The rules that stifle poets’ creativity and voices is what our Poetry Editor is tired of.
A Master’s degree (with Poetry) in Creative Writing taught me important lessons about authenticity. Although I maintain that it was not the right choice for me , I am thankful for many of the insights.
My experience in graduate school taught me one thing: it is important to be true to yourself. Crucial, even. MFA programs may seem to be in business of producing homogenized voices.
Everyone brought something unique to my class: their voice, tone, mood and style. That was something I loved. I was able to see a wider range of poetry, even though the diversity of the applicants could have been better. There were many options: the minimalist, confessional, experimental.
I was happy to see works that were short and odd, but also emotionally confusing. There was always a take-away at end. There were poets who wrote about boats, love, ancestry, and others. Others wrote about hunger, voids and the liminality or illness. Some were eventually visible, but not all-– poets wrote to “fit”, the dujour,as these say.
I once brought in a poem about God. This day is one I won’t forget. My professor said to me that I should probably avoid concepts of God within my writing.
He said, “It is a large topic.” It’s difficult to write about it in a compelling way. This advice struck me as utterly restrictive and because it made me feel uneasy.
I realized that God is an experience which differs from one person to another. It is difficult to write about something that means so many things to different people. Why would I want to limit my work by following a rule? What reason should there be any rules?
These are my rules as a poet, editor, and teacher of poetry.
Break this rule: “Don’t write anything about the ‘big’ concepts, they’ve already been done.”
You shouldn’t be told by anyone that God and nature, love, and death aren’t on the table. It is up to the poet to include themselves in the work. Each lens will show something beautiful and new about God, nature or love.
When I write of God, I am referring to the sea. My body is part of something larger. I write about vulnerability. You could write about God’s omnipotence, purity, or judgment. This is why it’s important that you explore oversaturated themes. Your language will make your poem larger than any subject or theme.
This rule should be broken: Your poem must look exactly like the rest.
Most poems, particularly the classic form of poetry like the couplet, look familiar to us all. It’s true that a poem can look any way you want, and it doesn’t necessarily have to rhyme.
Some poets write in tiny, staccato sentences. Others use long lines. Some poets use line breaks that you wouldn’t expect. This doubles the meaning of each line. Some poets make it easy to use line breaks. This makes them clear, easy to understand and is expected. Some use wide indentations, which create lots of whitespace.
Lineation is important. It is just as important to make it your own. Read lots poetry. Study the lines of poetry written by other poets. Then, you can create your style. It may differ from one poem to the next. Don’t follow any rules. Let your poetry shine.
Poetry Foundation says
The difficulty of discussing the line is that it does not operate in isolation from other poetic elements, such as syntax, sound, sense, and rhythm. It acts as a modifier and amplifier of sound, syntax, rhythm, and sound.
This is exactly why poetry can be so illuminated by an exploration of lines.
This rule is broken: Your poem must make sense.
One person from our poetry workshop would always say “I don’t understand what your trying. That really bugged my (and many others). Okay, poets are not novelists. It doesn’t matter if we tell a linear, clear story. It’s not necessary to explain everything.
Poetry is magical because your lines can take you from one place to another. A poem can be written entirely on the basis of mood and not story. Your poem doesn’t have to be finished with a bow. Let your readers do the work. They will understand, I assure them. If they don’t understand, I promise that they will.
Poetry Foundation is Johannes Goransson’s writing.
Some poems are more concerned with everyday language than others. Some poems put narrative and arguments above the language experience. Sometimes poetry has mystical meanings ….. Sometimes poems are beautiful because of the mystery and riddle-like nature they offer. In mind are the “Ann Jaderlund Debates”, a series of infamous Swedish debates that took place in the late 1980s. Jaderlund was specifically accused of writing riddles which “flirted” but never revealed herself. Jaderlund was a great and influential Swedish poet. Her riddle-like necropastorals were irresistible.
This rule is broken: Write what’s popular. Get likes.
Let me clarify. This does not mean you should not post your poems on Instagram. You should write poems because you love to. Because they are your passion. Because you are what they are.
Write poetry that is not like the one you’ve seen before. Write only what you believe will be liked. It is best to be authentic and, even though it can be tempting, you will only get temporary appreciation. Trends are usually unsustainable and even cringe-worthy.
Although there are people who may disagree with me, I believe writing for your audience or digital validation first will not lead to a true sense of connection to your language.
This is because I felt pressure early in my career to be a writer and to write in the same style as my peers. I felt frustrated and empty. It also made me feel stuttering about my ideas of myself. I quickly gave up on that desire and began writing my own work. I hope you’ll do the same.
