| General Non-Fiction posted April 3, 2022 |
  |
The Third session with RGstar
The FANSTORY INTERVIEWS PART V
by Terry Broxson
The FanStory Interviews are written questions submitted to recognized FanStory members Lyenochka, Jay Squires, and RGstar. The purpose of the interviews is to get to know them a bit better and learn something about their writing.
This is the third and final session with RGstar.
Terry Broxson, Moderator
READERS LIKE THE WAY YOU USE NARRATION IN YOUR POEMS. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
RGSTAR:
I let the topic narrate itself. What I mean is. There is no blueprint for narration. Whatever your subject matter, the narrative will take its course...(poetry). Yet! You will have a beginning, middle, and end...however short, however abstract, even those designed for wordplay only, with very little narrative.
Without the three stages, your narrative will struggle. Yes, I can hear some saying: what about 5-7-5's? Well, let me tell you. A great 5-7-5 is able to give you a sight of those three ingredients. It is all about thought and the projection of them.
In most of my work, I narrate around the victim; the underdog becomes good. The triumph over adversity...and if you have noticed, most of my work has been the eyes and pain, as well as the triumph of the woman. I think that has something to do with the suffering of my mother and, of course, a little of my suffering by the same hands.
It is hardly planned or cemented in stone. It is a natural process for me, and even though I cover a wide range, the variety is only at the time of choosing. I hardly plan what is coming next unless something gave me thought while writing the latest. The inspiration comes for many reasons. A thought, a word said, something may jog my imagination...even, as with Ophelia, or Lady Mcbeth, a strong image of the period could remind of my urge to write from a particular period.
Mostly, I write from a thought rather than an image, even if seeing a good picture can start an idea that is connected to something in my psyche.
In poetry, in almost all cases, your opening line must take the reader to a place where, immediately, there is a wish to know more...a wish to follow. Your second line strengthens that emotion, carrying the thought, holding on to the interest.
So, you have your beginning. Are you confident you hold the reader's attention? If not, scrub out...go again. By the time you get to the middle, the reader will know if they read for the sake of finishing the poem quickly or whether they read, savoring your offer, with feelings of some sort of emotions, path, or direction you hope to convey.
Then comes your end line...as important, if not more important than your first...the emotion sealed. In prose, story or chapter, it will be your final paragraph or even the final few sentences which bind the work.
YOU HAVE AN OUTSTANDING READING OR ORATION VOICE FOR POETRY; CAN YOU COMMENT ON THAT?
RGSTAR:
Poetry started with oral, known now as the 'Spoken Word' (identified form), and predates written poetry. Only when the means of writing further developed was it thought poetry added dimension visually...even in letter form, as some Japanese poems would give testament to. So in terms of out loud, it is not a ploy; it is as natural to me as writing it...and make no bones about it, poetry should be heard, not just seen; it adds an added dimension, even in the way written, where pauses and punctuation are applied to suit the narrative.
Oration (vocal) is different from 'poetry reading' (I do not orate). At least, not for the most part. 'THE POET' uses voice in an intense way to intensify his or her product. With oration, the orator seeks a projected elation, involving language in an exalted way (high and powerful) in the exaltation of his product.
Poetry reading, the poet, need not seek exaltation, as much as the orator need not seek intensity. Yet it is easy to confuse the two when an oration is written in verse, as some are. Byron is an example of writing long verses for oration.
It is said, Quote! "Oration deals with public things" whilst "Poetry deals with the secret things of man" and women, though man in this instant would mean both.
TWO LAST QUESTIONS, WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? AND IS THERE ANY FORMAL OR INFORMAL THING YOU CAN POINT TO THAT HELPED MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER?
RGSTAR:
There was no real point when I considered myself a writer. I taught and wrote for theater, choreographed, taught drama, and also acted, so writing was a natural progression, and only the endorsement of the readers, predominantly here, could really endorse that title. I was always considered a dancer.
I think artistry and life experience are two ingredients that form a good foundation for good writing, apart from the obvious. Yes, a command of an array of words in the cupboard of the mind is an asset, as well a good command of your language, but it is not the all and be all, for certainly, those poets that are not professors of word or have a grade A in English grammar in their locker, need not fret, because there are editors and some of the best poets, are not as one would perhaps think, the best with grammar or the language.
The idea is to bring whatever you have to the table, Elaborate...that is the key. Learn to project your art in the best way you can. Find the movement, find your tones, speak to the reader. You are not writing an essay. You are writing poetry. Let it sing, let it cry, let it love, let it be believed.
