Syllabics are my favorite form this week, I think. I love the loose structure of it. Sure, Haikus and sonnets have interesting forms and structure, but they are so structured, they're kind of stifling. Maybe I respect them more, in a sense, because of it, but I can't find myself every find enjoyment in partaking something that obsessed with structure (there is so much irony in that, half of which has to do with how excited I am to try my hand at a villanelle).
Anyways, back to syllabics. In this case, you have an obvious form you have to stick to, but it's up to the poet just what that form is--no one tells you how many syllables to choose. I like that a lot. Not to mention, as my blog title says, I'm a prose person, so sometimes I get bogged down by my lines. Syllabics will help with that because you have to choose your words so carefully. Best words, best order, right?
It's definitely the type of poem I'm trying this week and after that, I might go back and rework a few older poems. There is one I have in mind (three page poem, no joke; but it was very much not single space), where I love the concept and some of the lines, but it just doesn't work...at all. Maybe this will help.
P.S. My favorite poetry form to try from time to time is one that consists of a series of repeating lines. Who else loves the ironyyy?
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
9. Books and Movies and Inspiration...Oh my.
I know I've already said this approximately 15 times on this blog, BUT...
If I was forced to pick a "favorite" book (blah), it would be The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. I'm blissfully in love with this book (do I need anything else?), for its story, for its characters, for its commentary and especially for it's poetic prose and the wide array emotions, all explained beautifully. It's a book I could read, then go back to the first page and read again. I want to put it, as well as a couple of other things, on here this week because it's what inspires my writing and it's what I hope to one day be able to achieve.
To understand the quotations, you'll have to understand at least a brief context. The book is written in in first person, but through two character's POVs, Henry and Clare...it takes a little while to get used to that, but once you do, it's easy to read. The story, as suggested in the title, is about the romantic relationship between Henry DeTamble (a man with a genetic mutation that causes him to time travel), and Clare Abshire. What's great is that though the book is so rooted in Henry's time traveling, you're able to believe this is a real, everyday kind of thing. As Mrs. Parks would probably say, it's not sensationalized. Henry meets Clare for the first time when he's in his late 20s, but Clare meets Henry when she's a small child (as a result of an older-Henry traveling back in time). At the heart of the story, you really see Clare's loneliness and how it seems she's always waiting for Henry to return. This quote really exemplifies that:
"Sometimes he disappears unobtrusively; I might be walking from the kitchen into the hall and find a pile of clothing on the floor. I might get out of bed in the morning and find the shower running and no one in it. Sometimes it's frightening. I am working in my studio one afternoon when I hear someone moaning outside my door; when I open it I find Henry on his hands and knees, naked, in the hall, bleeding heavily from his head. He opens his eyes, sees me, and vanishes. sometimes I wake up in the night and Henry is gone. In the morning he will tell me where he's been, the way other husbands might tell their wives of a dream they had: "I was in the Selzer Library in the dark, in 1989." Or: "I was chased by a German Shepherd across somebody's backyard and had to climb a tree." Or: "I was standing in the rain near my parents' apartment, listening to my mother sing." I am waiting for Henry to tell me that he has seen me as a child, but so far this hasn't happened. When I was a child I looked forward to seeing Henry. Every visit was an event. Now every absence was a nonevent, a subtraction, an adventure I will hear about when my adventurer materialized at my feet, bleeding or whistling, smiling or shaking. Now I am afraid when he is gone."
The emotion in that, for me, is fantastic. The idea that she was, as a child, so excited to see him (though waiting anxiously for his return, too) but because she had that, she has to lose him now? So sad, but in such a great way.
On another note, a favorite movie (because in this case, the movie is tremendously better than the book). PS I Love You. Again, girly, right? Sure. But it's such concentrated emotion...I love it. Of course, at the moment, I can't find an example of it, but when I do, I'll edit this and put it on. Until then, my favorite quote from that movie is already at the top of my page.
From another movie, though, and I swear I'm almost done... the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Love the very metatextual feel of it, the concept of Writer as God and look at what we do to the people in our texts (because, really, aren't we sort of awful?). From it, this quote:
Harold Crick: What is wrong with you? Hey! I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes. I want to live. I mean, who in their right mind, in a choice between living and pancakes...chooses pancakes?
Dr. Jules Hilbert: Harold, if you paused to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life people led...and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.
I put these on this week, only because they're things that have inspired me, in both poetry and prose. Even if the product hasn't come about yet, I've gotten a specific idea or ideas from each of these.
If I was forced to pick a "favorite" book (blah), it would be The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. I'm blissfully in love with this book (do I need anything else?), for its story, for its characters, for its commentary and especially for it's poetic prose and the wide array emotions, all explained beautifully. It's a book I could read, then go back to the first page and read again. I want to put it, as well as a couple of other things, on here this week because it's what inspires my writing and it's what I hope to one day be able to achieve.
