Reading reams of shitty undergrad poetry.
I swear I remember writing some decent lines, but interposing itself between me and cool words is this pearl:
"you either give up,
give up and fall into a cold, dark embrace
or fight back."
(That's an approximation, but you get the idea.)
I need to floss my brain.
Portrait of Clara (as a chemist)
1 month ago
3 comments:
That's why I ended up getting my PhD in one of the other fields; I couldn't stand the thought of a lifetime of reading crap poems, because even in grad school reading them made my inspiration and drive shrivel and die.
Yeah. I actually really love teaching poetry workshops, but if this were the only part of my profession, I'd poke my eyes out. Thank goodness I have the Renaissance work to even it out--no more surefire poem engine than a few days with Donne.
The only cure for their bad writing is to give them very prescriptive assignments.
1. Write a poem made only of song titles by bands I like
2. Write an essay about anything other than your mission or someone you know who died
3. Write a story about a person with a job.
Etc.
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