It's All Subjective

I've come to realise over the past few years that everything is subjective, not least what people consider a good read.  I have poems that I've posted in various places, some with the hope that someone will go 'wow' and some rather half-heartedly because I didn't feel they were great pieces of work, but felt I should still get them out 'just because'. Most often the result is that no one says 'wow' to what I think is good, but people state that they like what I think is verging on crap. Bizarre.

My point I suppose, is that if you're a writer, I believe the best thing that you can do is to write something that you think is fabulous and then keep sending it off / marketing it / getting it seen until someone says 'wow'... because someone will.

I love writing my poems. Most of the time, it doesn't matter if someone thinks nothing of them. I write them for me and enjoy sharing them because I think they sound nice! Yes, it's actually that simple when it comes to how I feel about writing poetry, but it's a whole different ball game when it comes to writing a fiction novel. Why? I've no idea. But to me, my novels matter. I have two unfinished novels sitting somewhere at the bottom of a pile of stuff and loads more in my head. I wonder if I'm scared to finish them. To spend so much time cherishing your story and your characters, who you have come to know as a part of yourself, only to have this [subjective] masterpiece be left sitting on the shelf, rotting away very slowly, would be incredibly upsetting for me. A poem can mean the world to me, but it can take me 10 minutes to write [what I consider to be] a good poem and when I'm in the right frame of mind, I can roll them out like Sampras rolled out aces. It could take me 10 years to write [what I consider to be] a good novel. It matters that other people like it or it'll feel a bit like 10 years wasted! (Well, ok, it'd probably take me one year, but you get my point.)


My new personal mission, is to let go of this a little. I want to believe I am writing my novels for me, not anyone else, but I fear this isn't true. I want to tell a story for others to read and feel something about. So any tips on how to let go of this (or if I even should? Maybe this attachment is what leads authors to create masterpieces?) would be greatly received!

In the meantime, below is a poem that I've published elsewhere amongst poems from other writers. I feel it's okay, but nothing special. Yet, it's one of the ones that people seem to like the most. Remember, it's all subjective...



The Princess And The Pauper

He stood there holding out his hands
catching every penny;
She strode past him, shut her purse
and didn't give him any.

He sat behind the hot-dog stand
and took in deep the scent;
She bought her hot-dog, shut her purse
and then off home she went.

Hopeful and expectant,
he counted through the copper;
She pulled up at the drive-through
and bought a flame-grilled Whopper.

He shivered, coughed and huddled,
wrapped up tight inside a sheet;
She shivered, coughed and turned the fire
to a higher heat.

He smiled at bread and cheese and milk,
the best he'd had in weeks;
She scoffed down steak and carrots,
potatoes, peas and leeks.

And as he slept among the dirt,
she slept among her wealth;
And both of them thanked God for their
good fortune, love and health.

copyright Dianna Hardy, 1998