All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I'm fighting against the bad poet who is prone to using too many words.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes writers who overcomplicate their poetry by using excessive language.
Wislawa Szymborska highlights the importance of clarity and precision in poetry, suggesting that good poetry should communicate its message effectively without unnecessary verbosity. By criticizing the 'bad poet,' she underscores the value of simplicity and the art of using just the right number of words to evoke emotion and meaning.
In practice
This quote can be used in a writing workshop to encourage participants to focus on clarity in their poetry.
All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.
I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.
But they know about us, they know, the four corners, and the chairs nearby us. Discerning shadows also know, and even the table keeps quiet.
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.
I've reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don't know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.
Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through.
Novelists, it seems to me, are the very last people who should be asked to comment on the news of the day, and sooner or later, when they have been pilloried for their views, most of them recognise this.
People write memoirs because they lack the imagination to make things up.
I think speculative fiction has fewer unspoken prerequisites than literary fiction for writers of color.
We were trained as writers with the idea that literature is something that can change reality, that it's not just a very sophisticated entertainment but a way to act.
All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.
At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.
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