a little bit more…

                  the

“Poetry” Society

                    …continued

Okay, smart-mouth cat, you may inquire, there must be “Poetry” Societies of some value—how does one go about making an intelligent choice.

There are indeed, despite my cigar smoke infused rantings, organizations existing that might be beneficial to a student’s growth. Whether or not, they are in one’s area is another question; one might not want to spend the time and energy with a group which is only accessible by mail or via the internet.

A few items which may be helpful in making a determination of personal value:

·         Is the group reasonably accessible. Traveling long distances can be rather counterproductive, let alone down right depressing.

·         Does the group meet a reasonable number of times (per month) to make the best use of one’s time. Twice per month is an almost ideal use of time and resources; once per month (the usual) seems to allow too much down time between writing projects and that developed energy surge, riding the bullet. There are some die-hard, experienced, writers who are driven to meet once per week, this meeting usually has a great deal of peripheral distraction based in discussions of individuals’ publish schedules and “successes”; seldom being productive to the novice writer, who may have difficulty maintaining work quality and keeping up with the volume out- put that might be expected.

·      Are there other members who seem knowledgeable and would be willing to answer off-hours questions —or simply be willing to discourse a subject.

   Compare their level of “expertise” against established published examples, even on line sources if need be. Many times, such a “mentor” is invaluable, sometimes they are simply interesting to chat with.

·         If the meeting format is for one to simply  read one’s works out loud, there is very little substantial benefit. There isn’t much value in an eight-second bull ride other than testing the seat of ones denims. These type meetings usually try to accommodate any and all comers for the reading experience only. This may be considered a show-off’s venue.

·          If the meeting format is for one to read one’s works for comment and critique—the best situation would allow the writer to supply copies for all attendees—then, are presenters given a sufficient amount of time to read without being cattle called; are initial responses, generally, more than the ubiquitous, oooh, that’s nice; I like that; purr.

·         The most beneficial situation: a reasonable number of those copies which were handed to others, do they come back on the following meeting day with “helpful notations.”  (This is an entirely separate discussion: “helpful notations” and comments of forethought.)

·         Does the group encourage diverse experimentation in forms and various themes. When presented with variant works (or any works) are the other attendees helpful in examining the piece in an unbiased manner with an absence of ego-stew. Many commenters attempt to twist another’s work into their work, sometimes even retyping the “poem” in their image… apparently, the only way they can relate to presenting critique. A writer doesn’t need these confusing types of critique drawing them off course.

       continued, more at another time…

  Max tdc