Dear John Green - "Poetry"

[Clare Holman-Hobbs]

Dear John,

Have you ever written any poetry? I didn’t really, certainly not until I started my Creative Writing course last September. It seems there are many people who are afraid of poetry. There comes this stigma that poetry is boring, or difficult to understand. People would much rather read a chapter of a book before bed rather than a poem.

Why is this? Do poems not touch people as deeply? Do they not raise such poignant issues? They do of course. A poem is a condensed version of a novel. They all have characters that talk, stories to tell and messages to give. 

I was told that poetry could be anything, and that this may encourage me or scare me. To be honest, it does both. There is nothing more restricting but comforting than writing to a formula, but it is important to take risks with writing. Is this why everyone fears poetry?

I could write a poem, but would if be any good unless it stood out from the rest? If I took those risks?

Did you choose not to write poetry? How did you cope with finding which method of writing suited you best. I don’t think I’ve found mine yet. 

Yours,

A loving and affectionate fan.