Is it true that great poets never get writers block

No. Great poets get writers block too, it just may be more rare.

But mediocre poets sometimes NEVER get writers block, it depends on the person, not the WRITER, I would say.

lol

Sometimes I get off on lying, I suppose.

Anyway I think it depends on the person, for instance JPM may never get writers block because he is JPM, not because he is a great writer, although JPM may very well ALSO be a great writer.

Get it?

Writers block comes from certain personalities, not great writers. Thats my personal perception.

everyone can get writers block even poets can

Writers block... I might get stuck on a specific topic, but I always have SOMETHING to write about. It's all in the imagination.

Bert

I've never had writer's block... not just in writing poetry but in everything... term papers... short stories... true writers are constantly thinking (not that I am deeming myself a skilled writer)...
If you have writer's block you don't think enough. You probably watched too many cartoons as a kid. If someone gives you a pad of paper and a pencil you should be able to write meaningful things until your hands are bloody.
Also, Just Plain Me... Why on EARTH do you post so many comments... gosh... you claim in some of your poetry that you have an education and you are a skilled writer.... then please explain to me why you waste so much time at this site.
If you are trying to change our generation I commend you.. But it's impossible. I've been trying, but my high school is going to hell. Yesterday someone in my english honors class asked the teacher what unfaithful meant. I know, abhorrent.

If you are going to reference a medication that helps stupid people focus, you would prove your point better by spelling it ADDERALL.

Then again, maybe you need some, so I wont insult you.

Maybe some RITALIN as well, not ridallin, people.

:) kidding

Just Plain Me...
I suppose you did answer my questions, and now I realize how this site is a tool (or toy) to you, but I still think the average "poet" at this site is incapable of appreciating your work.

This site should be a tool for everyone. Nothing you do should be without cause.

Seeing as the average poet is a teenager of about 15 who has fixed opinions I'd agree that they don't appreciate JPM's work because they can't see beyond their own political correctness. It's nothing to do with them being stupid, but JPM's poems work on a higher level. With that no one can argue.

Matt: THAN, not then :)

(than is comparative, then is more of a linking word or to say that something is "after" something else:

EX:
That puppy is bigger than the other one, but then it will grow up, and the breed is bigger.

And I agree with JPM.

I agree with you Just Plain Me, that's one of the reasons I never write. Or if I do write, I usually burn it or throw it away. The way I see it, I had fun writing, but no one wants to hear about how I led my soulmate into suicide. Maybe my own mother, but I'm afraid that's it.

i think writer's block is all a matter of opinion. some people believe in it, some people don't. it's not up to anyone to decide whether or not there is such a thing.
:^)=

Hey, Just Plain Me. That's not nice! Some 15 year olds have life experience and things of value to say- but only about 0.002% of them. You can't make a generalization about 15 year olds like that! As a fourteen year old, I am quite upset by your comment- it makes me want to skip that whole upcoming year of my life out of shame!
But I kind of agree with you- the world would be a better place if people stopped talking about things they didn't understand. Questions and comments of the stupid are for classrooms only- it's a learning process one should be ashamed of.
You know how middle school teachers say we should not be afraid to ask questions? Yeah, well they lied.

JPM's poetry goes deeper than words.

JPM's writing is incredably stoic and his manner is generally ascetic, what do you expect? I do think that it's funny, but when it comes to emotions, well.... they arent his thing.

No one ever said that emotion was just depression, sadness, etc. and you can tip toe around what I meant any way that you would like, but your underlying tone is ascetic, no matter what you write about. I have never really seen you show an ounce of emotion in anything, besides a little fire, which is still very controlled.

Thats not a bad thing, I just dont think that you connect your emotions with your writing nearly as much as intellect. Which is good too...

You're talented, not everyone can do what you can by any means. Everyone can pour a little heartache into a poem like:

He broke my heart,
I'm so lost,
I'd do anything for him,
Pay any cost....

etc.

