zhaul wrote:

however the idea of this site is to learn from each other.

The quote above was taken out of context in another Coffee Shop forum and is the subject of this topic.

Low Raters, High Raters, Blind Raters and Vengeful Raters and what ever they maybe: set aside those subjects.

If the idea of this site is to help each other; how has it helped you as a poet?

And if we are to ask the above question we also should ask how it has hurt you.

So on the other hand how do you think this site has hurt you as a poet?

You cannot drink hot coffee without getting your tongue burned at some point if you continue to like drinking hot coffee on a regular basest and hot coffee is this website. BWP...

my poetry has grown leaps and bounds since i joined this site, but only because i put in the hard work and allowed myself to be stung by critique. this site is just like any other endeavor in life: you get out of it what you put into it.

it hasn't hurt me at all as a poet because i haven't allowed it to hurt me. why should i? i take the good, i take the bad, i assess it all honestly and move on with my craft. i will never be a great poet. i will, perhaps, never be a good poet. but i can honestly say that i work hard at becoming a better writer, and gotpoetry has aided me in that quest.

i am not afraid of hot coffee.

this site has helped me by expanding my horizons in learning different forms and discipline in writing my poems. I am more aware of each word and line rather than just writing randomly. my poems are tighter and stronger and have more meaning. also, it has helped me to grow in greater understanding about people in different cultures than my own and help me appreciate those differences and learn from them. i have more friends in different countries and we all share a love for poetry and from there friendships blossom and grow.

if i had to say how this site has hurt me it would be that one person can start a rumor about me and send hateful messages to others, and even if only temporary, get people to believe something about me that isn't true. hopefully that made sense. one person can get angry at me and seek revenge by spreading a lie that grows and grows and I can either defend it or hope it blows over. so it has hurt me only in that the smallness of another can affect how others feel about me. so what I'm trying to say is hurt feelings happen here on GP, but as a wise person once said if you've never had your feelings hurt or been offended then you have never lived.

This site has helped my writing in two major ways.

First, I've received so much helpful advice with my writing. The first time I ever posted to the workshop forums, Leggolas provided me with some really great tips, that not only made that poem better, but made the poems that followed better as well. The forums, and even the comments left on my finished poems, provide great feedback for future writing, and my work is stronger because of it.

I think I've learned the most from reading other people's work. mayo, electrictiger, izmeiah, scmatsuura, wordsmithwannabe, wylde, iridium, fuschiafestival - these are all poets whose style has really inspired and informed some of my work - especially mayo. There was something in her style and her tone that really spoke to me, and I decided that I wanted to write like that. That's not to say that my poems are anything like hers, but her work really influenced mine.

How has GP hurt me? It hasn't. I get really pissed off when I read crappy writing, especially when others think it's good writing. It can be disheartening when all you want is to be inspired by something. But I don't take that personally.

gotpoe has helped me in getting read.
gotpoe has helped me - to discover many new writers i both enjoy & respect.

gotpoe has hurt me in not getting read.
gotpoe has hurt me - to discover droves of new writers i abhor.


pretty much like an newtonian equation.
but still landing with a +

Gotpoetry has helped me to establish a more realistic metric of my own writing ability. Reading those who are masterful - the Dickinsons and Frosts and Billy Collinses of the world -- is of course essential but also crushing to the spirit if you try to attain that right away (or maybe, ever). But then, it's easy to get an over-inflated ego if you compare your writing to the writing of the masses, the roses are red violets are blue stuff. What GP did for me was to provide realistic balance: yes, I was a lot better writer than a lot of people. But, I was a much less talented writer than many others (still am, always will be! The lesson is, that's ok). That's helpful, because if you see a bit of talent in yourself, you keep going. And if you see the writing of others that towers above your own, it keeps you pushing ahead, working hard at the craft, and meanwhile keeps the ego in check. That's important, too.

I've also met a handful lot of wonderful writers and high-spirited people that I think the world of. A few that I think are inhuman, also; this too, is instructive, and maybe even more so, since I think a lot of good writing comes from observing the many kinds of people there are in the world, and how they interact with each other and the world around them. It's a chance to see the world through a set of eyes different than your own. What could be more valuable than that?

electrictiger wrote:

Gotpoetry has helped me to establish a more realistic metric of my own writing ability. Reading those who are masterful - the Dickinsons and Frosts and Billy Collinses of the world -- is of course essential but also crushing to the spirit if you try to attain that right away (or maybe, ever). But then, it's easy to get an over-inflated ego if you compare your writing to the writing of the masses, the roses are red violets are blue stuff. What GP did for me was to provide realistic balance: yes, I was a lot better writer than a lot of people. But, I was a much less talented writer than many others (still am, always will be! The lesson is, that's ok). That's helpful, because if you see a bit of talent in yourself, you keep going. And if you see the writing of others that towers above your own, it keeps you pushing ahead, working hard at the craft, and meanwhile keeps the ego in check. That's important, too. I've also met a handful lot of wonderful writers and high-spirited people that I think the world of. A few that I think are inhuman, also; this too, is instructive, and maybe even more so, since I think a lot of good writing comes from observing the many kinds of people there are in the world, and how they interact with each other and the world around them. It's a chance to see the world through a set of eyes different than your own. What could be more valuable than that?

Thank you, Christopher... it's absolutely worth repeating and sums it up for me, as well.

Thank you, James, for posting the thought - "To learn from each other."