To understand the quotations, you'll have to understand at least a brief context. The book is written in in first person, but through two character's POVs, Henry and Clare...it takes a little while to get used to that, but once you do, it's easy to read. The story, as suggested in the title, is about the romantic relationship between Henry DeTamble (a man with a genetic mutation that causes him to time travel), and Clare Abshire. What's great is that though the book is so rooted in Henry's time traveling, you're able to believe this is a real, everyday kind of thing. As Mrs. Parks would probably say, it's not sensationalized. Henry meets Clare for the first time when he's in his late 20s, but Clare meets Henry when she's a small child (as a result of an older-Henry traveling back in time). At the heart of the story, you really see Clare's loneliness and how it seems she's always waiting for Henry to return. This quote really exemplifies that:
"Sometimes he disappears unobtrusively; I might be walking from the kitchen into the hall and find a pile of clothing on the floor. I might get out of bed in the morning and find the shower running and no one in it. Sometimes it's frightening. I am working in my studio one afternoon when I hear someone moaning outside my door; when I open it I find Henry on his hands and knees, naked, in the hall, bleeding heavily from his head. He opens his eyes, sees me, and vanishes. sometimes I wake up in the night and Henry is gone. In the morning he will tell me where he's been, the way other husbands might tell their wives of a dream they had: "I was in the Selzer Library in the dark, in 1989." Or: "I was chased by a German Shepherd across somebody's backyard and had to climb a tree." Or: "I was standing in the rain near my parents' apartment, listening to my mother sing." I am waiting for Henry to tell me that he has seen me as a child, but so far this hasn't happened. When I was a child I looked forward to seeing Henry. Every visit was an event. Now every absence was a nonevent, a subtraction, an adventure I will hear about when my adventurer materialized at my feet, bleeding or whistling, smiling or shaking. Now I am afraid when he is gone."
The emotion in that, for me, is fantastic. The idea that she was, as a child, so excited to see him (though waiting anxiously for his return, too) but because she had that, she has to lose him now? So sad, but in such a great way.
On another note, a favorite movie (because in this case, the movie is tremendously better than the book). PS I Love You. Again, girly, right? Sure. But it's such concentrated emotion...I love it. Of course, at the moment, I can't find an example of it, but when I do, I'll edit this and put it on. Until then, my favorite quote from that movie is already at the top of my page.
From another movie, though, and I swear I'm almost done... the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Love the very metatextual feel of it, the concept of Writer as God and look at what we do to the people in our texts (because, really, aren't we sort of awful?). From it, this quote:
Harold Crick: What is wrong with you? Hey! I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes. I want to live. I mean, who in their right mind, in a choice between living and pancakes...chooses pancakes?
Dr. Jules Hilbert: Harold, if you paused to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life people led...and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.
I put these on this week, only because they're things that have inspired me, in both poetry and prose. Even if the product hasn't come about yet, I've gotten a specific idea or ideas from each of these.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
8. Five Steps to Literary Perfection...
WikiHow... http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Haiku-Poem
...A WikiHow on how to write a Haiku poem. Really?
Now, I know you can find just about anything on Wikipedia, and as such can find How-to step-by-steps on Wikihow, but I find the idea that they have instructions on poetry almost...degrading or insulting. To think it's that easy, that you can just give detailed instructions and create.
Lets look at this step by step--see if it's really this easy.
"Understand the way haiku is made. Haiku in Japanese is written in a single vertical line with seventeen sound units or mora (not strictly the same as syllables) in a rhythm of five, seven, and five. In English (a stressed language), the ideas can be expressed with a short line, a long line, and another short line."
Alright, makes sense. It's a form, and like all forms, you have to understand the parameters.
"Choose a season. Many haiku seem to focus on nature, but what they are really focusing on is a seasonal reference (not all of which are necessarily about nature). Japanese poets use a "saijiki" or season word almanac to check the seasonal association for key words that they might use in a haiku (thus the haiku is a seasonal poem, and thus often about nature, but does not have to be about nature if the seasonal reference is about a human activity). The season is important for coming up with words to use in a haiku."
Ah, I see. I just pick a season. There are only four...so, in essence, are all Haikus revolving around one of four basic themes? So for any other poem should I just pick a feeling? I'll just decide I want to write about "Happy" or "Angry"?
"Add a contrast or comparison. Reading most haiku, you'll notice they either present one idea for the first two lines and then switch quickly to something else or do the same with the first line and last two. A Japanese haiku achieves this shift with what is called a "kireji" or cutting word, which cuts the poem into two parts. In English, it is essential for nearly every haiku to have this two-part juxtapositional structure. The idea is to create a leap between the two parts, and to create an intuitive realization from what has been called an 'internal comparison.'"
