I mean, I've shared a few of my poems to people. Some say they love it or really like it, and others have called it lame or laughed at it.

I just started writing, but I have no clue if my poems are any good or if they even make sense. I've always wanted to write poetry, but never knew where to begin, and I do lack a bit of confidence in writing. I do realize that a lot of it is based on personal preference and opinions. But is there really any way of knowing if you've written a good piece of work?

Thank you.

It takes time. It took me years to start knowing if what I wrote was good. And still as you say here it's largely a subjective matter of taste. In a workshop we can help each other with common issues, we can help the writer know if the poem connected with us, but that's about it. It mostly is just a matter of practice and time.

Hey Fathima,
I started writing poetry when I was 13 years old and I'm 24 now. I have tons of notebooks filled from front to back with poetry. Out of all my notebooks I can only think of two poems that I think are good. I had no clue about poetry or how to write them, but I did read a lot. I think the one thing I picked up from reading a lot of poetry from various poets were they each had their own style and their own voice. I think that's the hardest part about poetry is finding your voice that comes out through your work. Like Todd said it takes time, it takes practice, it takes reading, it takes a lot of experimenting and getting out of your comfort zone. You have thousands of words to play with, a million ways to express them...so the odds are in your favor believe it or not. What I did to overcome my confidence barrier is setting the bar higher for myself each time I sat down to write just to see if I can reach it.
Don't worry about what your friends think or say about your poems because you're not doing it for them you're doing it for you. Confidence in writing happens when you don't give up. There aren't any good poems, there are poems that are good to you or to someone else but it might not be good to me. Poetry isn't about being good, it's about learning, it's about workshopping (improving), it's about finding your voice through the poem that can be heard clearly, it's about the words, connection from reader to writer, the emotions and their impact. That's what you want, it's better than being good. Don't ever be discouraged or give it up because what ever you write and what ever you may think it is, it's yours and it means something to you.
My best advice to you is keep everything you write then in 5 months come back to your first poem you have ever written with the last poem you wrote and they'll be entirely different. Keep everything and keep looking at your old poems and you'll see what poetry is truly about. I'll guarantee you that having a good poem won't mean as much because it's about improving and reaching that next level and trying to get there then move on to the next. Keep practicing, do some reading, and don't listen to your friends who say your poems are lame because you saying that you've been wanting to write poetry tells me that you have an idea of what you want out of your poems which leads me to believe that there is talent, you just got to find it because it's there and build on your confidence.

(01-10-2013, 01:03 PM)Fathima Wrote:  I mean, I've shared a few of my poems to people. Some say they love it or really like it, and others have called it lame or laughed at it.

I just started writing, but I have no clue if my poems are any good or if they even make sense. I've always wanted to write poetry, but never knew where to begin, and I do lack a bit of confidence in writing. I do realize that a lot of it is based on personal preference and opinions. But is there really any way of knowing if you've written a good piece of work?

Thank you.

first off, your poetry isn't lame or laughable. no one's poetry is. what's laughable and lame with many poets is their self belief that they are the greatest poet on earth or the next best thing to it. after reading your poetry, my assumptions are this. you're new to poetry, as such your work will probably be the same as anyone elses whose new to poetry, (improvable) don't post in serious or mild till you get a thicker skin, i've just read an excellent poem in mild called a few nights back, by the calibre of the poem i'm hoping the poet understands the feedback i gave isn't anywhere near as harsh as it looks, someone new to poetry or unwilling to improve would probably be pissed at it. you know you've done good when your peers tell you honestly that you've done good. you'll know you've done good when you've been at it a couple of years doing edits and giving feedback, both are mainstays of good poetry. (sadly i don't get a lot of time for edits, which makes me a bad kind of poet) for now, post your poetry in the novice forum and the for fun forum and steel yourself for a not overly harsh but an honest type of feedback.

feel free to ask any questions you want here or to another member. and give feedback, it will help with your poetry.

I don't know. I write exactly what I want to write. And if no one likes it, it's a failure until someone does like it, if ever they do. And I just write something else, and hope for the best. But since I find it essential for me to write, and I know what I like to read, then I grasp what people are going to like and what they're not. But luckily you don't always know what some people will like.

People say write for yourself, and thats awesome and everything. As humans we need gratification on the things that we do write. I say if what you write helps you in anyway then it's good.

My poems are never good. One of my dreams is to one day be satisfied with what comes out of the tip of my pen. So, I guess you'll know your poems are good when you feel like your poem is perfect? Then again, I believe that there won't be anymore room for improvements once you think your poems are good.

No, when you feel like your poem is perfect you've just given up trying to improve

I think poems can be "done", but they are seldom close to perfect. I have some that I've tweaked off and on for ten to fifteen years. The best I can say is that when they're done, they're as perfect as I can make them. Over time, hopefully I'm improving and by revisiting them I can make them more perfect.

That's why seeing flaws in what you write should be an encouragement to you and not a disappointment. You're improving.

(01-16-2013, 09:02 PM)Todd Wrote:  I think poems can be "done", but they are seldom close to perfect. I have some that I've tweaked off and on for ten to fifteen years. The best I can say is that when they're done, they're as perfect as I can make them. Over time, hopefully I'm improving and by revisiting them I can make them more perfect.

That's why seeing flaws in what you write should be an encouragement to you and not a disappointment. You're improving.

It's really discouraging though, when all you see are flaws, and new ones keep popping up like zits on a teenager.

This is something interesting, the following are my two favorite authors giving you all the answers.

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2...-vonnegut/

Also:

So You Want to Be a Writer, by Charles Bukowski (this comes with him reading it out loud too)
if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.
What did you think

I think Kurt Vonnegut did a good job telling a story, and using those "Picasso/jazz" techniques at the same time. I admit though that I do like to read things that have little sensible narrative going on. Even in novels. Why not?

Another thing is that I spent decades being told that my writing was not only offensive, but a symptom of mania. That I in fact never truly wrote anything except in my head. Well, I was happy to offend people that stood for the things I defiled. But when you write something, and you want someone to read it, and all that ever happens is people calling professional pyschologists and police officers to come question you, and gossip going all around that you're a dangerous pervert because of things you write: I had to simply make my own rules. And that stays with me, even when people start to tell me they actually like what I write. Nothing I've posted on here is from those days. I no longer have any of that. It was taken from me. But... I still write what I want. And I'm a little more sympathetic to the reader these days.