Can you be too serious about poetry?

I have been told recently that I am too serious and take my poetry writing far too seriously,
It was mentioned that before I left the site and returned I was much more chilled and humorous.

So the question to you all is this....

Can you be too serious about your poetry?

Hmm

it only shows you care for poetry and so taking it seriously its a good think. In my opinion you are giving poetry the time it deserves.

Though, you are still humorous and chilled, "methinks"

Or in other hand one should not take things others say too seriously

Or we could debate the definition of what 'too serious' is.

(thanks BTW Luce)

to spend every night reading and writing?
or to spend 8 hours on 1 comma placement?

"Or we could debate the definition of what 'too serious' is"

Haha and that would prove their point :) (:

8 hours on a comma fits my definition of obsession

but not my definition of serious

i believe serious must include a reasonable degree of significance

You can never be too serious about anything as long as you're passionate about it. The person who told you that obviously isn't appreciative of art and all that it has to offer.

If it becomes an obsession then it can raise problems.

Edit..

Got access again to a computer
yeah...need to elaborate on this comment I feel...Darren said something about debating a comma...pretty sure it was an exageration..hope so?

Some people leave comments to me regarding my (...) three is the norm? I never count them..always ramdom so the people who take the time to count them and leave a comment regarding them are obsessed I think?

I really agree with Jordan, I believe passion is at the core. I don't think one can be too serious about their poetry - I also think it's about one's character, if they want to work on a poem for years until they are satisfied, that's dedication and same goes for if a person posts a poem in under 20 minutes because they're feeling inspired.... none of that means they're obsessed or not serious enough in my mind. I feel like there are times in my writing where I know my poem is complete and I want to post it, other times I wait because I feel it doesn't embody me yet.... I mean to each his own. If you are close to poetry and it is dear to you you'll do what feels right with your writing whether that's spending long periods of time on it or putting aside certain times of the day.

"or to spend 8 hours on 1 comma placement?"

so what is the fine line between passion and obsession??

Lol i don't take my poetry too seriously cause if i actually did then my poetry wouldn't be sooooo far into the emotions part as much more into the nonemotional part and just imagery

Totally agree with Jordan. Why would one not be serious about what they do? If its a passion, you should give 100% towards it.

I definitely think there is a fine line between obsession and seriousness....LOL Hellon, people count the (...)??? come on now...they have way too much time on their hands. I think its almost rude to correct something as (small) as that.. Lets say I was writing a piece that showed my exhaustion and frustration, you're not going to tell me to put three ... instead of .................... <--- this might be what I want in my piece to elaborate on the deep breath, pause that I am taking. People who comment on that definitely have some kind of OCD haha jk, but really, that is kind of ridiculous.

I say be as serious as your passion is...If writing is just a way to vent, whip up something in 3 minutes...if writing is a challenge for you, a practice for your grammar, take 20 minutes on it, if its for entertaining purposes, take a few days on it. Regardless, poetry is about emotion, telling someone they are too serious about their poetry is saying they are too serious about their emotions.......and this is why I feel the world is slowly crumbling, because people aren't serious or in touch with their emotions the way they should be.

Keep on keepin' on Darren! :)

"so what is the fine line between passion and obsession??"

Perception.

I think Darren you have a wonderful passion for writing and creativity, and to demand exactness in writing, is like being a scientist or an engineer who believes and seeks precision in their work. Anything less would not be acceptable to these folks. Most famous scientists are/were not only compulsive, but also obsessive about their work. Most people that are passionate about what they do, do achieve success.
That said, most people would like to place time limits to avoid obsession with exactness in poetry or art...they are mere abstract expressions of our thoughts, and rarely exact. So one would probably want to avoid excesses in self critique such as a comma) that may lead to frustration. All told you have a wonderful flavor and talent for poetry. Some more words of encouragement (from a poem I wrote long ago), which you may like:

"Art is to many, a mere brush stroke
to some it is an expression of thought
But to the artist it is
a creation of his imagination
sometimes from deep within his soul

Words come from our lips
those that most of us can read, write or hear
but Poetry is from the heart
let out as a free voice of the soul
trapped in for too long in shackles of politeness"

OR one could say: Poetry finds beauty in its brokenness, its ability to convey abstract thoughts, and in its power to arouse emotions. It unlocks memories and sets free areas of pain.

