07-11-2016, 07:03 AM
-- When I first looked for poems to critique, I looked for poems that didn't have any critiques.
Maybe out of compassion, but probably because I thought my critique wouldn't look as bad if
there was nothing to compare it to. I'm also lazy and tend to look at the top of the list -- and
come to think of it, smart phones can't help but exaggerate this tendency.
-- It seems to me that workshopping could also give you feedback on what readers perceive,
what they react to, which readers like your stuff, and which of it appeals to them most. If you
like to write three types and readers tend to like number two... market research. Selecting readers
isn't too much different than reading lots of publications and finding ones that publish stuff you're
already writing. I'm guessing poetry must be the same as most other writing (except that the term
"market", sigh, has become a cruel metaphor.)
-- Writers who can turn out good copy in 15 minutes have usually spent 30 years practicing.
P.S. I just looked around and read a few of Rowan's poems. I loved them. But heavy use of
cognitive dissonance tends to polarize readers. If you like it, it tickles; if you don't, it itches.
(A quote from somebody famous whose name I've forgotten.)
Maybe out of compassion, but probably because I thought my critique wouldn't look as bad if
there was nothing to compare it to. I'm also lazy and tend to look at the top of the list -- and
come to think of it, smart phones can't help but exaggerate this tendency.
-- It seems to me that workshopping could also give you feedback on what readers perceive,
what they react to, which readers like your stuff, and which of it appeals to them most. If you
like to write three types and readers tend to like number two... market research. Selecting readers
isn't too much different than reading lots of publications and finding ones that publish stuff you're
already writing. I'm guessing poetry must be the same as most other writing (except that the term
"market", sigh, has become a cruel metaphor.)
-- Writers who can turn out good copy in 15 minutes have usually spent 30 years practicing.
P.S. I just looked around and read a few of Rowan's poems. I loved them. But heavy use of
cognitive dissonance tends to polarize readers. If you like it, it tickles; if you don't, it itches.
(A quote from somebody famous whose name I've forgotten.)