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Tip # 3
Don’t get too personal
This is the number 2 reason why I reject poems. People really bear their souls in their competition entries. I see elegies for recently lost loved ones, traumatized victims processing their trauma, survivor’s vowing to survive, dirty secrets, desperate cries for help…all manner of personal disclosures, from the heart-warming to the down-right disturbing. And, those poems aren’t winners.
Why? Because any poems I choose must be fit for public display. If you write a poem whose sole function is to process trauma and to heal your own wounds, then that is a wonderful thing for you, and I sincerely commend it. But, ask yourself: should that poem really be aired to the public? First of all, the problem is an ethical one. It wouldn’t be right for me to air someone else’s dirty laundry for thousands of other people to see. Even if someone submits a poem with their full consent today, if they won, might they then go on to regret it? Personally, I couldn’t do that to someone. Equally, I can’t justifiably impose anything that might be profoundly upsetting upon the reading public. No one needs to see that. So, I don’t let poems like that through to the next round.
"It wouldn’t be right for me to air someone else’s dirty laundry for thousands of other people to see."
Second of all, the problem is an artistic one. A winning poem may very well be on a personal subject (plenty of them are) but in a winning poem, the personal subject matter is only one of its many engaging aspects. I’d even hazard to say that the personal content of a poem is the least interesting thing about it. Alongside its personal content, a winning poem also demonstrates mastery of the language, a sense of literary performance, impressive originality, and an illuminating vision that contributes to literature…ideally. The point is that a winning poem does so much more than just disgorge the poet’s pain.
"...a winning poem does so much more than just disgorge the poet’s pain."
As I said in my first tip of this series, ‘prizes are given for writing the best poetry, not for having the deepest feelings or the edgiest subjects’. 99% of the ‘personal’ poems I read when I sift are just raw agony. Those poems may serve a vital function for the poet, but they don’t serve the reading public.
So, if you’re about to submit a deeply personal poem, think twice. Consider, is it the right poem to send to a competition, or is it best kept to yourself? You can always submit a different poem.
Cat Woodward
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