From the Heart: CALLING ALL WRITERS

I figured while annelyse is doing this I mine as well too. Also I am doing this because I have seen so many posts about this same thing recently, and so many people are saying the same thing abuout writing from the heart, which is driving me crazy.

ABout writing from the heart. ANYBODY who ever says all good poetry comes from the heart is bullshitting you. anyone who says you should always write from the heart is bullshitting you. The heart has nothing to do with poetry. The heart is a f---ing muscle that pumps blood. You don't have to feel what you are writing about, you don't have to agree with it, believe it, or ever experienced it. You don't have to have ever seen or heard about it. None of that crap matters. Anybody who has ever written about dying has no clue what they are writing about. Has anyone who has ever written died before. NO. You couldn't have possibly committed suicide, and because of your experience, are now writing from the heart about your own suicide. What makes good writers has nothing to do with your heart. It has to do with the overall presentation and meaning of your piece. I am sick of people answeringquestions about what makes good poetry by saying it is good if it comes from the heart. Tell people something useful, something that is actually going to help. That is the worst copout, preteen answer I have ever read.

Maybe like anneelyse posted, you guys keep complaining about inspiration and writer's block because you are writing from the heart and your heart is really giving anything back. Why would that be? Because good poetry does not necessarily come from the heart. Or maybe it is just that your heart is telling you to stop writing.

Maybe they're referencing the metaphoric heart? My opinion about poetry is that there are several ways to write it. There are entirely cerebral ways, that involve direct attention to form and style, rhythm and rhyme. But there are also passionate poems that don't concern themselves with the more intellectual aspects of poetry. I wouldn't presume to know whether one is better than the other, but I'd imagine that 'writing from the heart' concerns a less intellectual but more passionate pursuit of poetry.

Quote, unquote writing from the heart is over rated.

Yes, you want to write with heart, heartfelt, to greater or more deeply connect with your audience, but I think the concept is still a bit over rated. I think it's not heart you should be striving to write with, necessarily, but more so over soul, with soul (that is to say putting a little piece of you in all that you write). When you write, you should put your heart into it, but poetry isn't about emotional dribble but more so over about eloquent artistic expression. It's not so much what you write, but the expressiveness, eloquence, with which you write it. It's about the affect your words can have, how they can captivate, not how emotionally high-strung they are. Good poetry has heart (life) but isn't necessarily from the heart!!!

Strive to write effectively not emotionally!!!

The point is to make the reader feel a certain way or recieve a certain message. End of story.

I agree with Sean.

But I'm not even going to get started on this topic.. I'll probubly start to get mad and I don't want to say something I'll regret.. but so you all know, I don't think it's stupid to write from the heart, but at the same time you don't have to experience death just to write about it. You can write about how you feel death would be like. You don't have to personally experience everything in life to be able to write about it. I've written a lot of love poems based on what I feel is in my heart, yet I've never been in love. I feel a certain way about society and politics and I may write about that but it doesn't mean that I'm a politician or have been deeply hurt by one.. etc..
It's all how you want to write and, not always what you feel, but what you feel like writing about.

And some poeple write in different ways.. would you rather read an emotionless poem that didn't make you feel anything or change your point of few about something because they felt so strongly about it and it showed through their words? Or would you rather read some stupid poem that has absolutely no meaning, no emotion, and after reading it realize that it was a big waste of your time, and you will NEVER get that moment back?

I really do not know how much my writing comes from my "heart" , I mean I must have to have a decent mind to be able to put my emotions into words. I think ppl write from their hearts..what they feel at the moment, I could not imagine a poem written without any feelings at all, the reader would be able to pick up on it too I would think. This is just an opinion of course.

You want to write like you understand what a person going through anything you write about feels. You may have experience with it or not. I have poems about cutting but I've never cut myself..... I think I understand what motivates a person to do that and I write about it like I would if I really did cut myself. That's all you can do. If you write about only the stuff you've experienced then you are holding yourself back.

A heart void of substance and rhythm is virtually useless
I think the same could be said of poetry

^ Amen

"A heart void of substance and rhythm is virtually useless. I think the same could be said of poetry"

^I disagree with what you said about rythm, but that is for a different thread.

My point is that writing from the heart does not make a poem good. An author does not have to feel at all to write a good poem. An author's feelings and an author ADDING EMOTION TO A PIECE are two seperate things that you people often confuse. Adding emotion to a piece is very much needed in good writing, but bececause an author does that does not mean that he wrote from his heart. I have written things full of emotion but that didnt come from my heart. Half the time I don't feel anything when I write, and Iu try not to, but I still add emotion and ideas to my stories.

Now would most of you stop mixing the two up. I distinguishly said that writing from the heart has nothing to do with good writing so please people, I beg you, stop telling others that it does.

For those of you who still do not understand, go read Edgar Allen Poe's essay on how he came up with "The Raven." That should shed light on this subject for you. Because most people would argue that he wrote it from his heart, I, and Poe himself, argue that he wrote most of it logically and mathematically, calculating out the rhythm and sounds. So anyways, please go forward with the discussion but stop confusing or mistruing what I am saying.