Use a metaphor--crazy. No one has ever done that in a poem before. So far, all I have to do for poetry-gold is understand 5-7-5, pick a season (out of FOUR), and someone compare said-season to...anything. Alrighty.
"Use primarily objective sensory description. Haiku are based on the five senses. They are about things you can experience, not your interpretation or analysis of those things. To do this effectively, it is good to rely on sensory description, and to use mostly objective rather than subjective words."
Not quite as lame, but still, I think most good poetry does this. Your poem should have good, concrete ideas that LEAD to analysis; not just outright come out with the analysis. This is kind of obvious, when you only have the 5-7-5 form to get your ideas across, too.
"Like any other art, haiku takes practice. Basho said that each haiku should be a thousand times on the tongue. It is also important to read good haiku, and not just translations from the Japanese but the best literary haiku being written in English. To learn haiku properly, it is important to take it beyond the superficial or even sometimes incorrect ways it has been taught in most grade schools. It is important to distinguish between pseudo-haiku that says whatever it wants in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern and literary haiku that adheres to the use of season words, a two-part juxtapositional structure, and primarily objective sensory imagery."
Practice makes perfect!? WHAT?
Ugh. This just makes me angry. The point is, even with a literary form as simple and unmoving at the Haiku, no five step program is going to create something substantial. Art is not an algebraic formula, and no one will be able to say X+Y+Z with a dash of R= Poetry Bliss. It just doesn't happen that way. And if it does, something is wrong.
...A WikiHow on how to write a Haiku poem. Really?
Now, I know you can find just about anything on Wikipedia, and as such can find How-to step-by-steps on Wikihow, but I find the idea that they have instructions on poetry almost...degrading or insulting. To think it's that easy, that you can just give detailed instructions and create.
Lets look at this step by step--see if it's really this easy.
"Understand the way haiku is made. Haiku in Japanese is written in a single vertical line with seventeen sound units or mora (not strictly the same as syllables) in a rhythm of five, seven, and five. In English (a stressed language), the ideas can be expressed with a short line, a long line, and another short line."
Alright, makes sense. It's a form, and like all forms, you have to understand the parameters.
"Choose a season. Many haiku seem to focus on nature, but what they are really focusing on is a seasonal reference (not all of which are necessarily about nature). Japanese poets use a "saijiki" or season word almanac to check the seasonal association for key words that they might use in a haiku (thus the haiku is a seasonal poem, and thus often about nature, but does not have to be about nature if the seasonal reference is about a human activity). The season is important for coming up with words to use in a haiku."
Ah, I see. I just pick a season. There are only four...so, in essence, are all Haikus revolving around one of four basic themes? So for any other poem should I just pick a feeling? I'll just decide I want to write about "Happy" or "Angry"?
"Add a contrast or comparison. Reading most haiku, you'll notice they either present one idea for the first two lines and then switch quickly to something else or do the same with the first line and last two. A Japanese haiku achieves this shift with what is called a "kireji" or cutting word, which cuts the poem into two parts. In English, it is essential for nearly every haiku to have this two-part juxtapositional structure. The idea is to create a leap between the two parts, and to create an intuitive realization from what has been called an 'internal comparison.'"
Use a metaphor--crazy. No one has ever done that in a poem before. So far, all I have to do for poetry-gold is understand 5-7-5, pick a season (out of FOUR), and someone compare said-season to...anything. Alrighty.
"Use primarily objective sensory description. Haiku are based on the five senses. They are about things you can experience, not your interpretation or analysis of those things. To do this effectively, it is good to rely on sensory description, and to use mostly objective rather than subjective words."
Not quite as lame, but still, I think most good poetry does this. Your poem should have good, concrete ideas that LEAD to analysis; not just outright come out with the analysis. This is kind of obvious, when you only have the 5-7-5 form to get your ideas across, too.
"Like any other art, haiku takes practice. Basho said that each haiku should be a thousand times on the tongue. It is also important to read good haiku, and not just translations from the Japanese but the best literary haiku being written in English. To learn haiku properly, it is important to take it beyond the superficial or even sometimes incorrect ways it has been taught in most grade schools. It is important to distinguish between pseudo-haiku that says whatever it wants in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern and literary haiku that adheres to the use of season words, a two-part juxtapositional structure, and primarily objective sensory imagery."
Practice makes perfect!? WHAT?
Ugh. This just makes me angry. The point is, even with a literary form as simple and unmoving at the Haiku, no five step program is going to create something substantial. Art is not an algebraic formula, and no one will be able to say X+Y+Z with a dash of R= Poetry Bliss. It just doesn't happen that way. And if it does, something is wrong.
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