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WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT to you - CONTENT OR FORM spin off A - Brian Strand's Blog

About Brian Strand
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English experiential poet of open verse& creator of the FOOTLE (singular form)&EMAGI digital reverse ekphrasis.A regular @PS since 2007 ,with 9500+ poems posted&sponsor of 1260 contests ( Amazon books- (500+) reviews)GOOGLE my POETRY BLOGS @https://www.blogger.com/profile/02166493604739619406.Read an Ekphrasis e-book for free @ http://free-ekphrasis-ebook.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT to you - CONTENT OR FORM spin off A

Blog Posted:5/5/2017 12:37:00 AM

Another spin-off from my last blog prompted by Andrea' s comment thereon

When putting into words the inspiration prompted by your muse how important to you, is a particular form in expressing that inspiration? or is the content the be all and end all for you?

and a subsidiary point thereon ...if you use a particular form...how important for you ,is it that you stick exactly to the accepted tradition of that form? ( obviously it is if you are writing to meet a sponsorv contest requirement!)

 



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Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 5:04:00 PM
So absorbed am I by content of form, that I just read Steele's poem on Cyndi's pubnight offering that I read and commented thereon and did not 'see'the line caps in that poem until I read the other comments on the blog referring to that point
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Vinson Avatar
Doug
Vinson
Date: 5/5/2017 12:24:00 PM
Content. That said, hey, *if* we're doing a certain type of thing, then let's do that, and not something else. It's often quite a challenge to make everything fit and be just like it's supposed to be - the process can be a joy in itself.
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi
Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:07:00 AM
Me being pithy: "What Lewis said!"
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Strand Avatar
Brian Strand
Date: 5/6/2017 4:13:00 AM
I guess Cyndi, its because contemporary is like a moving bus and informal because it covers those all variations from formal(or traditional) sonnets from whenever
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:02:00 PM
They've added to forms? COOL! I like the term "modern haiku" but "INFORMAL" sonnet? Gaw! It's quite a patronizing terminology, like a pat on the head and sitting at the kid's table. Why not just contemporary, which is a literary term?
Strand Avatar
Brian Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 5:18:00 PM
I have come across INFORMAL SONNETS for 20th century variations on the classic earlier forms thereof and..MODERN HAIKU for the Englidh language haiku and its variants
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 1:53:00 PM
That being said, I've said I wished there was a form called "contemporary sonnet" and "contemporary haiku." Me? It isn't the meter that makes a sonnet, a sonnet. It's the increase of metaphor that builds to a volta. The volta to me is imperative.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 1:50:00 PM
Craig, you are of course entitled to your opinion. It's not the same opinion, of course, as 95% (approx.) of publishers, but -- hey-- I love quixotic people, being one myself. I write what I love to write. It's that simple.
Vinson Avatar
Doug Vinson
Date: 5/5/2017 12:20:00 PM
"Language or Bust" - ha! Right on, Cyndi. While I applaud certain forms and those who engage in them - there certainly may be value in such - there indeed may be that one perfect word, regardless of all else. Syllabic count only goes so far - and not all iambs, for example, are exactly equal.
Cornish Avatar
Craig Cornish
Date: 5/5/2017 9:33:00 AM
Okay, "exactly" is not what I truly meant. What I meant was to express respect for the form within acceptable parameters. An English sonnet should be in iambic pentameter with the proper rhyme scheme and an occasional extra syllable if needed is not unacceptable but preferred if it enhances the message, however, it is not an English/Shakespearean sonnet if it simply has 10-11 syllables that are NOT in iamb. You know that I write modern sonnets as well but DO NOT call them English sonnets because they are more kindred to a Quatorzain than a traditional sonnet form.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:12:00 AM
So, for example, one word is perfect for a line, has the exact connotation I wanted, but it alters the form's syllable count? I choose the word! My covered wagon reads: LANGUAGE OR BUST.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:12:00 AM
Well, I can't possibly NOT say more! (though I tried! haha!!!) I like sonnets, sestinas and villanelles. As a contemporary poet, I acknowledge convention, even respect the history of a form, but I believe in LANGUAGE.
Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 8:45:00 AM
As a sponsor of contests with any theme or form permitted , I could care less about exactitude of form .It is all about content the form is just a vehicle to carry the inspiration into another's heart or better yet ear
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 1:43:00 PM
