general observation

[shadowplay]

Ahhh. ***pausing and thinking calmly of this***

It just may be
that peeps are like me
only time to post and run
but not
to hang round having fun

I often bitch to myself that I waste far too much time
working and sleeping and cleaning and applying
rather than doing all-important pome things
A regrettable situation --
Because if I had a choice, well , jus sayn'

[Doreen Peri]

If by "feedback" you mean critique, you're right. This is not a site that focuses on critique. That doesn't mean critique is discouraged or not welcome. Most all of the original members of this site met each other at another site where we wrote spontaneous poetry in response to poems, thus the phrase Word Jam or Poetry Jam (phrases which we coined, though other sites have used them).

I've been reading your critiques and they're generally quite thorough and I'm sure some writers here will glean something from them if they decide to edit. But since this isn't a critique site and many of us write spontaneously, you're not going to see much critique here. Feedback in regards to how the poem affected the reader or feedback about ideas and thoughts expressed in the theme of the poem are both often posted here.

Spontaneous writing (jamming) is not for everybody. Please feel free to critique if you'd like, but if you're looking for critiques on your own work, this is probably not a site where you'll find them. Then again, you could always add "Please critique" to the title of your poem and see what you get.

"Rampant narcissism"? HERE? No way. I've been operating this site since 2004, and I haven't seen one narcissist post. No wait... there was Lightning Rod. He called himself "The Greatest Poet Alive" ... but now he's gone. RIP.

[Doreen Peri]

PS ... there ARE writers who post here who are NOT "jammers" .... they don't write spontaneous poetry. Sometimes I don't write poetry spontaneously, either, but usually they always start that way, just spilling out. In other words, there ARE some writers here who do engage in editing and saving different versions, etc. But still, primarily this is not a critique site.

That does NOT mean it's a "vanity" site. Applause is not necessary. I quite like it when some threads go on for days where people talk about the theme of the poem and how it reminded of them of this or that time in their lives, etc.

We talk about the POEM. What the poem DOES to the reader. That's what poetry is for. It's ALIVE. It does something to the reader's consciousness.

We rarely talk about mechanics but that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to. You can talk about any aspect of the poem or prose piece you'd like, including mechanics. That's up to you.

[Doreen Peri]

well, you (lingering shadow effects) actually seem to participate whereas
I've seen other peeps posing and that's that. Maybe I'm old
progressively fashioned but basic decorum is
you pose you comment on multiple other peeps
for the sake of not playing absolute homage to Narcissus.

Oh... so you're saying that people post poems which don't get very many replies? There's not a lot of activity in regards to replies? Is that your point?

If so, what you've noticed is that this is a small site. We have only a little over 1000 members and probably only 20-30 or so who are regularly active, daily or weekly. That may be why you aren't seeing the number of replies you'd like to see or the number of replies you're used to seeing on other larger sites.

My only reply to that is that we USED to be quite more active during the early years but now the site is not as active as it used to be.

Invite your friends. I've invited everybody I've ever known and hundreds of people who I've never met. Thanks or inviting a couple of members who I've seen posting. I'm the sole owner and I'm broke. I have no money to buy google ads or anything like that.

Word of Mouth is our advertising method.

[Doreen Peri]

I just took a quick look at the Poetry forum. There's actually quite a bit of activity on it right now (including responses), but that's just my opinion as the Librarian of the place.

[Doreen Peri]

I'm no overlord. All I did was push "install" on a piece of software 10 years ago and all of a sudden, I've had a 10-year job which only pays me in delight and joy! I'm grateful but I get tired easily.

At the top of the Poetry forum, there's a post that I stuck up there indefinitely. Its title is "Please reply to the posts of others". In that post, I talk about how important it is to reply to others and how this site isn't just about posting your own material, it's about interaction between the writers.

In addition to that, I can't count the number of times in 10 (almost 11) years where I've sent people private messages or even posted in public to ask them to reply to at least 2 other posts prior to posting one of their own.

That said, I'm not willing to make it a hard and fast rule. Why? Because I don't have time to enforce it and I don't like sites that have too many rules... or ANY rules, really. All we have is ONE rule. ... Respect. Respect for each other and respect for copyright. That's it. And I've had quite a few times when I've had to deal with that subjective rule, but still, at least it's simple. If I had to count posts to see how many posts people had posted in reply to other people's poems, I'd give this site up in a heartbeat. Who's got time for that nonsense? People should be able to learn themselves that it only makes sense to reply to others and it's the respectful way to handle their posting online, their membership here.

"Please reply to the post of others" is a pretty darn clear post. If people aren't following it, then they're not paying attention, but I'm too busy to worry about it. I'm a firm believer, also, that people learn by example. YOU are a great example. You reply to multiple poems compared to the number of poems you post. Thank you for that!

