Under Her Spell: An Interview

[bronzeage]

Have you ever written a poem in first person voice, in character and had everyone assume it was autobiographical?

 

[bflagsst]

UYS was a big reason I kept visiting the forum during the many lulls.

I appreciate your prolific output and quality of verse.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

How anal are you about following the rules when you're writing a poem within a defined form? Does it bother you to squeeze in the occasional word that doesn't quite fit the meter? An extra syllable here and there? Approximate rhymes?

Goodness what a word! It does bother me getting the meter wrong and I would rather give up in it if I can't get it right! It also bothers me if I read somebody elses contribution where they have stuffed in some word just to make the rhyme so that they end up with Yoda speak (I think it was Anna Swirls first coined that phrase). Syllables I find harder to figure actually and somewhere I have a syllable counter. Approximate rhymes are good though and somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I seem to recall a mass gunfight where we had to use them. It was probably some devious ploy of Laurens to make me tear my hair out by the roots!

 

[UnderYourSpell]

And I will repeat it was an honest mistake and not intended as an insult. You must have been convincingly masculine because I always check the bio if in doubt.

Which is more important to you, favourable comments or a high score.

Sweetness I have never felt insulted by you (please don't take that as a challenge!) but highly amused yes. Favourable comments every time .......... red Hs often fade very quickly, bad comments take longer.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Have you ever written a poem in first person voice, in character and had everyone assume it was autobiographical?

Plenty. I've never made any secret of my abusive childhood so Changeling child and Rape of a Childhood spring to mind, I can only assume though that readers made the connection but I expect they did. When a child has no control and can't escape physically turning inwards into their own world and the words of others in books is the only place to go.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

UYS was a big reason I kept visiting the forum during the many lulls.

I appreciate your prolific output and quality of verse.

Thank you so much that means a lot. Actually I think I only got the MIP because during one of the lulls I was so afraid this place that I loved would die so commented on everything going to make others reply and they got so damn fed up seeing my name they gave it to me to shut me up! See what you get for having verbal Diarrhoea But seriously that award came as a complete surprise I didn't even know it existed before I was told I had won it

 

[Angeline]

Do you have a favorite form, one you return to when you write? And how free is your free verse? Do you slip little tricks you learned from writing forms into free verse poems? How about private jokes? I know you did that in the last line of the dung beetle poem as GM pointed out. Did you ever think you'd be having a discussion about form poetry and dung beetles?

 

[todski28]

Hey

How long is your editing process and what are the main things you look for when editing your work?
How long do you "sit" on a poem before you start the editing process?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Do you have a favorite form, one you return to when you write? And how free is your free verse? Do you slip little tricks you learned from writing forms into free verse poems? How about private jokes? I know you did that in the last line of the dung beetle poem as GM pointed out. Did you ever think you'd be having a discussion about form poetry and dung beetles?

I would say the Triolet I think which practically writes itself once you have your rhymes and main lines in place (but that could just be laziness!) others than run close 2nd and 3rd are the Pantoum and the Acrostic. I was thinking last night that many people seem to be under the impression that all Form poetry rhymes but there are many that don't. For example the dreaded Sestina and it's shorter companion the Tritina, neither does the Acrostic/Double Acrostic. I'm not quite sure what you mean about the freedom of my Free verse but I'm glad I learn't about enjambment because it works both in Form and Free keeping the rhythm going if you like, leading the reader onwards especially if every line doesn't begin with a capital letter. As for private jokes I do like the double entendre i.e How to eat a Banana and Back Passage and a few others that have nothing whatsover to do with sex ...... or do they
And no I had no idea my dung beetle would have made such an impression

 

[UnderYourSpell]

How long is your editing process and what are the main things you look for when editing your work?
How long do you "sit" on a poem before you start the editing process?

Hey Todski nice to see you here.
Errr how long is a piece of string lol? How ever much you edit there will always be someone who thinks you could have done more, but what I try to weed out are as many 'and/I/then/repetitions of the same word in one line/cliches/gerunds (words ending in ing) especially not using 'ing' as an excuse for a rhyme. Seeing a poem full of ringing, dinging, flinging is very boring for the reader and just plain laziness on the part of the poet.
I do try to get down to editing straight away but hey life often gets in the way and it just has to wait, but giving it a rest often means I can come back and see it in a different light. I usually write on paper first and the pad sits beside my laptop and I tinker with it when I can get some peace. My husband is now retired and peace for writing is in very short supply!

 

[butters]

Hello Annie

Do you have a particular poem you are fond of, or consider one of your best, that has received little attention whereas others you might not be so proud of seem to do better in the public eye?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Hello Annie

Do you have a particular poem you are fond of, or consider one of your best, that has received little attention whereas others you might not be so proud of seem to do better in the public eye?

