Friends only

[melange_fiesta]

Once upon a time I said this journal was going to be a public journal, and once upon a time that was true. But, well... little by little, this journal has turned into mostly Friends-only. Therefore, if you want to add me and see something other than my sporadic public entries, please feel free to do so and comment when you have. If I like you I'll

Comments

hey

[amberleecarter]

hey,
I hope you don't mind me writing you.
You commented on the 3 poems I put on PS for consideration.
I just wanted to say thanks for not being too harsh, not that it would of really hurt me, but, you were more helpful than some..lol

The point is, you're totally write about the first two poems. I submitted them at the suggestion of a friend. They were not MY first choice. but...well, you get what I'm saying.
I actually only went on PS looking for some real, constructive feedback..Thought that since it advocates so hard about only accepting "real poets", there would be a few on there, and thus I could get some sound advice. I'm not knocking anyone there mind you, in fact I rather agree with most of what they have to say.

If I do apply in the future, in won't be for some time. I'm working on getting my manuscript together for my editors.
To sum this long babble up, I just wanted to say thanks, for offering more than just a slam.

Oh and if you don't mind, I'd love to be on your friends list, so I could read your poetry..I read a lot of it as it is, could always use a new voice...

Always,
Amberlee

Re: hey

[melange_fiesta]

We used to give very detailed critiques of applicants' poems, but found that being required to give such critiques detracted from our critiques of the accepted members' pieces. We eventually decided that it was not absolutely required to give a reason, so that applicants would still get voted on but the actual group members would get the critique they truly deserved on their poems for having made the group.

As well, I do not use this journal to post my poetry. In fact, I post very little of my poetry on any public forum. It's not really a *bad* thing to do that... I just don't do it myself.

Re: hey

[amberleecarter]

Already...well, I just thought sense the common suggestion was " you need to read more" the poetical gods would know what one should be reading..But since most have their journals on friends only, I can only assume they meant someone other than themselves.

Why do they do that? If you don't mind my asking..
I think if they are going to slef-proclaim themselves judges of poetry, they should write by such standards and thus be a guide by which to learn...
But that's just me, and what do I know?
I'm going to end up with a " you are not a poet" award...lol

Take care and be well.

Always,
Amberlee

Re: hey

[melange_fiesta]

Whatever poetry we want to post we will post. We *have* to post at least three poems to get in, so basically everybody in the comm needs to know what they're doing.

When we say "read more poetry" we usually mean the excellent published poets out there. I suppose our own could be read for pointers at times, but we too are not perfect and always striving to improve, and for that we go to the work of the greats.

Re: hey

[amberleecarter]

Well, in that case, it seems to me the mission is distorted.

If you put yourself on a level to judge someone a poet, or not a poet.
One should at least be able to read their work to know if they are capable of knowing the difference.
I don't mind being slammed, it doesn't piss me off.
I'm not hurt by anything anyone there said, and honestly, I'm almost looking forward to the " you are not a poet award"
Because I have read some of the people who are able to vote " yes" or " no " and the thing is, I don't think they are really poets..
and thus, I don't think I'd like to be defined as one by them.

I've gotten crits from far more important opinions than those in PS..no disrespect to youself.
But these were from published poets and editors of zines.
I was really just wanting some real feedback from people I thought would be able to give it..
But, it's not about that. It's about, personal preference...and those who do not make the list, get slammed...and those who do, get to feel like a poetical god because they get to be apart of an elitist group on livejournal.com.

I find all this interesting..

Thanks for the replies..

Always,
Amberlee

Re: hey

[melange_fiesta]

Those who make the list sometimes get slammed a lot, too. I got in by about a two-vote majority as far as I can remember, and the poets really did slam my application.

I really think that everyone in poetryslamming is capable of giving good, sound critiques. Everyone who gets in has to know what they're doing pretty well.

Honestly, though, I don't think there are very many master poets in the world, even among the commonly accepted masters of the craft. In fact, I think some of the more renound published poets aren't very good at all, and I dislike a lot of old archaic-type poetry just because these pieces were the originals and so nowadays are truly clichéd. For example, Dickinson was juvenile; Wordsworth was full of balderdash; even Shakespeare wasn't always great or masterful, although he wrote some pretty decent stuff. Really, every single person who's ever written a poem a) has written shitty poems, and b) could almost certainly improve.

So, well, when I said we usually recommend "master" poets, that's generally true. However, one could probably learn from even the worst piece of poetry out there.