You're good. Just not emotional.

Everything I say is my opinion, I cant speak for the literary community, nor can you. I dont see how on earth I was out of line by saying what I did. I just think that your way of writing is very matter-of-fact, not nearly as jam packed with emotion as it is intellect and sarcasm. If you want examples go through all of your work. It is blatantly obvious. I have not read ALL of your work, I have only seen what you have posted on this forum. I have not read any other work you have done, obviously. You dont write typical poems, most often they seem to be more running thoughts or rants.

I like your work and I think its brilliant, but my opinion doesnt matter any more than the next persons, so if you think I am misenterpreting you or your work then you should understand how it "comes off" to people and change it, if thats not how you want to be seen. Thats all.

"me: good bye my cum dumpster / cock holster / dick mitten
mother: i love your dirty mouth
me: that's because you're a dirty little whore
mother: my husband never fucks me anymore
me: see you around, next time the bar whores are being prude.
mother: great! call me!
me: i will. i will call you a dirty whore

Being a mother fucker is not only fun, but easy too.

And if you get rewarded with pie, it's even better."

Highly emotional or highly stoic?

"Fat kids smell like old moldy bologna

usually while i'm driving down the street and i spot a fat kid walking / stomping / earth quaking i feel the urge to immediately roll down my window and yell "fatty fatty fat fat""

Full of sensitivity, right?

"fat kid saliva.
gross."

" These precautions are only preliminary for me. I make sure the T.P. is well stocked and is not peed on. (That happened to me once, but that's another rant). I also make sure that there is no water / pee / unknown substance on the floor. There is nothing worse than coming out of the bathroom and the bottoms of your new Guess jeans are soaked with smelly unknown."

Good common sense and logic. Not good emotion.

You write mostly commedy.

You dont write around a mainly emotional basis.

What discrepency do you have with that?

Its true.

Crap... I thought I learned how to spell comedy a while ago... I even have a poem about it.

Just because your writing isnt based emotionally doesnt mean it doesnt stir joy and laughter, your writing is the funniest I have read on these forums. I already told you, I love your work, I love your intellect, and I love your wit. You make people you smile, you make people cry (im sure, lol), you stir alot of emotion, otherwise people wouldnt get so passionate and argue with you or laugh.

Your style is unique. (I for one love it)

I also dont claim to know nothing about sex.

I know alot about sex.

I have never had sex.

There is a big difference.

Even though its emotional it doesnt scream FEELING, PAIN, TEARS, and it doesnt have to to CONVEY emotion.

It just comes from a colder place, then say, Bob Shank, or Hailie, etc.

Its just different, I didnt say DEVOID of emotion. I said your writing seemed stoic, and I stand by that.

Thats what I have been saying all along!!! lol

I guess this isnt a great day for conveying what I mean either.

But anyone who reads my posts knows that EVERYDAY is a bad spelling day, lol.

Stoic according to my dictionary:

Somebody who APPEARS unaffected by emotions, especially somebody admired for showing patience and endurance in the face of adversity.

I think my definition describes your work well.

going another step further, what about the underlying messages in all of Mat's poems? What do you learn from them?

That lifes a bitch, lol.

Nah, just teasing.

The message that I get out of Matt's poems is that you cant change reality. There are a number of ways to look at the same thing, and I think he expresses that beautifully.

I think he comes at life in a very disconnected way (through his writing, I am not saying personally), where it is almost a 3rd person perspective of what is actually occuring.

Not only is that unique, but it does well to prove points that are normally clouded by emotions or societal stigmas.

That's a synopsis, of course there is more (which I could elaborate on if asked)

Ok, why is everyone being so incredibly persnickety with eachother? Why must you hate the sophomoric among us, Just Plain Me? You know.... dropping E might liven up this Shindig....
You guys are a drag.
Also, someone said (way up there^) that poetry can't be funny, or poetry has to be serious, or something along those lines.
You, Sir, are a fool.