With writing prose, you still have that artistry to find. Being a professor of a language does not necessarily mean you will write either the best stories or the best poetry. Personality, flair, communication skills, and the originality that comes from you are keys to good work, so no simple one or even two answers...just a collective of a few.
Formal? Many would have training in writing skills or methods, but you cannot beat natural, and when the two are combined, it still boils down to your ability in projecting that work to your audience or reader. Your flair, the magic of your quill...let it go.
Informal?
This is one of my long-kept secrets...and I think the reason I write better than I ever did:
My method...process. (Predominantly poetry)
Put it away! Return to it. Let the work breathe. Don't stifle it because you are only stilling your creativity.
When writing a work, don't stress the stanza, the sentence, the line. If you have an idea of the area you want to project...the emotion, the thing you want to say: Jot=(to write briefly or hurriedly) it down, present it, even if it is in its simplest form. Construct as much as you can without struggling, even if it is not the strongest, but don't lose sight of the idea.
It might be that you only construct two sentences, and it may be that you manage to construct a whole stanza or more. When your mind tells you are searching and searching too hard, put the quill down. Stop writing. Walk away from it. Close it down on your computer. Close the pad. Clear your mind. Whether it is to make dinner or whether 4 hours, the next morning, the next day, step away from it.
When you return, you will be surprised, You approach with fresh eyes, and what you read, you may, in fact, smile at, because suddenly you might not think it suffices, and you naturally re-read what you have written and begin to add to the narrative with a much improve sight. You will be surprised. You suddenly find improvement from nowhere. The work becomes giving as you see the plot, the euphoria of new thought you could not find yesterday or some hours before.
The poem suddenly becomes exciting as you see it with new eyes each time as it begins to take shape...stronger than if you had written it in one take. Repeat the process. Your mind will know when it's time to repeat. You will be surprised how many times you can change a single word to a whole sentence or stanza. The end result will surprise you.
Knowing your poem will improve each time, your standard will find its own level, and I promise you, the release of your work will always search for that standard naturally, regardless of your subject matter.
How giving it is to maintain that standard for every work you put out? This applies to every level of poetry. See it through fresh eyes. Let it breathe, Don't stifle your creativity.
This is the last of the series from me. Thank you all for being gracious in your understanding of what I have to offer. I hope it will help enlighten with just another way of doing things. There certainly are many.
Thank you, Terry. I believed in this; that is why I took part. You deserve every credit.
We should always try to assist each other.
The FanStory Interviews are written questions submitted to recognized FanStory members Lyenochka, Jay Squires, and RGstar. The purpose of the interviews is to get to know them a bit better and learn something about their writing.
This is the third and final session with RGstar.
Terry Broxson, Moderator
READERS LIKE THE WAY YOU USE NARRATION IN YOUR POEMS. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
RGSTAR:
I let the topic narrate itself. What I mean is. There is no blueprint for narration. Whatever your subject matter, the narrative will take its course...(poetry). Yet! You will have a beginning, middle, and end...however short, however abstract, even those designed for wordplay only, with very little narrative.
Without the three stages, your narrative will struggle. Yes, I can hear some saying: what about 5-7-5's? Well, let me tell you. A great 5-7-5 is able to give you a sight of those three ingredients. It is all about thought and the projection of them.
In most of my work, I narrate around the victim; the underdog becomes good. The triumph over adversity...and if you have noticed, most of my work has been the eyes and pain, as well as the triumph of the woman. I think that has something to do with the suffering of my mother and, of course, a little of my suffering by the same hands.
It is hardly planned or cemented in stone. It is a natural process for me, and even though I cover a wide range, the variety is only at the time of choosing. I hardly plan what is coming next unless something gave me thought while writing the latest. The inspiration comes for many reasons. A thought, a word said, something may jog my imagination...even, as with Ophelia, or Lady Mcbeth, a strong image of the period could remind of my urge to write from a particular period.
Mostly, I write from a thought rather than an image, even if seeing a good picture can start an idea that is connected to something in my psyche.
In poetry, in almost all cases, your opening line must take the reader to a place where, immediately, there is a wish to know more...a wish to follow. Your second line strengthens that emotion, carrying the thought, holding on to the interest.
So, you have your beginning. Are you confident you hold the reader's attention? If not, scrub out...go again. By the time you get to the middle, the reader will know if they read for the sake of finishing the poem quickly or whether they read, savoring your offer, with feelings of some sort of emotions, path, or direction you hope to convey.
Then comes your end line...as important, if not more important than your first...the emotion sealed. In prose, story or chapter, it will be your final paragraph or even the final few sentences which bind the work.
YOU HAVE AN OUTSTANDING READING OR ORATION VOICE FOR POETRY; CAN YOU COMMENT ON THAT?
