Poetry in the Short Story and Collaborative Writing Forums

a reply to: TNMockingbird

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originally posted by: masqua
a reply to: JDHellraiser

The Poetry thread you are referring to is closed anyways, but you are very welcome to post your poetry in this, the Short Stories forum.

You're right that poetry has no set length, but there is the question of quality. In fact, a short poem which was entered just today was very good indeed.

I am not the only one to say this, but, what it comes down to is if you like it - its ok. If you don't - its a violation of the T's&C's. If its too short, its a violation. Define "too short". How long does a poem have to be to convey the AUTHORS message? Who are you to decide if that message was conveyed or not? Maybe brevity is part of the message. Just because you didn't get it doesn't mean it wasn't a proper poem with meaning to the author or other readers.

On the other hand, I have been rebuked for works that are too long in the short story forum. What exactly is "too long"? A short story is typically accepted as being a story that can be read in one sitting, with one primary mood or goal to establish, though there are numerous exceptions. So, how fast can you read? How fast do you comprehend? How long can you comfortably sit reading? Is there a set rule on these figures? If not then the definition of a short story is very open as the accepted definition makes no reference to actual word or page count. Its however long a story can be that the reader can absorb in one sitting. Readers vary - and with them the rules as well.

The point I am making is that poetry, short stories, feature length novels, are all creative works. Anything that limits them or forces them into an accepted format or pattern is an affront to creativity itself. You cant encourage creativity and squelch it in the same breath.

If you mean to apply ambiguous rules such as "too short" you need to be certain you limit your application of those rules to only the most egregious offenders.

As to whether enough effort was afforded to the work, that is something you have absolutely no way of judging. Two people can write an identical paragraph. One may do it free-form flowing thought in a matter of seconds. The other may take weeks of research. Can you ever really claim to know how much effort was dedicated to a creative work in any but the most extreme cases? On this subject I will give you one example. A professor assigned an essay to his class in response to the question, "Why?" Some students turned in papers dozens of pages long. The only student who got an "A" was the one who responded, "Why not?"

I don't like to complain or cause problems. But I have been a writer nearly my whole life and I defend my art-form against any who seek to limit, control, or contain it by any means. Creativity is the living example of being unbound, not restrained.