Brief Post on Commenting

In the 3+ years of this blog's existence, I've been humbled by the amazing community that has thrived on Poetic Asides. I couldn't be more pleased with the way everyone shares their poetry and shares their thoughts on others' poems. It's really great!

That said, there have been a few times in which I've had to step in and remind poets I do have a certain, and I think reasonable, expectations when it comes to commenting. To make those easy to grasp, I'm going to provide a short list:

Do not criticize other poets' beliefs. I know this can be a gray area at times, but I don't want to see arguments over politics, religion, belief systems, etc. This is a poetry blog, so let's stay focused on the poetry.
Please refrain from writing epic comments. I have recently started deleting comments that are significantly longer than a sestina. It makes it hard to read everyone's work when there are such epic poems (or groups of epic poems) as one comment.
Have fun. Poetry is enjoyable--both to read and write--so please have fun.

Be nice, concise, and have fun. It's that simple.

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Also, if you encounter a problem on the blog, please let me know by e-mailing me at robert.brewer@fwmedia.com.

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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

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Check out 30 or so poetic forms (including the sestina) by clicking here.

Robert Lee BrewerAuthor

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.