How intelligent?

[ThePontyPoet]

Hello again,

I have just posted in the introductions forum and stated that I was nervous about joining and posting. The reason being is that I'm not the most academically gifted person in the world, I don't mind admitting that!

I am a Personal Trainer and Nutritionist and I love what I do but I have also always had a passion for words! I love constructing words into something, whether that be poetry, songs (I play guitar) or books.

I have written a few poems and songs and I am also a good few thousand words into my first attempt at a book, around 60,000 to be precise.

I do however have a great fear, a fear that I am not intelligent enough to write poetry. It's not that I am afraid what people will say about my attempt at poetry, that's not the issue, the issue is I know that there are some extremely talented people in the world of poetry, published or unpublished alike and do I often ask myself, do I belong within that group of people!

That sounds ridiculous now that I have written it down but it's a barrier that I have to try and overcome!

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Craig

[Madzia]

Hello again, Craig,
I understand your fears, but I think that you don't have to be academically educated to write poetry, as you said - it's about passion for words. From what you wrote you clearly have it:) At first, I was also reluctant to post my poems, as English is not my native language, I have learnt it at school and university. But I overcame my fears and here I am posting and enjoying it very much:) So, I think that you should do what gives you happiness, try to fulfill your dreams:) Hope this forum will help you with that:)
Madzia

[ThePontyPoet]

Hello again, Craig,
I understand your fears, but I think that you don't have to be academically educated to write poetry, as you said - it's about passion for words. From what you wrote you clearly have it:) At first, I was also reluctant to post my poems, as English is not my native language, I have learnt it at school and university. But I overcame my fears and here I am posting and enjoying it very much:) So, I think that you should do what gives you happiness, try to fulfill your dreams:) Hope this forum will help you with that:)
Madzia

Well this has certainly motivated me and given me inspiration.

I will post my first poem, it's called Love Is...

This was my first attempt at poetry. After reading through the forum I am sure that it pretty much fits into the Love Poem category, so I will post it there very soon.

My other fear is that I find the only poetry that fits with me as a person is that of rhyming poetry and I know that there are many other forms.

Thanks again Madzia

Craig

[Madzia]

You're welcome, Craig. I'm glad if my comments were useful, and that my encouragement was! I think everyone has its own style, if you like rhyming then it's your style and it's perfectly ok:) Looking forward to reading your poetry.

[bastet]

i think madzia has said it all very well :)
i am still nervous when posting..but this is a very freindly and supportive forum.
i think also that if you love writing then that is all that is thats necessary..people will like or dislike no matter how or what you write..its like choosing clothes-personal taste but please dont ever let that put you off.
as for rhyme/non rhyme..again..do whatever feels most natural..you can always try other things as and when you like :)
i really hope you enjoy being here.. :)

[fajitaheater]

hi, i agree with the above. i understand where youre coming from. seriously, i feel like the most unintelligent person on the entire planet sometimes, but sod it! just enjoy yourself!

[BattyOldMaid]

Aww, I think most have self-doubts about their ability, it takes great courage to get past the fear of thinking we aren't good enough, but once you have taken that first step it should get easier - in theory!!

I look forward to reading your submissions, clever or not, each of us brings our own personal style and that's more important.

[BenJohnson]

Poetry is and always has been a widely diverse field. You have the academics who tear poetry to pieces trying to find hidden meanings or a new way to analyse the writer. You have the groups who insist that there is only one way to write poetry, their way. You have the mainstream published poets, the alternative published poets, the rarely published poets and the never published poets. The poets who fill notebooks at home that they don't share and performance poets who like audiences. There are no rules or boundaries to say who can and who can't write poetry and despite what some people might like to say no rules to say you can or can't rhyme.

At the end of the day there is probably only two categories of poetry, good poetry and bad poetry, the guidelines for deciding which is which are highly subjective and what one person likes another might not. Each of us will have our own feelings and with time and exposure to different kinds of poetry those feelings can change as well. As a result there is no one group that makes up poetry you might feel that you don't belong with certain poets, but there will always be a group of poets where you do belong.

All the posters above me have given great advice, my favourite is "but sod it! just enjoy yourself!" which seems to be the best possible reason to write poetry. :)

[ThePontyPoet]

Thank you all for your positive and constructive comments :)

All the things you mention are my exact fears, although, I have now already posted 3 poems!

It seems I am amongst a great group of people who will constructively criticise my poetry rather than rip it to pieces.

As mentioned in another post somewhere, it's not really about what people think about my poetry, it was just the fact that I questioned whether or not I belong amongst other poets.

As one of you very wisely mention, I may not fit in with certain groups of poets but there will almost certainly be a group that will fit with me and my style.

For me personally it's an expression, an expression of my thoughts, of things around me. I don't know if there is a group of poets out there like me, I will continue to have a look around this forum but I like observational poetry (if there is such a category) I like to look at things around me, things that are happening and give my interpretation of it in a poem.

I will just enjoy my time here, read and comment on others poetry and keep posting mine as and when :)

thank you all again for your kind words


Craig

[Don_Joe]

Not to worry! The thing I most like about this forum are the friendly members who give helpful feedback.

I'm sure you'll give us knowledge and we'll give you some back. As a matter of fact, I was once interested in becoming a personal trainer and nutritionist! What a coincidence.

Either way, Ben and Madzia have said what I would have said, poetry comes from the soul, it has no boundaries or rules.

[ThePontyPoet]

Not to worry! The thing I most like about this forum are the friendly members who give helpful feedback.

I'm sure you'll give us knowledge and we'll give you some back. As a matter of fact, I was once interested in becoming a personal trainer and nutritionist! What a coincidence.

Either way, Ben and Madzia have said what I would have said, poetry comes from the soul, it has no boundaries or rules.


I will certainly try and give some knowledge and I look forward to some feedback. That is a coincidence about you wanting to be a PT and Nutritionist, it's a very rewarding career. I don't just mean in the financial sense, I mean more so from a satisfaction point of view. To witness people go on and lead a fuller longer life after being given news (in more serious cases) that they will die if they don't change their lifestyle is a great feeling.

I wish I could tell the whole world the truth about food and exercise so that each and every person have the facts to lead a healthy and longer life. Maybe one day!

I like the thought of poetry having no rules or boundaries, not from a mischevious or rebellious point of view but from an expressive point of view. I do have some controversial poetry which can be misinterpreted if written in any other format.

Craig

[Poets Muse]

you don't need to be intelligent to write poetry you just have to be passionate and let the emotion run through you and onto the page, after all we are only puppets to the words and a lot of the time even the simplest words are the most effective.

[saeity]

Hi Craig,
I felt very much like you, I am also someone that preferes
to write in the style of rhyme and of subjects of a topical theme.
Enjoy your time here, for there is a wave of experience
That you can tap into if you so wish.
saeity.