Why “Write About What You Know” Can Be Bad Advice For Poets by Gwyneth Box
Writing about what you know – that basic advice all novice writers are given – can actually lead you into problems if you stick too closely to the truth. Particularly when it comes to poetry, a precise and concise form where every word and every sound should be carefully chosen to contribute to the overall effect.
Using personal experience as a jumping off point for what you write is often effective. Once you’ve decided to turn the reality into poetry, though, it’s important to shake off your personal attachment to it. If you don’t, you are likely to end up including irrelevant details that have no place in a poem and have no general appeal.
Suppose you decide to write a poem based on the first time you met your wife. After all, most people have had at least one such experience, so you might think this is a universal topic that will appeal to many readers.
As you start to plan, you remember you’ve been advised to include concrete details to give your poem more impact, so you try to recall exactly how it happened:
It was April. A wet Tuesday afternoon about four o’clock. She was wearing a purple dress and caught her heel as she stepped off the number sixteen bus at the corner of Green Lane and Seagull Grove…
How many of these facts should make it into the finished poem? Think about what each idea can contribute in sounds, metre and imagery.
Does it matter that it was a Tuesday, for example? A “wet Wednesday” is a lot more alliterative. (Unless you go for, “Tuesday, in torrential rain…”, of course!) Is the time important? Maybe “Monday morning”, or “Thursday at three” would work better.
Remember how The Crystals’ song “Da Doo Ron Ron” begins “I met him on a Monday”? In reality, far more meetings happen at weekends, and Thursday, Friday or Sunday would all have worked just has well metrically. But the sounds wouldn’t be so tight: notice how the whole line is tied together by the “m” sounds in “met”, “him” and “Monday”.
Mind you, the fact that it sounds good isn’t a sufficient reason to include a fact or image in the finished poem. Are either day or time actually of any relevance to what you’re writing?
“Seagull Grove” is a lovely street name – perhaps it should have a poem of its own – but unless there are any other birds or wildlife in the account, or unless you’re going to link it in by describing the dress flaring out like wings as she tripped, it’s more likely to distract attention than add anything. And as for the dress itself, remember that you’re never going to find a rhyme for purple.
Of course it’s useful to look at the real details of the occasion, but you should be willing to pick and choose which facts and images you include, and to manipulate them to suit your final poem. Remember that you’re Writing Poetry, not history and not a journal entry.
One last piece of advice: if your wife is going to be offended if you change the details to produce a better poem, maybe you should limit your readership to those with a personal interest – you certainly won’t be writing for a universal audience.
About the Author
Gwyneth Box is a widely published, award-winning poet with extensive teaching experience. Visit => http://www.tantamount.com/words/ to find out more and take a free trial of The Poet’s Toolbox, her innovative on-line poetry techniques course.
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