Great Poets are masters in conveying incomplete thoughts to evoke intense emotions.

"Great Poets are masters in conveying incomplete thoughts to evoke intense emotions." LS

Yes! Exactly.

That is the point I made on a different thread. The ability to communicate is doomed to imperfection because we must use language, filtered through our reasoning process, to express emotional, unreasonable, experiences.

That situation means that implications are more likely to convey meaning than explicit language.

What is the line between passion and obsession? Whether it interferes with our ability to carry on the other areas of our lives.

I've had issues such as Darren describes where I fret over the wording, and even the punctuation, and it may absorb hours. But these hours are not usually all at once. It's more of a set-aside & come back to it with fresh eyes.

Perception?? haha you and your conceptual slogans!!

Actually what you call perception I call miss-perception. Because no matter how you stretch your perception, you can not bring ""spending 8 hours on 1 comma placement"" on the un-obsessive part of the equation. So you have to stretch your reception to other side of the border.

Thanks everyone who has commented so far,
The 8 hours comma thing was something I read about a playwright doing.

I am the other end of the spectrum, an idea pops into my head and I write it, usually in about 2 mins. If it is formed poetry I have been known to spend 1/2 hour on it, I seldom re-visit.

(I did recently with Maples contest)

What I was interested in was the comment directed at me for being 'too serious'

I was wondering if such a thing is possible at all?
I agree there can be an element of obsession, also a huge slice of self appreciation and ego feeding, but serious?
To me that suggests a lack of humour or empathy.

As far as the comma thing goes......
I think too much punctuation litters a poem, it should be used purely to dictate the pace the writer wants his/her/it's poem to flow.

Hahaha RM that's a good point. Perception is a hinge on reality though, so there is still such a thing as "extreme" within the scope of perception. Reason helps govern that one. So yes...maybe the comma bit is a little ridiculous.

Although if a person is dedicated enough to do that, I say who cares as long as they're not doing themself or anyone else harm. I think the term "obsession" stems from our negative perceptions of what a person should or should not be doing at any given time.

My conceptual slogans aren't without their limitations. I'm just too damned lazy to go into any great detail.

Obsession and seriousness,

is there a gauge?

could being serious be easily confused with being sensible?
Could obsession be confused with being a perfectionist?

can anybody really have the right to judge either?

I think anyone who has looked back at poems they have written several years ago might struggle to be really serious about them, or at least I struggle. We all change so much (or we should I hope) that poems written in the midst of some difficult situation can be the most serious passionate expression possible and anyone who even looks at your words with a frown is getting slapped.

10 years on, you'd probably smirk at yourself expressed in those words. When I read poems I wrote when I was 18, I usually think along the lines of;

"aw, what a cutie pie...silly, but cute"

LMAO oh my gosh lol that made me laugh and hmmmmm i look back at how i started in my first account and go hmmmmmm WOW i sucked and i got better and i hope i get better in the future! :)

Touche, Kevo.

Lmao Kevin....

Funny thing is though, when I also look back at poetry I wrote when I was a pre teen...I think "ewwww this is crap."....but when I wrote it all back then, I WAS serious!... just funny how as we age, the way we express ourselves matures too, and what was serious then is not serious now.

That's very true! :) but still for me what i write is bad oh well

I am serious in writing!!
Sometimes, I struggle so much with a comma or a word that it takes me much time. Other times, when I am in an emotional state of mind, I don't care much, so my feelings come raw worded.