RGSTAR:
Poetry started with oral, known now as the 'Spoken Word' (identified form), and predates written poetry. Only when the means of writing further developed was it thought poetry added dimension visually...even in letter form, as some Japanese poems would give testament to. So in terms of out loud, it is not a ploy; it is as natural to me as writing it...and make no bones about it, poetry should be heard, not just seen; it adds an added dimension, even in the way written, where pauses and punctuation are applied to suit the narrative.
Oration (vocal) is different from 'poetry reading' (I do not orate). At least, not for the most part. 'THE POET' uses voice in an intense way to intensify his or her product. With oration, the orator seeks a projected elation, involving language in an exalted way (high and powerful) in the exaltation of his product.
Poetry reading, the poet, need not seek exaltation, as much as the orator need not seek intensity. Yet it is easy to confuse the two when an oration is written in verse, as some are. Byron is an example of writing long verses for oration.
It is said, Quote! "Oration deals with public things" whilst "Poetry deals with the secret things of man" and women, though man in this instant would mean both.
TWO LAST QUESTIONS, WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? AND IS THERE ANY FORMAL OR INFORMAL THING YOU CAN POINT TO THAT HELPED MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER?
RGSTAR:
There was no real point when I considered myself a writer. I taught and wrote for theater, choreographed, taught drama, and also acted, so writing was a natural progression, and only the endorsement of the readers, predominantly here, could really endorse that title. I was always considered a dancer.
I think artistry and life experience are two ingredients that form a good foundation for good writing, apart from the obvious. Yes, a command of an array of words in the cupboard of the mind is an asset, as well a good command of your language, but it is not the all and be all, for certainly, those poets that are not professors of word or have a grade A in English grammar in their locker, need not fret, because there are editors and some of the best poets, are not as one would perhaps think, the best with grammar or the language.
The idea is to bring whatever you have to the table, Elaborate...that is the key. Learn to project your art in the best way you can. Find the movement, find your tones, speak to the reader. You are not writing an essay. You are writing poetry. Let it sing, let it cry, let it love, let it be believed.
With writing prose, you still have that artistry to find. Being a professor of a language does not necessarily mean you will write either the best stories or the best poetry. Personality, flair, communication skills, and the originality that comes from you are keys to good work, so no simple one or even two answers...just a collective of a few.
Formal? Many would have training in writing skills or methods, but you cannot beat natural, and when the two are combined, it still boils down to your ability in projecting that work to your audience or reader. Your flair, the magic of your quill...let it go.
Informal?
This is one of my long-kept secrets...and I think the reason I write better than I ever did:
My method...process. (Predominantly poetry)
Put it away! Return to it. Let the work breathe. Don't stifle it because you are only stilling your creativity.
When writing a work, don't stress the stanza, the sentence, the line. If you have an idea of the area you want to project...the emotion, the thing you want to say: Jot=(to write briefly or hurriedly) it down, present it, even if it is in its simplest form. Construct as much as you can without struggling, even if it is not the strongest, but don't lose sight of the idea.
It might be that you only construct two sentences, and it may be that you manage to construct a whole stanza or more. When your mind tells you are searching and searching too hard, put the quill down. Stop writing. Walk away from it. Close it down on your computer. Close the pad. Clear your mind. Whether it is to make dinner or whether 4 hours, the next morning, the next day, step away from it.
When you return, you will be surprised, You approach with fresh eyes, and what you read, you may, in fact, smile at, because suddenly you might not think it suffices, and you naturally re-read what you have written and begin to add to the narrative with a much improve sight. You will be surprised. You suddenly find improvement from nowhere. The work becomes giving as you see the plot, the euphoria of new thought you could not find yesterday or some hours before.
The poem suddenly becomes exciting as you see it with new eyes each time as it begins to take shape...stronger than if you had written it in one take. Repeat the process. Your mind will know when it's time to repeat. You will be surprised how many times you can change a single word to a whole sentence or stanza. The end result will surprise you.
Knowing your poem will improve each time, your standard will find its own level, and I promise you, the release of your work will always search for that standard naturally, regardless of your subject matter.
How giving it is to maintain that standard for every work you put out? This applies to every level of poetry. See it through fresh eyes. Let it breathe, Don't stifle your creativity.
This is the last of the series from me. Thank you all for being gracious in your understanding of what I have to offer. I hope it will help enlighten with just another way of doing things. There certainly are many.
Thank you, Terry. I believed in this; that is why I took part. You deserve every credit.
We should always try to assist each other.
 Recognized |
#12 April 2022 |
Artwork by Renate-Bertodi at FanArtReview.com
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