Hello glad you made it but you certainly made me work hard to find your answer!
I'll chose a couple if I may for different reasons
1 Double First Entry which to my mind is pretty erotic because you've got it all there a Sub, a Threesome, BDSM and anal sex
2 Goodbye my friend which is true and signifies a deep hurt at the much too early sudden loss of a man who under different circumstances and in a different time would have been more than a friend

 

[champagne1982]

Ahh, Annie! Have I ever told you how much I admire the facility with which you create a _________________________ (fill in the blank) poem out of humour, pain and/or crudeness without resorting to usage of the obvious crude, rude or inappropriate words many would not hesitate to include? This takes a lot of grace and you've proven time and again that you have more than enough of that quality. Thank you for maintaining a high standard in all you do.

p.s. I know you don't hesitate to use the language or the ideas when you use them for effect.

Love you, love your poetry.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Ahh, Annie! Have I ever told you how much I admire the facility with which you create a _________________________ (fill in the blank) poem out of humour, pain and/or crudeness without resorting to usage of the obvious crude, rude or inappropriate words many would not hesitate to include? This takes a lot of grace and you've proven time and again that you have more than enough of that quality. Thank you for maintaining a high standard in all you do.

p.s. I know you don't hesitate to use the language or the ideas when you use them for effect.

Love you, love your poetry.

Love you too Honey Please let me take this opportunity to thank all the poets who were here when I joined this forum for welcoming me in, rough round the edges and clueless. I had no idea what a stanza or any other jargon was, I just know you made me want to learn. Sometimes it was done gently, sometimes I got a swift kick up the backside but I found encouragement here that I've never found the like anywhere else. I've laughed with you and cried with you and even though most of us are thousands of miles apart ....... lasting friendship. I love you loads

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

It's not over yet, Annie. M. Proust is here with his....

World Famous Questionaire

• If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

• What is the best gift you’ve received?

• Which hobby would you pursue if you had more time?

• If you could have any super power what would it be?

• What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

• What was your most epic road trip?

• What food brings back childhood memories?

• Which book most influenced your life?

• What is the most valuable piece of advise you ever received?

• If you could go back and relive one day in your life. Which one
would it be and why?

• What advice would you give your ten year old self today?

• What do you most admire in a man?

• What do you most admire in a woman?

• What word or phrase do you most over-use?

• Who are your favourite writers?

• Which artists do you most admire?

 

[The_Fool]

Okay Annie, you asked for it:

What topics do you enjoy writing about?

Is there a specific theme that you tend to revisit? If so, why?

What topic(s) scare you, frustrate you, make you want to throw up? (in other words, give me one topic you will never write about.) Explain.

We, as poets here, have collaborated on works in the past. Who would be the top three poets you would like to work with, that you haven't and why?

Glad you are here hugs and kisses...


~Fool

 

[UnderYourSpell]

hope this posts ok because when I tried to reply with the quote it kept coming up it was too short!!

It's not over yet, Annie. M. Proust is here with his....

World Famous Questionaire

• If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
England always, for all it's faults I am very patriotic. not that I wouldn't like a little island in warmer climes tucked away for a trip now and then

• What is the best gift you’ve received?
My laptop

• Which hobby would you pursue if you had more time?
I'm retired I have plenty of time, peace to write is another matter. If I had that I would attempt to get published

• If you could have any super power what would it be?
Flight

• What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Agreeing to be hoisted up from the ground into a helicopter!

• What was your most epic road trip?
Not sure if this counts but driving from the South of England to the Highlands of Scotland in one day

• What food brings back childhood memories?
Fried Christmas pudding!

• Which book most influenced your life?
My family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell read as a set book in High School ........ finally there was another family more dysfunctional than mine!

• What is the most valuable piece of advise you ever received?
Follow your heart, life's too short to live in misery

• If you could go back and relive one day in your life. Which one
would it be and why?
My wedding day to Ron the man I followed my heart for

• What advice would you give your ten year old self today?
Hold on in there girl it will pass

• What do you most admire in a man?
Integrity and a good sense of humour

• What do you most admire in a woman?
The ability to look like a fashion model whatever they wear. How do they do that? My Mother had it .......... I don't!

• What word or phrase do you most over-use?
But ........

• Who are your favourite writers?
Jodi Picoult, Torey Hayden, Rebecca Shaw, Ruth Rendell

• Which artists do you most admire?
Salvador Dali, Beryl Cook, Norman Thelwell, Giles

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Okay Annie, you asked for it:

What topics do you enjoy writing about?

Is there a specific theme that you tend to revisit? If so, why?

What topic(s) scare you, frustrate you, make you want to throw up? (in other words, give me one topic you will never write about.) Explain.

We, as poets here, have collaborated on works in the past. Who would be the top three poets you would like to work with, that you haven't and why?

Glad you are here hugs and kisses...


~Fool

Lefty thank you for coming

I like writing about anything Comedic especially tongue in cheek or double entendre, having been blessed with a good (although at times weird) sense of humour it makes for good subject material.
I have found I do return to the subject of the place I was born. The county itself (Norfolk in England) has a wild beauty of waterways and seashore, but I write of how it used to be when it was unspoilt and a child could wander in safety for miles. I wonder how many do that now?
As for what I would never write about, well put it this way if there was ever a competition requiring illustrated arachnids you wouldn't see me for dust! Most other things I could probably cope with, although Vomit and Cum swallowing would be next on the list.
Your last question is a hard one and I shall have to have a longer think on that one, but I will answer soon

 

[UnderYourSpell]

We, as poets here, have collaborated on works in the past. Who would be the top three poets you would like to work with, that you haven't and why?