In my Arabic writes, I edit sooooooooo much; maybe that's why I'm still writing my long story (novel, if I can name it as such) since 2010. Yes, believe it. I want it to be perfect and glittering! This may be good, but it is bad, too, for sometimes, I feel nauseated about my edits, so I stop midway to come back after a week for example.

I must admit I look at some of the stuff I wrote only 4 months ago and think, 'what is this crap?'

which means the stuff I write now will be crap in 4 months.......

I have that same issue. Although there have always been pieces that I look back on and think "hey, that's pretty good!"

What's nice is when you can swallow your pride and update an old poem with your current style and mood.

Like Walt Whitman who wrote his book:: " Leaves of Grass" and the rest of his life just kept correcting the verses in coming additions, finding out in the end of his journey, that the first ones were even better.
I guess this is the same way Christopher Columbus found out that the world is rounded!!

I think to each is their own, as time progresses so do we. We mature throughout the seasons and so does our sense of expression, tastes, interest and so on. Also another thing to think about is that poetry usually means something to the author, it may be extremely deep and serious or it may just be something that came to mind and they need to get out of there heads. In that case, as time goes on, that thing may become minuscule and even seem immature but at the time meant so much. So looking back on things can be weird or seem foolish but to think about what it meant at that particular point in time may put it back into perspective.
In my opinion you can never be too serious about something, like Jordan and Chelsey mentioned, if you are passionate about something you'll probably be serious about it (In your own way).

I think everyone is different. When it comes to punctuation, I tend to notice every little detail and sometimes will comment on it and other times just let it slide by because people have different tastes when it comes to punctuation and can mean different things by it, others may not care at all about it and just add it because it seems like they should.

I believe the line in between obsession and passion is that obsession becomes a problem and over time will control you, leading you to become someone/something that you are not.
Passion is something that you love and care about and want to grow in, it may be on your mind constantly as in eat, sleep and live it, but it defines you and who you are, rather than make you into something else.

And just because your poetry is serious, doesn't mean you can't have a chill and fun personality. Poetry may reflect what's inside and who you are in a way, but to let it's seriousness define you may not be the best idea. But if you are focused on it and want to grow, than heck yes you will probably come off to seem more/overly serious. I think it's a good thing. Just some fairly unorganized, slightly rambled thoughts.

"maybe the comma bit is a little ridiculous"
" can anybody really have the right to judge either?"

There is a New York Times bestseller about punctuation " Eats, Shoots & Leaves" 200 pages, short ones; in my speed of reading it would take me four hours to read entire book. In 8 hours I could read the whole book two times and probably have time to correct few of my poem's punctuations. (mind that I am a slow reader, second language.)
Now imagine me bending on my laptop, piece of paper, contemplating for 8 hours to put just one comma here or there.
Here? o no over there. really??. The possibility of that commas were about in one sentence couldn't be more than two, three or four, no matter how long that sentence be. And now imagine 8 hours, 480 minutes.
Spending more than two minute for one comma is useless according to me. (If you can 't get it you need to study it farther.) and you have 478 extra minutes to work on 240- 438 other commas. Even a turtle would walk faster than that. Unless of course if you're the dozy head rabbit that slips into sleep coma, then in that case, I would say onto you, only one dose of comma, would be more than sufficient for whole day.

^ Skye: You took the words out of my mouth. When I read my older poems (and mind you, many of my poems are older than most of you guys) I read them as from a person I no longer am: they give me insight into myself at that time. Edit them? Only if it's an obvious spelling or punctuation error - otherwise it would not be true any more.

I may, however, find something in the older poem that gives rise to a new iteration and therefore a new expression of where I am now on that particular issue.

EDIT: perhaps I'll spend a moment on correcting comma placement ;8-)

I prefer to think of myself being more serious about the message than form or punctuation , but have come to learn I must reflect obsessions in order to refract a message

Yes, Michael! True.

not to forget that nowadays you have to be as summarized as possible to deliver a certain message through poetry or other things..