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If this is moved, I guess that's okay, but I want to change things up a bit and ask for your serious opinion on something I'm very passionate about.

One day I signed onto my deviantart account (a web community I frequent on) and I got a note (the equivalent of a pm) saying, "It's alright. I know how hard it is to be a teenager. Just don't give up!" I asked them what they were talking about, and they cited some of the things I've posted on their, which happened to be angst. Apparently, she thought that because I wrote angst my life was miserable.

Many teens fall into the Angsty-White-Teenage-Kid-From-Suburbia category, based on the poetry, prose, and pictures they draw in their journals every night. Does this reflect on the person's life directly, or what the person is not?

I am not what I write. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I do write a poem two about how much life sucks, but that is usually in a fit of mood swings. I try not to do it too often, and if I do, I usually write something silly to even it out. However, my prose on the other hand, I need to work on writing something without it ending in death, painful loss or tragic romance.

However, that does not reflect my life. My characters are very romantic, and none of them portray who I am. I do have happy endings sometimes, but I find most of them corny where as a death at the end makes everyone go "omg the main character died?!"

Anyways...up for discussion.

Well, for the little I know about you (serious author?), I'd say it DOES come from real life, most of the time, and in your deep, deep self, it's probably what you really think... Somewhere. Perhaps you don't want to admit it to yourself, though (as anyone would do anyway, I'm not blaming a single soul here).

Anyway... Personally, I think it either comes from what the author REALLY thinks about w/e subject that is treated, or it is just something random; pure lies (denying, maybe...).


PS -- Your avatar tells everything

My 2 cents...

I think that the teenage angst problem many people experience is caused by a lack of perspective in their lives. If we were taught from an early age that we Americans are some of the luckiest people on Earth, we wouldn't whine about being forced to eat broccoli and go to (gasp!) high school. Instead, American girls are brought up to believe that they're princesses, and thus have very unrealistic expectations for themselves and the way their lives progress.

I am not quite sure. I am assuming if the poem reflects their current emotions, it is what they are, but if the poem or w/e is something the person wants to do, then it is what they want to do or be. I'm not explaining my theory on this very well. =\ (I don't write any poems or think my life sucks or anything, and I don't really care about my social life or anything), but I am guessing that if the person is really ticked off and they write a poem about dying and that everything sucks, it is how they are feeling at that time, but they will quickly come out of that and that won't be an accurate representation anymore. If people start to get consumed by writing those things, they may eventually almost try to be miserable like that, a kind of way tog et attention, but it's subconscious, they don't realize or admit they want attention or something to be different. if they write poems and feel better afterwards, then writing is a kind of way to vent stress and anger, and it is something most people seem to do. Therefore, if someone let's the poems or w/e define and trap them, then that is what they will be like, but it's not an accurate representation of who they really are, they are just feeling bad and the anger is causing them to try to stay angry, if that makes any sense at all.

I well... I like to write stories. The characters are in no way like I am, but I think on a certain level they are how I would like to be. I am no great author of poetry, but that does not mean I do not enjoy it as much as the next person. Right now I'm working on a work currently titled (but not with the final title) Dark Legends. It is a high fantasy trilogy that is based around the five books of Amäcor, or the prophecies of Amäcor, whichever one you prefer. It deals with the power of knowledge, for that is the greatest gift of the five books. I hope to publish this trilogy just because I love writing, and perhaps it would aid me to pay for college.

I am of the belief that poetry often reflects a person's current emotional state, and it is fairly easy to unravel a poet's feelings by analysis of their work.

Of course, some authors simply like to write their poems in a certain way or about certain things, which does not always reflect personal emotion, and may simply be written in that way for 'shock factor,' for example. See Carol-Ann Duffy's works for examples of this kind of poetry.

Prose is a different matter. I would say that prose is affected by personal experience (you can't write a good story if you don't have a clue about the things on which you are writing) more than emotion. Your prose, I would say, reflects more upon who you are as a person, and characters created by your hand will often bear certain resemblances to yourself that are usually quite subtle. In fact, it is easier to write about such characters, as you know your own feelings intimately and your experience will be reflected upon the character, making them less skeletal.

You know, I'm thinking of writing on the side for a bit... I enjoy it but I can never find the time to actually make my ideas come to fruition. Actually, the only piece of prose that I've written is a sci-fi short story which can be found here.

EDIT:
Also, I would have to say, judging by your actions and various sigs/avatars used on this forum, that you do have a lot of angst and there is certainly an underlying bitterness at the flaws of humans suggested by that. I apologise if that isn't true, FireKame.

I try hard not to be bitter...but my sarcasm gets in the way and makes me bitter. Sigh..it's true. I guess I'm just in denile.



I don't know; I find this statement very stereotypical. It's not only upbringing on such a small scale, but on a bigger scale as well. Some things get to your head...I mean, ever since I've been born I've seen some sort of war on TV, The Columbine Incident, 9/11, two suicides in my school within a few months of each other, the material we read in school:
The Oddessy: his whole crew dies
Things Fall Apart: In desperation, the main character commits suicide
Of Mice and Men: Did he deserve a second chance?
Romeo and Juliet: They died
The Scarlet Letter: Extreme prejudice
Huckleberry Finn: His father was an abusive alcoholic

Plays in theatre:
Antigone: a greek tragedy, the sequel to Oedipus Rex who loved his mother without knowing it was his mother. They all die in the end
Oliver: Two characters die; one because of domestic abuse.
Much Ado About Nothing: A comedy, but they fake someone's death to see if he truely loved her.

Off the top of my head, that's all I remember. Puts things in perspective.

The main reason why the school makes you study such pieces of literature is because they bring up issues that you can write essays about.

Imagine trying to write an essay on a brainless action or romance novel...

I understand. But why is there no resolution after the death? Or if there is, why won't it go into detail? Suicide is an issue that has been circling me quite a bit over the last few months (not to say I'm the one attempting). How am I supposed to deal with this? What are the reasons for committing suicide just because your girlfriend faked it to see if you truly loved her?

[center]Sinnical and Angry. That's me in 3 words. I hate the way the world is today. I hate the way the world is run today. I hate the Human race. I think the list of things I like would be alot easier to actually write. I'm one of those Kurt Cobain types who basically shuts down alot. I'm not planning for my life to go the way his did/ended. Although at times, I've concidered it. Recently, I've been getting really, really angry about things for no reason. Maybe I should go to my psychologist? Nah, I hate that place.
I've written poetry for class projects in English... that didn't go over too well with the school's mental health team. Alot of the themes of what I write about are the way everything's ed, and how much life sucks. You can learn alot about people by what they write, their social style, and their music. Just try analysing yourself...
nuclear = Depressed? That's what they all say.. but I disagree.[/center]