mytbc

More Poetry?

So, Paul wrote a comment on my last post about poetry that I found interesting.

“The more abstract and the less personal the poetry/prose/song/painting/whatever it is, the easier it is for the author/composer/creator to not hate it. So with this generative method you can say you like it without appearing vain because you didn’t actually write the phrases themselves.”

It’s an interesting explanation for why I like the poems I’ve generated, and it certainly does apply, at least a bit. But I don’t think it’s about vanity. Generally, I do not like things I have written. For example, years ago, I created the first version of mytbc, and added a few stories that I’d written to it.

For a laugh, you can read this one. It was written as a Standard Grade English writing assignment when I was 14, so, it’s pretty awful. Like all the stories I wrote at that age. People liked it at the time, and that’s the thing I don’t get. When I read my stories, or poetry, or whatever, all I see are the weak points, the parts blatantly ripped off of better authors, the awkward phrasing, &c, &c.

So, generative poetry for me is a way to be creative. A way to be creative without having the weak spots that I generally focus on, because after all, I didn’t actually write it, I just found the seed and generative algorithm.

Related posts:

1. Generating Poetry

So, Paul wrote a comment on my last post about poetry that I found interesting. "The more abstract and the less personal the poetry/prose/song/painting/whatever it is, the easier it is for the author/composer/creator to not hate it. So with this generative method you can say you like it without appearing vain because you didn’t actually write the phrases themselves." It's an interesting explanation for why I like the poems I've generated, and it certainly does apply, at least a bit. But I don't think it's about vanity. Generally, I do not like things I have written. For example, years ago, I created the first version of mytbc, and added a few stories that I'd written to it. For a laugh, you can read this one. It was written as a Standard Grade English writing assignment when I was 14, so, it's pretty awful. Like all the stories I wrote at that age. People liked it at the time, and that's the thing I don't get. When I read my stories, or poetry, or whatever, all I see are the weak points, the parts blatantly ripped off of better authors, the awkward phrasing, &c, &c. So, generative poetry for me is a way to be creative. A way to be creative without having the weak spots that I generally focus on, because after all, I didn't actually write it, I just found the seed and generative algorithm.