Also, now that I have completed reading these posts, I have decided Just Plain Me is right on everything. There is nothing he has said yet that I disagree with (except that cheap shot towards 15 year olds). Also, Just Plain Me, stop trying to so fervently prove your writing has emotion.

Our persnickety-ness with each other is in good fun and understanding, we both love to debate and we both had valid points to prove. Besides the point that it was a misunderstanding for the most part, there was no mal intention.

I, for one, have great respect for JPM. Regardless of what anyone else thinks of him, and I would go to bat for him if I thought someone was being an asshole to him, not that he needs it. He is more than capable of defending himself.

I dont think that his shot at 15 year olds was cheap, a generalization, yes, but I agree with him in general. Then again, I hate when people use the fact that I am 16 against me, because I am so far from the generalization that its not even funny, so the rule of thumb is that generalizations are general, and not blanket facts.

JPM,

first off, it's not legoman. read it backwards and maybe you'll understand. it actually does mean something.

(megomaet--te/amo/gem--megomaet)
let's see how smart you are...try and figure it out.

anyway, the whole point of this forum is for people to post their opinions. i gave mine, whether or not you like it. also, nobody cares about how great you think you are because of your "formal" education in poetry. i feel i am intelligent enough to state my thoughts and views anywhere i wish. you don't have the right to tell people whether or not their opinions have any value. that in fact is only YOUR opinion. i have over a 4.0 and i also have been double-promoted. i will be a senior this fall. obviously i have some sense. no offense meant, but if you have a problem with that, i am not sorry. also, if you don't have anything positive to say to me, then please don't direct any more of your comments toward me. i will appreciate it if you leave me alone and let me give my opinion however i want to give it. my opinion has nothing to do with my age or whether or not i have a degree in english. there also is nothing wrong with still being in high school. this will hopefully be the last time that i ever have to say anything to you. i request that you don't bother me anymore either. you are starting to get on my nerves.
"no offense meant"

(i am almost positive that right now you are looking through my post again trying to find any gramatical errors. that's all you ever do anyway....just get over yourself and leave it alone please. if something is wrong, i don't need your advice nor support)
:^)=sessily

Haha, that is funny. Also, "gem" , you say that you have over a 4.0? How many times must I explain this! GRADES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE! Maybe wisdom, maybe, but that's is still stretching it. It is wise to do your work. Right now I am failing 5 classes ( I have a 55.2% in English), most of which are incredibly easy, I just don't try. I don't consider myself stupid- I'm just as lazy as hell. Do you understand, D'accord(french)? You can't imagine how many idiots go to my school, waving around their report cards, yelling " I HAVE A 4.0!!". The truth is, most of those idiots are taking idiotically easy classes!

I'm not saying that getting good grades is bad, in fact, I would love to have good grades! I'm just not willing to do the work.

Another thing that annoys me....
My school will let students from regular english classes transfer into our honors classes if they get high grades. Because of this, we have loads of these incredibly stupid people ruining our learning enviroment. When you have kids asking the teacher what unfaithful means, you have a problem on your hands.
ALSO- because of these studious yet stupid kids- They won't let me into honors next years because there aren't enough spots. The stupid kids snatched them up with their good "work ethics".
They also won't let me into physics.

annie,

for your information, i am in IB,
2 levels higher than AP and 3 levels higher than regular classes.

JPM,

all i want is for you to stop writing to me.
that is now my greatest concern.

p.s it's spanish and it means "i love g.e.m."
duh, ANNIE! maybe you should stop getting into my business. but if you do decide that you absolutely have to, read what i said first. teamogem-i love GEM. g-e-m....those are initials.

JPM... I've actually been contemplating dropping out. I have no buisness at that school, the teachers don't respect me. Today my english teacher gave me a 35 on my term paper. Most of my friends have convinced me not to, but I feel as though at school I'm taking four years out of my life to learn things I don't need. I also find it insanely cool you dropped out at the tender age of fourteen. Earlier this year when I was thinking about dropping out I thought to myself "Who drops out when they are fourteen?"
Now I know.