I'm too new to say that I have "learned" anything yet, but I hope to. I do know that of the handful of poets that I have befriended I have been inspired to read more and write more. I really love the variety of poets here. Maryanns has made me want to write more about the landscape around me. Wylde has made me want to revisit my e.e.cummings books, Zbird and Lyndsey have made me wish that I practice meter, the "boys" that are all me have made me learn to laugh at humans. And the staff, Fogglethorpe and Ozymandias have made me feel welcomed. etc. Thank you all...

And as far as being "harmed" I can really appreciate Zbird's statement, and I am very sorry that it happened to her. Ignorant assumptions about people that one knows only on a computer screen always lead to harm. But a long time ago I was quoted this "It is none of my business what others think about me." It is a good lesson that I remind myself of often, being a red head I sometimes explode instead. We are all a work in progress.

doris wrote:

But a long time ago I was quoted this "It is none of my business what others think about me." It is a good lesson that I remind myself of often, being a red head I sometimes explode instead. We are all a work in progress.

that is a wonderful saying! I am going to adopt it for myself .

Everyone's already written what i also feel.
Poets are very moody and great friends too, i've realized that.
GP has introduced various colors of life and so many wonderful people.
With every read, i try to learn.

many brilliant poets hate the substandard work of new poets.
-- "Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos.
Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look
foolish in the crowd." -- Unknown

Since I have joined GP I think I have learnt to pay more attention to my writing, when I look back at some of my early poems from my teenage years I realise I have evolved a lot since then, though my main inspirations haven’t changed a lot. I think the most important thing is to help the new comers to poetry and encourage them with constructive criticism rather than blatant put downs at their efforts. I always feel a little sad when we get a newbie on here who has talent only to disappear as quick as they came.

It’s important to promote all writers what ever their ability, anyone who puts pen to paper is a poet in my eyes wherever their published or just starting out. It’s a jungle out there and a little encouragement goes a long way, it’s easy to get disheartened if you get a bad review or critique. Our writing is never going to please everyone, we all get different things out of poetry, and have different tastes and styles. Wouldn’t life be dull if we all wrote anapaestic tetra meters?

I must also concur that my poetry is continually improving as a result of this site. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be read, what a gift!!! I also enjoy the privilege of being ready by others and having their comments has meant so much to me. I have also appreciated the friends I have made here and the interaction with them.

Has it hurt me? Not really, I have a pretty tough skin. Part of that comes as a result of firmly believing that how and what a person sees or reads in a poem is purely their version and may have noting at all to do with what i was saying or how I said it.

Most of all I think I appreciate and enjoy the relationships and watching my friends grow in their poetry. Weather comes and goes but the skies are forever. Hugs and blessings to all, Tasha

Gotpoetry has taught me not to be too hard on myself, that it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them (even if it is something I'm still learning). It is part of being young, and it is part of being human, because how can a person grow as a human being if they don't learn that it is okay to be infallible.

When it comes to writing poems itself, I would say that people have helped me learn to write in a more concrete style. I feel I am just now getting out of the 'too-distant-to-tell' voice and am starting to create a more palpable basis for my work, even if I am not there yet. I am not sure if this is something I've learned from other poets or from myself, but I've figured concrete imagery will often unravel a more metaphorical, abstract depth, that sensory details are the foundation of metaphor. I don't feel comfortable using a "planned" metaphor, so I usually start with a concrete phrase.

By being inspired by certain favorites on this website, I decided that researching adjectives and simple things like "green things" or "nature-related terms" would help me expand my voice, and I feel like it has. I've learned words that I didn't know at 15--or 16--or 17, and feel that this is good, because I was vocab-deprived as a 15 year old--and my beginning poetry was filled with cliches.

So all in all, I've learned how to write with a more distinctive albeit concrete voice, and I feel it has helped me in the long run. It is also important that not being too hard on yourself can create a more confident and well-rounded image in your poem.

Hurt me? Umm, I haven't really been "hurt," but have been discouraged without a muse. I kept researching topics again until I could find my muse. Sometimes I got upset over silly things, but that's part of the "being too hard on myself" idea. Confidence is an art form, that I haven't mastered yet, but I am still trying.

I guess low rates hurt me when I was younger, but they induced me to receive help in the Workshops--because the "poetry" section is the "done" section. I often find myself posting various scribbles, if I haven't had a muse as of late, because posting these help me find a new poetry flow. Just write it out--is my philosophy in certain instances. I must admit, I love abstract poetry, even though I am still trying to start writing more concrete pieces.

Gotpoetry has helped me, by providing feedback to new ideas and techniques. Also from reading others. Like Kyle, I adore Mayo and for me..she will always be my poet mommy.

Got poetry has hurt, only in the sense that non-imitate workshop hurts. I was really lucky and got to win a poetry contest where i was selected to interview Kay Ryan along with a couple of other students. (Really nice lady, tends to be a poetic Zionist tho). She said because there is no measure of actual talent within a forum it is why online work-shopping hurts. Example..someone mediocre could be told they are great..when in all reality they are sub-par or worse, because the people who are telling him that this is great (either because they really like them..or because they don't understand why its sub-par in the big schema of poetry)...and by same standards someone who is viewed as sub-par could in fact be great but because others who haven't studied poetry are rating, reviewing..they are not able to see why its great. The trick is whether or not the people who are viewing and helping you edit actually know what they are talking about.

But honestly as long as you keep a level head.. (honestly I think a review for anyone is a great one..even when its terrible..it gives me insight and I don't write for critics. I write for people..as well as myself.)