There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to find sensible men to read it.
quote by Charles Caleb Colton

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To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.
quote by Charles Caleb Colton

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Write Erase Write Erase
this is what happens to this poem
when you have nothing to write
tonight....write, erase, write, erase
you are waiting
for an inspiration that does not come
you keep on waiting and then something comes
you write it, you think about it, you read it and you find nothing
worth the letter you assign to it
then you erase it and you are honest enough to admit that there is nothing
beautiful
not even a purpose, and then you write the word again, you ponder, there is
nothing worth its existence
there is nothing to grow in that word chosen
you erase it again, you write it and then there is this space of thinking,
what is it? you ask. what is it really?
it is this denial.
this negation of
what you are
that keeps you writing.
you stand by the window. Look out
the road. You see a dog, and it is howling again
to the moon
and to the wrong tree
it is barking.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Scribbles Transcribed
Some write for glory and for fame.
I write because I am obsessed
and wordplay is my favourite game.
I concentrate on poetry
Because I find it to my taste
and pass my time creatively.
I could not sit and watch T.V
and live my life vicariously.
That would drive me to insanity.
I have a wide vocabulary
which I love to exercise
Harmless but it amuses me.
What better way to pass the time
than writing formal poetry
I do not find it hard to rhyme
I’ll never be a household name
Which does not bother me at all.
I write for fun and not for fame.
My writing will not make me rich
I very rarely publish it
I merely write to scratch my itch.
My pad and pen accompany me
No matter where I choose to go
Though I scribble illegibly.
Record what takes my interest
and jot down anything I see.
When I get home I do my best.
To read the jottings I have made
which is sometimes difficult
as pencilled words tend to fade.
I find that if I persevere
for long enough I understand
enough to make it very clear.
I sometimes wish that I could write
In a clear and cursive script
If I had perhaps I might.
But I am too impatient to write
All of down the things I want to
My scribbling will have to do.
Thank God for printers and P.Cs
So when I post its legible
and you can read my verse with ease.
The feed back which you give to me.
I read with greatest interest.
And it improves my poetry.
My hand writing will never be
capable of being read
by anybody else but me..
(18-Jun-07)
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg

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I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in.
quote by Tracy Kidder

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Box Full Of Letters
Got a box full of letters,
Think you might like to read
Some things that you might like to see,
But they're all addressed to me
Wish I had a lotta answers,
'Cause that's the way it should be
For all these questions,
Being directed at me
I just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
You'll come back again
And I'll still be your friend
I got a lot of your records,
In a separate stack
Some things that I might like to hear,
But I guess I'll give 'em back
I wish I had a lotta answers,
'Cause that's the way it should be
All these questions
Being directed at me
Just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
You'll come back again,
And I'll still be your friend
I can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
Just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
song performed by by Wilco

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To read a book, to think it over, and to write out notes is a useful exercise; a book which will not repay some hard thought is not worth publishing.
quote by Maria Mitchell

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One Honest Man
I cant find a four-leaf cover anymore
I could find it if I wanted to
I believe if you put your mind to something
Well there aint anything in this world
You could not do
But I cant find one honest man
Why cant I find me one honest man
Dont understand
The only thing I ever wanted
Was a little bouquet of truth from him
But it gave me all the things
You cant build love on
And I am on the wrong side
Of a broken heart again
Chorus:
Why cant I find one honest man
Why cant I find me one honest man
Dont understand
If a little bitty candle
Can light of the darkness
Why cant it shine its way through
Ive been waiting a very, very, very long time
Aint no man ever gonna be true
Dont understand
Aint there a man for me
Chorus x 3 fade
song performed by by Cher

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Better that you should take the chance of trying something that is close to your heart, you think is what you want to write, and if they do not publish it, put it in your drawer. But maybe another day will come and you will find a place to put that.
quote by Gay Talese

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So, You Think You've Found Me
I am not here
Not in these words
not on these pages.
I know..
You think if you read
Enough
Of what I write
You'll know me inside and out..
One small problem though
(I say this as I smile)
I am no longer
Who I use to be
When I use to be
The 'She' who wrote this..
I don't publish until I've grown
From the poem I use to be
If I was her at all...
Sometimes the 'She' you read
She isn't me at all
But a friend,
Or a story I read in the paper
Or a conversation I overheard..
The she you're looking for
You'd have to confront
Ask her all the tough questions yourself.
I'm not there..
In the tattered old pages
Of the poetry book you love so much..
If you read enough
Maybe you'll get a glimpse of the girl
The fragile creature I use to be..
That innocent thing who believed
In magical things so easily..
She does make an appearance from time to time..
She was very sweet..
The me you seek, you may not find..
I hide even from myself from time to time..
I grow from day to day
Oops! You missed it,
I've already changed.
Now some things, those are constant..
But, they aren't found here
Where you look for me.
poem by Rabia Minhas

