Message boards useful to writers if you hit ‘delete’ on politics

Message boards are a great resource for writers—you do a story about kumquats you look for a hobby group. Need to know about the effects of a disease or medical treatment? People are inexplicably eager to share. Amazing what grass roots research, a simple search in cyberspace, can do for you.

But I also come across messages that I suspect are placed by political plants. If an individual touts a candidate brazenly, especially if the board isn’t on a political site, I’d say that makes the person’s messages suspect. I came across an example of this at mediabistro.com today. An individual has plastered Mitt Romney all over the board, and all this does is alienate conservatives and of course liberals get all excited and next thing you know you are wading through the political sewer, getting an education in how many creative ways a person can use the ‘F’ bomb or insult someone’s mother. There's no way a politician would encourage this type of posting, but his opponent might.

Do people get paid to write these messages, I wonder? Maybe. Some of the grammar and/or spelling gets too funny to be accidental—spellings like Gullani are par for the course.

Political wags haven’t overlooked Oprah. After Oprah endorsed Barack Obama, the community at oprah.com has been having a chew fest. The title of one discussion: OPRAH IS A TRAITOR! Several threads take the talk show host to task. What’s mind-bending is the attitude of many that Oprah shouldn’t endorse anybody because she’s a journalist. I believe Oprah would agree that journalism isn’t her calling. For those dull of mind, write this down: Oprah is in the entertainment industry. She expresses her preferences on everything from cooking to sex to pop culture literature. So why shouldn’t she tell you who she’s voting for if she feels like it? Sean Penn doesn’t hold anything back. No difference.

The good thing about message boards, at least from a writer’s standpoint, is they present a wide range of opinions and sometimes, a great deal of expert information. Contact information is often included with a post. It's even possible to find sources for interviews.

When it comes to the politics, however, message boards present something really close to what my hound dog deposits in our back yard every morning. (Kay B. Day, 1-21-08)

Merry Christmas to our Creative Writer US readers

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South Carolina artist Valerie Lumpkin creates each Carolina angel from natural materials like seashells and moss, adding glitter and paint. Lumpkin creates a distinct personality for each angel she crafts. I've purchased dozens of these from her over the years, for decorating at Christmas and for gifts.

We hope all our Creative Writer US readers have a holiday filled with joy and peace.

Steven Ratiner’s book a window into the soul of poets like Donald Hall

I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview with former U.S. poet laureate Donald Hall for The Writer. In the preliminary stages of setting up my questions, I searched for books and articles about Hall, who happens to be one of my favorite writers. I came across the book ‘Giving Their Word, Conversations with Contemporary Poets,’ by Steven Ratiner. In addition to interviews with Hall, Ratiner includes interviews with Mary Oliver, Charles Simic, Seamus Heaney, Marge Piercy and a number of other poets. Ratiner’s methods of questioning enable the reader to feel as though you’re sitting on a sofa watching an incredible conversation take place.

I’ve added this book to a small list of works I recommend to aspiring writers. Although the focus is on poetry and poetics, the insight inherent in each article is applicable to good writing in general. One of my favorite responses came from poet Mary Oliver. Ratiner asked her about a person who may be a “pivotal figure” a writer remembers.

“No,” Oliver responded, “I truly feel that the pivotal moments for me were reading poems. I can remember the original excitement when I read poems and thought, my goodness, these are not chronological—these do not happen on Wednesday and finish on Thursday. These happen over and over…And I want to do this too.”

Oliver says she didn’t even publish until her late 20s.

I’d highly recommend this book for writers at all levels. It’s perfect for teaching creative writing in the classroom. Ratiner seems to know exactly what to ask these accomplished writers in order to elicit the best, most helpful responses. The answers aren’t just great; the questions are as well.

Note: Read my interview with Donald Hall in the December issue of The Writer.

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Join me and other poets including Bonny Barry Sanders, Dr. Sharon Scholl, Michele Leavitt and others for "Meet the Poets" at the Jacksonville Public Library, Southeast Regional branch in Deerwood Park on Tuesday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m.