Craig, when we read a poem in a journal, it usually doesn't yell at the reader, "THIS IS A SONNET." It just is bound up with the other poems for the reader to enjoy and either identify it as a sonnet or just think, "I like this."
Cornish Avatar
Craig Cornish
Date: 5/5/2017 9:40:00 AM
Off subject Brian because a contest host is God and can make any rules they want and call anything they want, but outside of that a poet, if writing in form, should respect the proper form or call it something else.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:04:00 AM
I once wrote for a contest and included one too many syllables on ONE line (not your contest, Brian) and so I was disqualified. I didn't care as I was happy with the poem. I was then shocked to learn that my disqualified poem was recommended by an English Professor as an excellent example as a character-based poetry! I floated for months.
Krampe Avatar
Agnes
Krampe
Date: 5/5/2017 7:04:00 AM
Content! I find that the form follows the content. Some poems simply will not let themselves force into a specific form, no matter how hard I try, while some poems mold themselves to the form almost spontaneously. When I am intentionally writing in form, I adhere to the accepted tradition - but it may turn out, that the poem refuses to "make" a strict sonnet, and then I will have to abandon the form. But I enjoy the challenge of form like a mathematical puzzle; part of the appeal to me is the strict requirement. If I didn't want that, I could simply write unmetered rhyme, or free verse altogether.
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 2:08:00 PM
I've posted a "pub night." We try to do these, oh, I think about once a month or so?
Krampe Avatar
Agnes Krampe
Date: 5/5/2017 11:24:00 AM
Thanks for explaining, Brian. I'll go have a look.
Strand Avatar
Brian Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 11:05:00 AM
Agnes an example of a'pub night' can be found on 19th April on the blogs listings.It's just a discussion around a particular poem that the PS blogger puts up for others etc to review comment etc
Krampe Avatar
Agnes Krampe
Date: 5/5/2017 10:12:00 AM
That sounds great - but I don't know what a "pub night" is. Would you please explain?
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:18:00 AM
Agnes, I have a pub night I've been working on that you may enjoy: contemporary rhyme. Even if you just take a peek at what I share from the sidelines, you may enjoy the pieces I plan to share. I get the 'challenge' feeling! I used to enter most contests here and compared them to crossword puzzles (my dad was a big fan of crosswords)
Cornish Avatar
Craig Cornish
Date: 5/5/2017 7:52:00 AM
Well stated
Raynes Avatar
Lewis
Raynes
Date: 5/5/2017 6:16:00 AM
Content times ten billion
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:00:00 AM
:DDD Ditto
Pett Avatar
Roy
Pett
Date: 5/5/2017 5:12:00 AM
Hi Brian, lacking in experience I tend to rely on what I believe is expected so try to use metering as much as I can, but I feel that what I write must flow from stanza to stanza and be easy and enjoyable to read, I think content is down to interpretation by the reader. Sometimes I get confused by certain forms due to there being so many variations such as Haikus and Limericks regarding the amount of syllables, in my mind Haiku is 5 7 5, and Limericks are 9 9 6 6 9 ? But I'm still on a learning curve.
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:22:00 AM
Roy, haiku has been such a can of worms on Soup, but I will be daring enough to say that the strict 5 7 5 has become more flexible and is often as little as 3 5 2 for example. Haiku is a very complex and difficult form as it involves being in the moment, a profound glimpse at life and so much more. I'll never master haiku.
Strand Avatar
Brian Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 8:39:00 AM
Yes Roy I would say you are on the right lines.Happily there are more important aspects to both haiku and limerick than the syllables
White Avatar
Darren
White
Date: 5/5/2017 4:48:00 AM
Content. But that said I feel an urge always to bring in meter or cadence even in Free Verse. Sometimes I prefer form, but that is mostly to practice, or for a contest, and even then: if the content is not right I will never post it, even if the form would be impeccable
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Puddifoot Avatar
Charlotte
Puddifoot
Date: 5/5/2017 3:11:00 AM
content over form for me always! i almost always write free verse unless it's for a specific contest...recently the uk poetry society said they almost never publish anything apart from free verse, and all the winners in their comps are free verse or prose type poems, so i thought why bother writing in other forms? i'm better off spending the time improving my free verse...having said that, contemporary sonnets are quite popular with publishers at the moment
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:26:00 AM
Hey Luv, my next pub will look at contemporary rhyme which takes the elements of free-verse, that language and those devices, and includes rhyme. And I love contemporary sonnets. Publishers like that a huge amount goes into 14 lines-- really they are the world's shortest novels.
Dietrich Avatar
Andrea
Dietrich
Date: 5/5/2017 12:55:00 AM
oh I like this blog but can't be here longer. Will think up an answer for ya later.
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