Christian fiction is sometimes derided because it’s too much about the message and not enough about the story. Yeah, yeah. I’ve thought it too. But after receiving a couple rejections for my poetry this week, my perspective has changed a bit.
At least Christian fiction has a message.
Maybe I’m just sucking on sour grapes, but at the risk of sounding whiny, I’ll continue.
I don’t like fiction or poetry (or any art, for that matter) that has no point.
A story or poem that has no redemptive message and just leaves me feeling depressed and/or creeped out = NO POINT.
A story or poem that’s so cryptic and cerebral that only the author (if even that) can garner any insight from it = NO POINT. (Admittedly, I commit this one myself.)
A story or poem that’s written for the purpose of being “edgy” = NO POINT.
Here are the submission guidelines for one of the ezines I submitted to this week. “(We) publish the forceful voices of up-and-coming writers and poets. We like edgy. We like challenging. We like unique voices.”
(Funny, “edgy” in Christian fiction is portraying a passionate kiss. Edgy in the secular realm is talking about masturbation.)
Okay, so I’m now officially a bit tired of the word “edgy”. As a writer I ought not strive to be edgy but to be truthful. If the truth I present contains some hard edges, so be it.
Partly because I’m too lazy to submit somewhere else, partly because I’m whining, and partly because I’m lazy, here’s one of the non-edgy enough poems that was rejected.
DEADENED
by Jessica ThomasThere’s a thin film
around her
life-giving
organ.A translucent
saliva-like web
surrounding
her blood pumper.She wants to strip it.
She keeps it.
She holds it in her hands
and wiggles
her fingers
into
the ventricle.It bursts.
There’s
a hole
in her chest.A sticky film
in the cavity
it left.
Maybe a little cryptic, and maybe not my best poem, but I like the imagery. What do you think? Feel free to offer harsh criticism. It might just be a bad poem.
First of all, I don’t get poetry. That being said I felt a weird sensation in my chest and was slightly grossed out by your poem. In my mind that makes it a good poem because even though I didn’t understand it, it made me feel and think something. So I think that makes it a good poem as far as poems go.
More importantly: In a world where nothing (including the word masturbation) is off limits, I would think Jesus is just about the most edgy subject there is since he seems to be the only topic that’s taboo. Maybe I don’t understand the word “Edgy”.
IMHO
Uh oh, did I commit “leaves you feeling depressed and/or creepy?” Heh heh. Maybe that explains it. 🙂
Very true about Jesus being edgy. More and more you can’t say his name without making somebody mad.
Yup! And, I’ve noticed more Jesus humor in movies. Apparently producers are getting desperate for “Edgy”. Soon they will have to start cannibalizing their own kind and just spread the gospel in order to “Get the Edge”.
Jess, it’s a potent poem. Good imagery.
“Edgy” is overused and personally defined. No win situation and pointless as you said. Poetry and literary fiction can have the tendency to glory in their words rather than in substance. Aim for the sublime intelligence and fail to reach a solid mark.
Jessica, I prefer stories that force me to think or scrabble with their meaning — even if I conclude their message is meaningless — rather than stories whose meaning is so overt I need only the IQ of third grader to get the point. While I might disagree with the artist’s intended message, I can give her points for making me dig. This approach respects me, as a reader or viewer. The other does not.
BTW: I like your poem. However, the initial mention of “her life-giving organ” sent my mind spinning in a way other than you intended (blush).
lol. oops. Well that would be edgy, wouldn’t it? Perhaps I could reword it a bit…
I enjoy stories and poems that are like puzzles to solve, and I don’t like writing that is so simplified as to negate any of its affect. So, I’m with you there.
Your comments did make me think a little bit more on what it is that really bugs me about secular “edgy”. I think Nicole touched on it. It’s the glorification of the self. The over-romanticizing of angst. MY struggle, MY journey, MY pain, MY experience. ME ME ME. If that’s edgy, I don’t have time for it. And in that case, even if it’s “well-crafted” I might just rather read about buggies and bonnets. (Although, truthfully, I don’t have time for either extreme.)
“MY struggle, MY journey, MY pain, MY experience. ME ME ME. If that’s edgy, I don’t have time for it.” If MY struggle=a universal struggle that all mankind faces, then it makes for good fiction/poetry. That’s the very idea of the rhetorical device synecdoche–not necessarily MY struggle standing in for the struggle of mankind, but for a small part standing in for the whole.
Although that being said, one thing about your poem that really stands out is the lack of the personal pronoun. Most modern poets don’t know how to write poetry that isn’t self-referential. So kudos to you. Your poem is above average.
Thanks for stopping by, Jill. 🙂
What’s bothersome is I’m not sure people of my generation even believe in universal themes. Nobody can really know or make an definitive statements about anyone else’s experience. What’s right for you might not be right for me, blah blah blah…