thoroughly on subjects you don’t know much about. This way you’ll have gained knowledge that you didn’t already have and will be in a better position to write about it.

For example, if you like the idea of writing about life as an opera singer because it sounds glamorous or dramatic or decadent, go to as many opera performances as you can in say one month. Don’t limit yourself to just watching, ask if you can go on the stage, backstage, take everything in, how hot the lights feel, how much beyond the stage you can see, the squabbles between the singers, any conspicuous hierarchy, remember how different parts of the theatre smell and sound, touch the costumes. Out of the theatre, find out why the person who wrote that opera wrote it, when and if they had anyone in mind for the lead roles. At this point, you could probably write something very insightful about opera. This translates to pretty much any subject. Not every writer will immerse themselves in the subject to this extent, some go further; it all depends how explicitly you want to describe your subject.

Although your writing will most likely be better when you are writing about something you have a passion either for or against, it’s sometimes necessary to write about things you have no interest in. This kind of writing can also be very good practice as the lack of passion may help you focus even more closely on the technical side of the process. My biggest writing maxim is to REVISE, REVISE, REVISE. Most of my pieces have been through anything between ten and thirty goings over before I would even begin to think that they may be satisfactory.

Look at the words you’re using. If you can find a better word, try it and see how it both looks and sounds. Usually you will know if a particular word or sentence is perfect and you can move on to editing around it. Unfortunately, one of the most disappointing things about writing – and film making I have heard – is that quite often the part that you think is your best is often the piece you have to cut out to make the whole piece cohesive. It’s not just about being technically correct – although you wont get far if you can’t do this, or at least find someone to help you – but about how what you’ve written looks and feels.

You have to see the words to be able to read them, therefore there is always some level of visual impact (try reading some poetry by e. e. cummings to see what I mean). The shape the lines make on the page might be the only rule you want to impose on one poem, or you may want to look at the rhythm and metre, whether or not it rhymes, what kind of language you are using (formal, informal, specific to a particular era or subculture – eg, you could write a Shakespearean style sonnet in surf dude vernacular or a haiku in the kind of old English Chaucer used: no experiment is a failed one if you have learnt something from it, even it’s only what you don’t want to write).

Pick the one thing you love above all else and the one thing you detest above all else. Set yourself a word target, however long that may be, and make yourself stick to it. Then try to write about the same two things without any limit on length. If either or both are subjects that you know have been written about before, look up and read thoroughly (and with a view to criticising them) everything you can find in the same vein. Of all the pieces you find, take the one you think is the absolute best and tear it apart critically. If you can criticise others work then you can critique and improve your own.

There are two useful things that you can do here. In one case, and certainly in my creative writing professor’s eyes, one should try and match a particular poetic or prose style to those who that already exist. My own view is that if something has been done before I want to do it in a way that hasn’t been done before. Why not try both? You may find that you can write very well in a particular style and not so well in others, but the best is always your own; sometimes it just takes time and a lot of practice to find out what that is.

Most of all, enjoy it. Make yourself laugh or cry or proud of what you’ve achieved, but keep at it; it’s the only way to reach the level of writing you set for yourself.