https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/section-123-prose-such Just other things I write from time to time. en 2005-2012 shakespearesmonekys@gmail.com 42.65593 -71.33391 Mon, 08 Jun 2026 21:10:07 GMT yacs http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 70 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2788-walter-g.-fitzgerald-remembered https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2788-walter-g.-fitzgerald-remembered My eulogy for my grandfather. March 29, 1918 - Dec 1, 2002 anstey Prose & Such Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:33:25 GMT /section-123-prose-such#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2788 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2788 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2788 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4716-a-bio-of-sorts https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4716-a-bio-of-sorts What I am willing to share about myself right now anstey Prose & Such Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT /section-123-prose-such#comments 1 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4716 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4716 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4716 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4047-searching-for-something-on-how-i-write-poetry https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4047-searching-for-something-on-how-i-write-poetry I have this amazing friend, who I was talking to about poetry and such, and she was seemingly taken aback when I said, "I don't buy into the 'writing from the heart' or 'write what you feel' or any of that crap. I just decide what to write and write it. I have A LOT of poetry that I've written... most of it is absolutely awful. I can't be worried about that though. One must accept what happens and move on." I thought at first, it was because she took that as a personal insult to her own work, but I think, maybe that wasn't it. It is as much an insult to anyone that reads what I write, and doesn't think it's crap, and feels inspired  or moved by it. It suggests that I"m being insincere and manipulative in everything I write and do. And, as I've said to anyone who asks, It isn't as if anything I'm writing is some great masterpiece -- the English language will be fine without my tiny bit of turd on the grand pile of verbiage. When I write, the meaning and sincerity are there, even if, during the act of writing, I do my level best to not let my emotionas control my pen. I realize that I am at odds with almost every poet I meet on these issues. I write best when I separate myself from my feelings on things. I construct poems, and try to use craft and skill. One of the first things I do is try to remove the line i like most and rewrite the poems without it. Almost every poet I know, thinks I'm an idiot. BUT, it works for me. I don't tell anyone how to write poetry really. For just that reason. To my way of thinking, poetry is just like any other writing. It's no different to write a poem than it is directions on how to tie shoelaces. The only difference is the effect. A poem typically works towards the emotional; the tools we use to write a poem are more effective in evoking feelings and emotions than say the language and tools one uses to describe putting together a bookcase. When I start a poem, I decide its purpose and atmosphere first. That allows me to select the language, the rhythm, and the images more specifically relevant to the piece. It's really no different than how I might write an essay and the fact that feelings are set aside does not remove the meaning of the message. I do not write for some sort of emotional catharsis. My writing gives me all the joy that any act of free will might, but the connection to an audience -- the moment when someone understands some something that is in my head, and understands me -- THAT is a reason to write. What I 'feel' is irrelevant to writing process except perhaps as subject matter, but what I think what I learn, what I know, and how I'm able to communicate my feelings and thoughts through writing using poetic tools, or prose tools, or tech-writing tools; that's an amazing thing full of meaning. Fully grasping what I want to say, finding some inner calm, and letting go of random stray emotion and feelings before I write, that does not mean that what I write was not ABOUT my feelings, it means I tried to set them aside while i wrote it. Writing for me is about communicating, it's not about making myself feel good. I'm not often trying to release some inner demons or work out my thoughts when I write. That is more what I do when I sit quietly by myself. Regardless, the point is this: I'm not insulting you when I say I don't buy into the write-what-you-feel or 'write-from-the-heart' things. I am sure for many of you, that's exactly what you do, and it works for you. To those I will inevitably insult whenever I talk about these things -- I suppose you can take this as a blanket pre-apology, and then I'll give you a personalized one after the fact. ... more anstey Prose & Such Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT /section-123-prose-such#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4047 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4047 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4047 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8855-streams-consciousness https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8855-streams-consciousness A red tailed hawk screeched from high above the red brick smokestack that stands like a silent sentinel protecting my city's past. He swung out upon the smokey tufts of air, and sung out to the blue blue sky that I couldn't dare to see. His scarlet plumes were not so far away as my mind, but he was far enough that I could not discover his face. I lurched from that calm moment of hope and soaring, to the squalor of confusion. Was this good? Was this bad? I do not know. I do not know if I should ... more anstey Prose & Such Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT /section-123-prose-such#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/8855 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/8855 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A8855