Glad you are here hugs and kisses...


~Fool

Ok I've decided and these are my choices
1 Wicked Eve 2 Boo (for those two it would mean we had them back) and 3 Anna Swirls (to make her stay around more) Whats more they were and are great poets who it would be a privilege to work with again

 

[UnderYourSpell]

HarryHill has posted a question as a comment on my one and only story, I am considering whether to reveal the most erotic thing I've ever seen or not!

 

[twelveoone]

and then the dark lord shows up
UYS you must be aware of my antipathy for form, largely for 3 reasons
1. the assumption that it is a form and somehow I should be impressed
2. writing to the form instead of paying attention to the internal word order
3. it often (dread) looks like a walk through
in other words the poem somehow feels stilted, artificial, like it is not inhabited, and I don't want to be there.
You avoid this and do it with humour and grace. (well sometimes not grace, for the sake of humour.)
So a rather left handed compliment.
Bringing the other hand together to clap, Rhyme, you are good, certainly one of the better here, this is an area fraught with disaster for a newcomer. So any advice to a newb as to who you think was really good at it for them to read and why they where good at it?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

and then the dark lord shows up
UYS you must be aware of my antipathy for form, largely for 3 reasons
1. the assumption that it is a form and somehow I should be impressed
2. writing to the form instead of paying attention to the internal word order
3. it often (dread) looks like a walk through
in other words the poem somehow feels stilted, artificial, like it is not inhabited, and I don't want to be there.
You avoid this and do it with humour and grace. (well sometimes not grace, for the sake of humour.)
So a rather left handed compliment.
Bringing the other hand together to clap, Rhyme, you are good, certainly one of the better here, this is an area fraught with disaster for a newcomer. So any advice to a newb as to who you think was really good at it for them to read and why they where good at it?

I wondered if you would come in and I'm glad you did! Yes I'm very aware of your antipathy but I do think that may be caused from lack of understanding as much as anything. Some form poems I have read make me cringe too, not saying this to sound big headed but I find a lot of the forms easy, far easier than free style and as I've said before I like the rhythm when it's done right. But each to their own and if you're not happy with rhyme have you ever tried the forms that don't rhyme?
Some of the best form writers have left ........ namely LadynStFreknBed for her Villanelles, vrosej10 for Haikus, Of the ones still here Tzara for Sonnets, Angeline, Tristesse2, champagne1982 for versatility in most forms and The Fool certainly for Sestinas. Why are they good at them? Who can say? Perhaps because they are prepared to knuckle down and try something outside their comfort zone instead of sticking to the same old, same old.
There are forms I'd rather not write but at least I can say I've tried before writing them off as not to my taste. I could have stuck to form and never tried free style but I've given that a shot too and got my one and only Red H not for form but for free style.

 

[twelveoone]

I wondered if you would come in and I'm glad you did! Yes I'm very aware of your antipathy but I do think that may be caused from lack of understanding as much as anything. Some form poems I have read make me cringe too, not saying this to sound big headed but I find a lot of the forms easy, far easier than free style and as I've said before I like the rhythm when it's done right. But each to their own and if you're not happy with rhyme have you ever tried the forms that don't rhyme?
Some of the best form writers have left ........ namely LadynStFreknBed for her Villanelles, vrosej10 for Haikus, Of the ones still here Tzara for Sonnets, Angeline, Tristesse2, champagne1982 for versatility in most forms and The Fool certainly for Sestinas. Why are they good at them? Who can say? Perhaps because they are prepared to knuckle down and try something outside their comfort zone instead of sticking to the same old, same old.
There are forms I'd rather not write but at least I can say I've tried before writing them off as not to my taste. I could have stuck to form and never tried free style but I've given that a shot too and got my one and only Red H not for form but for free style.

Roi is low for me, trust me, I think you do it well, 'nuff said, rhyme, I use it often.

 

[wakingDown]

When trying a new form, have you ever felt that perhaps the poem itself was coloring your opinion of whether or not you enjoy the form? I have wondered if it would be a subjective thing, or if the feel for the form would be divorced from the sensations brought about by the creation of the poem itself. I was just hoping to get another view on this.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

When trying a new form, have you ever felt that perhaps the poem itself was coloring your opinion of whether or not you enjoy the form? I have wondered if it would be a subjective thing, or if the feel for the form would be divorced from the sensations brought about by the creation of the poem itself. I was just hoping to get another view on this.

Partly I would say because as in all poems if you chose the wrong subject matter, sometimes it just won't write. I'm sure everyone has started off with good intentions and then got bogged down and deserted it. There are so many forms to chose from and in Survivor I got forced (as it were) to write where I wouldn't chose to go. Perhaps it makes me lazy I don't know, but there are certainly some forms that come easier to me than others. When we used to have teach-ins I think it was the Terzanelle that had to be spelt out to me in very short words ...... I didn't get the hang of it for ages! I hope this is what you were asking it's silly o'clock here and the brain is not functioning so well!