How we choose to write.

[wasellajam]

I also notice that tetrameter is far more natural than pentameter for writing in English. I'm sure there is something to be said for languages having natural patterns. That said, once I've gotten a few lines of pentameter going, it's easy to keep it up. It just develops a different rhythm.

One of the things that probably keeps me from writing as much poetry as I could is the fact that I always choose the form before I begin writing. The form is deliberate and purposeful, and is something of a split-personality-esque decision.

When the philosopher writes, it's typically in free verse, which often devolves into a pathetic mapping of conscious thought onto precisely positioned words. A few years ago I committed to avoiding free verse as much as possible.

When the artist writes, it follows some easy and loose meter, like a songwriter. Sometimes a metric unit is "skipped" for convenience in various ways. In the past, this is most of what I've written. I consider most of it to be useless, but it's also how I got my name.

When the scientist writes, I pick a stricter form, usually a sonnet, though I've also done tetrameter for some longer pieces.

All of this is to say, the poem doesn't choose the form, I do. And I choose it based on the part of my mind I am communicating from.

Hi, UB!!!! Thanks so much for coming by and posting here. Coming back to writing with rusty skills and no great desire to scream my point of view has had me poking around for ways to light a spark. I think my writing was probablu at it's best when I learned the skills of forms and how to turn them to my advantage even in free verse. So just wondering how best to get started. Your response really gives me something to think about, thanks.