Some Thoughts on the Haiku a Day Experience - Page 2 - Writers Forum

J.R. MacLean · 03-04-2006, 11:29 AM

Pen: grazing is good, book is better. bonus points for assertiveness

Huni: anyone is welcome to join in any way they wish. We post one a day on their own threads, then assorted grazers have fun tacking on their own or commenting. It didn't occur to me to put them all on one thread, but that probably would have been a good idea.
'late in the year' ?? 'Autumn garden'?? are you down under? still 300 or so haiku to go in this year! cheers

vprndsg · 03-04-2006, 02:39 PM

This a pretty cool idea, i may do my own version of it. Though, i probably wont post them...we cant litter the board up with a bunch of haikus!

thanks for the idea though!

J.R. MacLean · 03-04-2006, 11:31 PM

[quote=vprndsg]This a pretty cool idea, i may do my own version of it. Though, i probably wont post them...we cant litter the board up with a bunch of haikus!

litter the board up
haikus tossed helter skelter
drown real poetry

foreign old haiku
strange and anti apple pie
like weeds, not kosher

brightest of poets
hold nose step over haiku
steaming turds in street.

03-05-2006, 02:01 PM

in regard to the 'littering the forum with haiku' comment, perhaps we should take on a rule such as other forums already have in effect that one can only post a single poem in 24 hours and to do that you must have already critiqued at least 3 other pieces.

i think it's great that people are getting into haiku, but i am also quite aware that many posts are slipping to page 2 and 3 without any comment or critique at all.

J.R. MacLean · 03-05-2006, 02:51 PM

v: It's certainly a subject worthy of discussion. I am not familiar with other forums, so am perhaps a bit naive. I do enjoy a free for all atmosphere and am well aware that fashioning a haiku can be more time and work than a longer poem. The restrictions you suggest would also preclude my posting any other poems other than the haiku a day that I've committed to.

My general observation is that postings (and poets) generally get the attention they deserve over the long run. There are wonderful poets that I have stopped reading because they don't bother critiquing my work. Someone like yourself, who is generous with critiques, is inundated with comments with every posting.

Should there be a seperate section for haiku?
Should there be a seperate section for 'serious' poets?

I haven't perceived a problem (and still don't to be truthful) but do respect you and your views. If a real problem does exist then perhaps the moderators, mentors, administrators should discuss it and decide on appropriate actions. cheers

mjk · 03-05-2006, 03:27 PM

i don't understand what the problem is although i do understand why people's feathers are ruffling.

j.r.- when i started this with you, i suggested i post mine under your haiku. instead of talk of more rules (which people will break anyway, cuz, seriously, how many people have actually read the rules already in place?) i could do that to avoid any necessity of discussing posting limits and critique quotas. or perhaps we can just start a haiku a day thread and anyone who wants to join us can?

03-05-2006, 03:28 PM

no one is or has been suggesting that haiku isn't serious poetry or is in any way less of a craft than any other form.

i'm simply saying that the forum already moves incredibly fast, and that if a handful of people are posting two or three haiku a day, they should be sure that they are critiquing appropriately also.

that comment is not directed at you, maclean. i know you are an extremely active and respected member of the forum.

the haiku a day is fun, but i see that some take it more seriously than others. those who are simply writing for the sake of posting should be aware that they are pushing poetry that is here for workshopping purposes to pages 2 and 3 where they will not get the attention they deserve. as far as new posters go, it's up to us old timers to set an example.

perhaps all the haiku a day could fall under one heading? say, you could post your haiku a day with the date on it, and the appropriate responses to that could fall under the corresponding date.

and just so you know, staff has been considering the options in regard to this for a while now.

vodka

mjk · 03-05-2006, 04:20 PM

who constitutes this handful of people posting haiku daily? as far as i've noticed, it is only j.r. and i who are posting these. who is your comment directed at, ms. v?

03-05-2006, 05:19 PM

right now, as i sit i count 9 haiku posts out of 20 on the front page alone and at least 4 poems with 0 response on page 2.

please understand, no one is attacking the haiku, or saying that it is unworthy of the poetry forum.

all that is being said is that it appears that the haiku a day is picking up a bit of steam. most other forms of poetry aren't being posted at the rate of a poem a day. this means that the significant amount of haiku posts may be causing posts from people who are posting less frequently to slip to page two and three without response.

certainly, haiku a day wasn't created to hog the forum, or to cause others' work to go unnoticed. therefore i simply suggested that those who are going to participate in the haiku a day post them all under one heading for the day. this allows those who are posting other types of works their fair amount of time on page one also. this would also allow for poets to be able to post a haiku a day, plus whichever other work they feel that they need workshopped at the time without flooding the forum.

once again, there is no offense intended to the haiku a day participants. i am simply trying to make sure that the forum stays a productive place for everyone involved.

kalibantre · 03-05-2006, 05:37 PM

erm, its seems like a good idea, I intend to write haiku, even if it is just to get me going a day, but on my own terms blah blah.. my sister gave me a pretty little book to do it in and everything, she actualy gave me 19 writing books.. the creativity is a family trait i feel.

anyway, i do not wish to com eunder reprimand so they will most probably stay private.. but yeh its a good, sweet little idea.

J.R. MacLean · 03-05-2006, 05:47 PM

perhaps all the haiku a day could fall under one heading? say, you could post your haiku a day with the date on it, and the appropriate responses to that could fall under the corresponding date.

v: this is a very sensible suggestion which I'll follow. I'll post tomorrow's haiku under haiku a day or some such thing, date them in italics and we'll see how that goes. I'll leave them all on that thread, or maybe start a new one weekly or monthly if things get too confusing. I do think that those doing haiku a day should have their own threads in this manner, so they get appropriate feedback.

mjk, you and others are of course welcome to simply join in on that thread. My concern about that, as I stated at the time, is that your work would not get the attention and feedback it deserves if it is part of my thread. Maybe we should each have a haiku a day thread and just stack em up side by side as the year unwinds.

character1_Caitlin · 03-05-2006, 09:14 PM

I like JR.s suggestion, I would like to find his thread and read the ones I no doubt have missed. Same with mjk and others that are on the train.

I dont always comment on them daily but I do read and appreciate them. I would like to get my dose on haiku perhaps weekly and a thread with them in once place per train member would make it easier to find them.

mjk · 03-06-2006, 11:24 AM

i'll just be posting mine in your thread from now on, j.r. thank you for being gracious with your space. i have a blog of odds and ends and i've been posting my haiku on there, so that's enough for me. jubilant requisition

caitlin- thank you very much for reading both j.r.'s and my haikus. it's okay that you don't comment. i'm thrilled to know you're reading them. it means a great deal.