The original post is quite insightful. It is true: Do not write only with emotions, strive for excellence and eloquence as well! Emotions merely provide the beginning of a poem... words embody their essence.

I prefer to think of The Balance of the Heart, Soul & Mind as subjective but I am not above using objective metaphors, or metaphors that compare physical matter to spiritual essence. I am a little confused about the point you are trying to make. Anything can be reduced to a narrow view. If we chemically remove one atom of oxygen from two atoms of hydrogen, it is difficult to recognize each separate element as a portion of water.
Ask a chemist which element is more important in the simple formula for water. Subjectively I find it just as difficult to recognize the soul heart and mind as independent of each other in expressing ourselves. Which simple element is more important to life as we know it earth, wind, fire, or water? Many ancients believed, as many still do, that we can love with our heart, soul, mind and strength. Poetry to me is the art of language
Beauty comes in many forms.

I am not saying it is wrong for what you are saying MIKe. It is just that countless threads have people posting that good poetry comes from the heart. That is the most useless phrase to tell anybody what good poetry is that I have ever heard. In this thread I am simply trying to show people why that is not so. Hopefully they understand me and stop telling people that that is what makes up good poetry.

I don't disagree with the fact that we can love with our mind, soul, heart, and so forth. I just want people to realize that good poetry doesn't necessarily come from the heart. The author doesn't have to feel at all to write a poem, story, novel, whatever.

I see the point of view. Poetry I feel is a creation that comes from you. It can be our baby so to speak. It must have a life of its own that others can witness.

Some of the poets that I have studied such as Voltaire have been credited with bringing about societal changes or revolution. Some journalists have portrayed lyric writers such as Bob Dylan as having influence on societies attitudes. Cory do you think the literary figures are setting the tone, or reflecting it? If you believe the heart is a feeding muscle, you may want to examine what the youth of today are being fed. I think you will agree not all of the material they consume is healthy. Regardless if literature, and other influences come from the mind, heart, or soul do you agree that they affect behavior?
Cory I believe you are older that what your profile suggest. I have no reason to believe that any of my writings will ever reach the audience that the ‘above mentioned’ poets have reached. My poems have been allowed in many venues. I do not claim to be a prophet, but in a mystical sense I believe we all have the ability to let the ultimate good into our heart, soul and mind. The best poetry comes through us, not from us

Alright so basically, everyone has their own opinion. Obviously. So why don't we just agree, to disagree? Everyone has their own perception of beauty, how to write poem, what makes a good poem, etc. and whatever. Just write YOUR poems how YOU want to write them.

I find that for me, my best poems are the ones that just write themseves, the ones that actually you really don't try to write, just comes out on the page. Sometimes poems are better if they rhyme, but i think that depends on the type of poem. A poem bout death isn't going to be made more jolly by the occasional rhyme!
Personally, writing for me is jyst a way to get out ow i feel, i don't write to impress or anything for others, only myself. I think they're the best. You will never please everyone, so why not start with yourself?

I couldn't agree more, Allie.

This is really getting off the track of the topic so I will start a new thread to reply to your past post Michael. It will be under the name Ideological vs. Emotional writing

i think it could be wrong to say you know your in love cus your heart hurts cus it doesnt-you feel it deeper down,like the bottom of your stomach-but to write it very emotional, you need to know the all powerful words that will suitably match each other and compliment each other but also know there meanings and there possible hidden meanings.....so i say the mind feeds the heart with words which feeds the mind back again with feelings...

.....its like have you ever felt like someone is tearing your heart out-i know i have and i know it feels like there is a hand around my heart squashing it,not that i write about feelings from the heart, just suppressed memories and life altering moments i think are important but arnt really as they dont define anything.

i say just write what you know-and if it sucks then go back and make minor alterations....if when you read it again and it still sucks then there aint no way you can bring it alive with feeling so give up and start a ne one.

Poetry is a bit like drama in that sense because, like acting, you are presenting emotions which you don't have to have experienced yourself. But somehow, what you have experienced always presents itself better. Emotion in a poem is what keeps you reading.

that's not the definition of acting at all...

Um, I wasn't really meaning to define acting, just drawing a small parallel because part of what you do as an actor is show emotion

Poems... should contain emotion. They should let the reader know how you [the author] felt at the moment when what you are writing about happened. But that's only if what you're writing about has actually taken place. A lot of the time I write about things that I'm imagining at this very moment. Saying that poems come from your heart is a lie. They come from you. Your soul, inner being... whatever. They come from what makes you you.

My heart makes me, me and I do disagree. Though it's just a concept, you too can believe :]

I think that i have to disagree on part of what you said though i know that the heart is more of just a muscle, and has nothing to do with good poetry, i think that there is no way to achieve good poetry without an emotional backup, just writing to say its good writing would leave your piece dry no matter how much imagery its spewing. you could never write about a death scene, a love scene, or even confusion if you left you poetry emotionless and dry. Though "adding heart" is cheesy and pointless, emotion is still necessary to achieve good writing.

wow, thats the most... different approach to writers block i've ever seen. ;)