angst.

my advice, Emily is don't always write about oneself. Don't necessarily see the interesting and beautiful phenomena in the outside world as metaphors for yourself. Elegise friends, situations, celebrate things in verse. Dedicate, ameliorate, juxtapose, make connections, change directions, find new invectives, fresh perspectives. Don't just look in. there is a whole world out there. Never begin a poem 'Why...' Have a 'relationship free writing week' have a week where you chose a friend or loved one a day and write a word-portrait of them. make WORDS the focus of your writing, not yourself (oneself.. whatever) peck the shell and fly, baby! Good luck, schmuck

ahh i'm so annoying! i've already asked everyone this, sorry! i'm just getting a little desperate now!

Dunno Em Unfortunately I didn't write when I was young. I don't think the mini drama ever leaves. The only difference is, perhaps, that as you get older the mini drama becomes a maxi saga upon which you can draw for inspiration. Personally I find that when I'm happy happy happy and really want to write (particularly something funny) the end product is, well, shite. Conversely, when down, an idea seems to just appear on the keyboard (often a tad humerous strangely enough) and comes out quite well. (I hasten to add the IMHO rider clause here). Actually, I don't think I know what I am talking about. I'm sure you will get better and more erudite responses from the talented ones on this site. I've never dared crit anyones work (apart from self comments like "that was crap, how did it get a cherry" and "I like it but I don't know why") so unless you want a philistine to read your work you'd better hope for another reply! unless you are feeling brave. my email is under stormy what not thingy.

hi emily i don't know if there IS a transition ... i think it just smoothly becomes angsty 20ish poetry and then angsty 30ish poetry ... tho i think it is important to remain dissatisfied and want to improve it ... or maybe to feel that there is something just out of reach that you have to keep stretching out for ... it depends i suppose on what the point is of writing it in the first place ... for me it is a sorting process ... a way to manage what is going on in my head ... thus i write more when there is more to sort out (i.e. some angst) and less when i am bimbling along happily ... my advice is just keep doing what you are doing ...

Thank youuuu! I always feel when I'm in groups with older writers that they look down on me for being young and writing this kind of poetry, but it's nice to know that everyone else does too!

I am a teenage poet, so I'd know when I read other teenage poetry. We have, like, a radar. Of depression. Kinda like the Satelitte of Love, but a lot more miserable and lazy. But anyway, I'll have to read some of your stuff Emily. Its weird, having just broken up out of a v. serious relationship, I'm not that depressed. Oh well. Well, it was a couple of days ago. I'm dragging on a bit now aren't I? Alright, but the point is, all the depressing poetry I try to write is crap, but if I look at the good points of life, I can write. Music helps. Well, I'll probably go through a phase of total depression as opposed to occasional depression. But anyway, if the poetry's good, who cares how teen-angsty it is? Right? Hey, that gives me an idea...

I too am an angsty teenage poet! Only for another month or so though!

emily I'd love to critque your work. I'll be gentle..i'm interested to read it..maybe it's not as bad as you think. I've recently begun to write a book, based on my life...memoirs if you like and can now see which is my stuff, ie, that inside my head which is jumbled up, too personal and confusing to anyone who's not me, to be interesting to anyone who's not me! Don't knock yourself for carrying on writing about you..you must need to get your 'mini drama' out of you, and so be it. I think it's good to use your life experiences, in poetry, or other work...it's just a matter of getting used to reading your stuff as if you were the reader rather than the writer. If you want to send me something to look at please do. It could be a few days before I reply - I'm not on the internet at home.

I think that you have to have patience, Emily. It's great that you have started young and in every piece of work, you will be honing your skills. At the moment you have a great deal of emotion; you are a ship that's filled with lots of delicious cargo but steering wildly all over the place. Just enjoy the ride and work out all the emotional things until you can control it all better. It takes time and slowly, it will grow less raw. Strangely enough I knew a writer who, although technically brilliant, lacked emotive punch. If you can maintain a little of the intensity...you could have the best of both worlds....

I too was once an angsty teenage poet. I think I still write better when there is high drama in my life. I guess over time you find more things to write about. I don't know though. I think a good portion of mine is still full of angst. Oh well...

I've never really written any poetry( is that normal?) but I used to write a lot as a teenager - lots of very expressive stuff. I guess you could call that teen angst! I don;t think it really wears off and I definitely don't think you make a defined transition as such. Maybe the focus changes somewhat but the basic feelings stay the same. I agree with stormy saying that the mini drama just becomes a maxi saga - that's saying it all in a nutshell. The feelings that push you to express yourself never go away. Evolve they might - probably do - and "mature" they might. But they'll always be there and you'll always pour them out in words! Of course, I hardly qualify as a writer so I'm probaby talking nonsense anyway! I'd love for anyone to critique my writing, though. I'm still very much an amateur and I'd love to learn as much as I can.