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Co- Existence
Yes, you’re certainly true
That when you write
I am here to read it through
And really convinced
By what you’ve said
You didn’t demand
Comments or views
‘Cause I can hardly find
Any one or two
I don’t expect
Anything from you
I can live happily
Even if you wouldn’t read mine
But when the time permits
And the season for you is fine
You can explore my page
So that you may read and find
That I created a poem
Just for you poetic man
poem by Rose de Ramar

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Will I Still Write Poems When I Can No Longer Publish Or Post Them?
Will I still write poems when I can no longer publish or post them?
Of course I will-
I wrote poetry for years
when I knew their only readers were hoped- for ones-
I will write my poems
because they are my soul
my confessiion
my expression of deepest feeling
because they give meaning to my life-
I will write poemw as long as I can-
publish or post or not-
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Tracks I Leave Behind
We leave tracks in everything we do
and as a writer; I leave tracks
within everything I write.
Little bits of me within the lines
as I write along.
Sometime in the future
people will read what I write
and find the little bits of me.
They will find my sorrows and my joy,
the love that burns within my heart
and the sorrows in my soul.
They are all in there within
the tracks that I leave behind.
Sometimes fiction can be more fact
and if you read the signs,
you will see the way I act.
There is something of me
in all the tracks I leave behind.
27 September 2008
poem by David Harris

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Your candor is worth everything to your cause. It is refreshing to find a person with a new theory who frankly confesses that he finds difficulties, insurmountable, at least for the present.
Accidental Insults
Although I write mainly for me.
I choose to share my poetry.
With other poets on the net.
The only thing that I regret.
Sometimes I find I have upset.
Somebody inadvertently.
Albeit unintentionally.
I can only apologise
For bringing teardrops to their eyes.
Though I am taken by surprise.
By what they read into my words.
I often find it quite absurd.
They take offence at what I write.
They see it in a different light.
And choose to take the opposite.
view. Because they fail to understand.
They then dismiss me out of hand.
As they have every right to do.
Because sometimes I've chosen to.
Criticise what they hold true.
I do not mean to cause offence
I offer this in self defence.
The words I write, you filter through
Experiences peculiar to you.
That's why you read them as you do.
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg

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If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it.
quote by Robert B. Parker

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As If A Gift.... (Write Not)
write not...
from the need for fame,
or in the hope of success.
write from necessity...
the same necessity
that governs your breathing.
and from the urgency
of the darkest hour just before dawn!
write not for yourself...
for in writing for others
you will find yourself.
and above all, be honest,
always remembering simplicity,
and naked touch!
write as if a gift,
expecting nothing in return!
poem by Eric Cockrell

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~SomeDay~
I think of you
you're on my mind
you're the one
I'm trying to find
lost in my heart
lost in my hands
lost in the blue oceans
lost in the desert sands
I've tried to find you
I've looked so hard
I've lost consciousness
I've let down my guard
you've dropped off
the face of the earth
but I'll find you
because your worth,
worth my time
and worth my heart
I hate being this far apart
but I'll find you
somehow, someway
well be together
sometime, someday
poem by No Reason To Care

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Trying
Could you let down your hair
And be transparent for a while
Just a little while
See if your human after all
Honesty is a hard attribute to find
When we all want to seem like we've got it all figured out
I may be the first to say that I don't have a clue
I don't have all the answers
And god I pretend like I do just
Trying to find my way
Trying to find my way the best that I know how
Well I haven't memorized all the cute things to say
But I'm working on it
Maybe I'll master this art for today
I'd I qoute all the line off the top of my head
And you'd be
I dont understand all of these things Ive read
I'm just trying to find my way
Trying to find my way
Trying to find my way the best that I know how
Well I havent drawn it or figured out quite yet
But even if it takes my whole life
To get to where I need to be
And if I should fall to the bottom of the end
I'll be one step back to you
I'm trying to find my way
Trying to find my way
Oh
song performed by by Lifehouse from Dile Al Sol

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Send it to someone who can publish it. And if they won't publish it, send it to someone else who can publish it! And keep sending it! Of course, if no one will publish it, at that point you might want to think about doing something other than writing.
quote by Robert B. Parker

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You can read me like a book
You can't write
much out of spite
but if you make nice you
may find that poetry
can surprise you
and write itself
onto the shelf
and you'll be proud
to be read aloud
love has a way
to win the day
poem by Michael Shepherd

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