I'm also a good example of doing the same, if I do say so myself.

But no, no hard and fast rules, no guidelines, nothing like that will ever be posted or enforced here.

One time, I mentioned it to a member, asking him to reply to others rather than only posting his own material and he actually got angry with me. Oh well. I said, "Hey, this is a community, not a blog. If you want to post your own material without replying to others, you could create your own blog." After that, he started replying to the posts of others.

That's the best I can do. *shrug* .... I used to say that to my ex-husband sometimes. "I'm doing the best I can" and he would answer, "No you're not!" ... Jeeeezzzzus!!! I'm tellin ya, there's a REASON why exes are called exes.

*wink*

[WIREMAN]

i think u 2 got it on the same page now....as for me the fact that some dont reply used to bother me, but i got over it ....finally somewhere back in the fall....its cool that u know at least a smile comes ur way....definitely not a critique site here, thats obvious, its more like a buncha old hippies blowin a long sax solo into oblivion.....as for me i love the responding best,
especially when it gets the juices flowing, i just figure if u want somebody to change something write it yourself....hell most of the 20 or so "real" poems ive written are already out there on cd's or in ezines or they have been performed, which is my main reason to write anyway, yet in performance i wing it with a poem as a premise to launch my wired and wiley performing waze......it works for me and you get a better connection and respect from an audience when your lookin em in the eyes....well im getting off track....this is a cool thread, i enjoyed the ride.....

[the mingo]

* i don't get it *

[Doreen Peri]

* i don't get it *

What? It's not just me? I spent all that time trying to "get" it! ... sigh.. I'm so disappointed in myself. I worked so hard and you don't get it either? Well, what the hell, at least we're not alone. Hey, let's write some poems. Or pomes.

(Lrod used to make fun of me when I called them "pomes"... he was too hip for me, I guess. Now he's gone. At peace. At least one of us is at rest! )

[Doreen Peri]

I tell ya what's gonna happen. I'm gonna *accidentally* kill this site by actually participating in it as a member. Everybody will leave maybe. Or not. But hey, if they don't, you wanna run it? I'll gift it to ya. Won't cost ya penny except the hosting fees from here on out. Please? Take it off my hands! No, never mind, not gonna beg but iff'n ya want it, get in touch.

[WIREMAN]

and just what part of the it is not got...now im confused again...ugh.....theres so many parts to this shuffle its like puttin toyz together for the kids on xmas eve....

[Doreen Peri]

Jaja .. Chupacabra!
whoaaaaaa! abracadabra!
caged kuma satra...
in lala land! .... DAMN, man!

[WIREMAN]

lay it on the land...have u seen that chupacabra man???....

[68degrees]

When I have time (oh, that most precious of commodities) I'm here. When I don't, I'm not. Pretty simple, really.

I was invited. I came. I'm here. Caesar's got nothing on me. I view things at work often. Don't reply...simply can't. By the time I may be ready to reply, my original thought is moot so I don't. I enjoy poetry of all kinds. I am, by nature, not a spontaneous poet, but I agree w/Doreen...all poems come from "some" form of spontaneity...mine is just slower than others, I guess. I write poems in my head when I take a walk. I work on a poem for a week sometimes. I'm playwriting right now so me poems are in second place. I'm coaching golf so me poems are often in third place and when my wife or kids want something, me poems aren't even visible.

I often times don't want critique. A maybe "try this" is welcome or "this doesn't work" is cool. When someone rewrites my entire poem, I tune them out. Why? B/c they aren't me...

68degrees

[Doreen Peri]

I often times don't want critique. A maybe "try this" is welcome or "this doesn't work" is cool. When someone rewrites my entire poem, I tune them out. Why? B/c they aren't me...

I take a few things away from a critique occasionally, otherwise I wouldn't post on critique sites. That said, I totally agree, that when someone tries to rewrite your work entirely, that's not critique, that's rewriting. Hah! I just say "thanks for your feedback" and move on.

I learn more from reading than from critiques.

The most valuable critiques, in my opinion, are those where the critic first offers some type of feedback about what DID work in the piece for the reader, and then afterwords, gives solid examples for suggested changes to make the piece more powerful. You don't see many people offering that type of critique, though Ton usually does. That's how I write my critiques and I only write them when someone specifically asks for a critique, even on a critique site. In in-person writing workshop groups, this is how critique is given. Positive feedback first, then solid, specific examples for suggested improvements.

But that's just me. Nobody else is me (as you said, only you said it better).

Boy, I really went off topic, didn't I? Who runs this place! Going off-topic should be against the RULES! haha