"gem" I don't speak spanish I speak french and russian. I do suck at school, thank you very much! If I did well in school I wouldn't take pride in it. I hope you realize it's not from a lack of intelligence. I was going to go to college next year and do a program for gifted youth(something like what you are doing, right?) but my grades weren't high enough. I blame it on my laziness, My parents blame it on the Oxy. Either way.

When I am passionately typing these posts I seem to make grammatical errors a'plenty..
don't criticize me, I'm a math and science person.

g-e-m... don't you have IB homework to do? I have homework, but I won't be doing it. I will spending my time in a "Mellow colorful world" for I have fallen in a k-hole and no one will help me out. *tear*

annie,

let me explain again....g-e-m is someone's initials. THEY ARE NOT MY INITIALS.
my name is sessily as i said before.
sessily does not begin with a G.
also, i take pride in trying to do well in school. laziness is not an excuse. neither is drugs.

thanx, kimber. i appreciate your support.

but i'm leavin' for the night.
i've had enough entertainment.
cya~

Haha, no sweetie, I do not idolize him, but he is by far the most interesting person on this site, or the most interesting person that leaves little "presents" everywhere.
Also, my "addiction" is not in fact, an "addiction", I am just a hedonist. I will not die from it, please trust me.

I went to an expensive private school all my life and was a horrible student.

But you know what?

Everyone loved me. Especially the teachers, and the reason that I got by with not doing any work and failing every test was because of my intellect. All of my teachers knew that I was more than capable, and it was a waste of my time. This is why I left high school my freshman year, with the full support of every teacher and the principle.

There are certain people that are cut out for much bigger things than high school, and just because you're not a good student does NOT by any means imply that you lack intellectual prowess or that you are on the lower end of the totem poll than someone who does do well.

PhDs don’t intimidate me either, you know why? I am smarter than most every PhD I have ever met, just because of the fact that I can think for myself and am not afraid to do so.

I think its funny that you are trying to prove yourself as intellectual by saying how well you do in school, when a parrot can memorize the text books and pass the tests that are considered "standards" for mental ability.

Anyone who is half as smart as they think that they are know that education is not gained in school, it is gained by life. School is only a good thing if it doesn’t hinder personal development and independent thinking. High school is more for emotional development than anything else, and is a total waste of time for people who would do better to skip it. Most kids need to keep their butts in school because they are immature, naieve, and idiots. That’s the truth.

Many successful people, and many notable genius' never graduated high school or had education beyond that point. No school breeds genius or teaches you to think beyond the limits of your own mind, you have boundaries that are set by your own mental capacity, and then most school proceed to hinder your natural barriers and make your mind even smaller.

I also think it's funny that by telling JPM to leave you alone, you are in turn inviting him to be even harder on you, for being so smart, you should understand that. There is a modicum of respect that is shown between intellectuals, and if you so prove that you are one of them, that respect is shown. Until you prove it and jump through the hoops, there is no reason to back off of you, or anyone else.

Its like life, everyone pays their dues.

Now you can say that it doesn’t matter what any of us think, and it doesn’t. But one person does not change a system, so you are either part of it or you are not. You have nothing to prove to any of us beyond the acceptance that you want, but anyone who is hard on you in these forums is either an idiot with an extremist view, or a person trying to get you to jump through hoops of expectation to see how far you can be pushed. This makes you grow. That is why the practice is done, and each person does it their own specific way, but the way JPM does it is pure brilliance, you would do well to observe him and not get immediately put off by his comments, because each poet gets their run in with him at some point. You prove yourself or you don’t, and that is the end of it.

Telling him to leave you alone is no successful argument and it won’t get you anywhere.

School means nothing until you can prove to us you can think for yourself.