Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark McDonnell
His main point seems to be less about craft itself being a bad thing and more about escaping the influence of other writers' techniques: realising that what is good about their poems can't be reproduced by simply copying the outward mechanics. A fair point, hardly earth-shattering. The whole thorny problem of what makes a poem 'alive' seems to contain a paradox designed to drive poets mad: the more you overthink and worry about it, the less likely that it's going to appear on the page.
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I think that's right. I don't think it's earth-shattering in any way, but I do think it's the sort of thing that is worth saying, and one that probably does speak to new writers.
It's not about writing a sonnet, it's about writing a poem, and if it happens to be a sonnet, great. It's easy to get caught in form or craft to the detriment of the poem. I've done it myself, and I think we all have seen it on the board.