the superabundance of micropoets
Let's talk.
This is simply going to be a space for me to spill my thoughts on the matter of micropoets. I'll set it up so you know who they are, what the problem is, and why they are in the way of writers who put their souls into their work. This topic is not discussed because it is extremely opinionated and it's an argument that's not favoured by most due to the simple notion that writing is for everybody because of its expressive influence and that free verse poetry has no rules.
So, micropoetry - a form of poetry that expresses minimalism through its short verses and its ability to be thought-provoking and stimulative with such little writing. An example of micropoetry can be found in the poetry of Nayyirah Waheed and Rupi Kaur respectively and reading their work, I can say they are both extremely skilled writers. Reading Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey was an experience - I didn't find much that I could connect to or find stimulative but I know her writing was put through constant thought and there is a beautiful context behind her style and inspiration that I can respect. I see the skill in her work, her ability to say so much with so less. That's what a micropoet is.
Now, what's the problem? It's how social media has sparked these faux writers to post their micropoetry and sell it off as legitimate good writing in their books. But it really isn't. Its plenty easy to say with less - there's no skill in that. The real skill is when you can say more with less. They confuse minimalist writing with less when it actually should be to subtract, that's the beauty behind minimalism.
There's Instagram and Twitter writing accounts who post 1-3 lines of garbage poetry selling it off as good writing and promoting their product through others buying them and they don't even have to try. They're simply accounts that are mocking real hard-working writers and poets who actually have the ability to convey brilliant and powerful notions in their writing while committing in-depth analysis and exploring their work before they even put it out there.
“They can share whatever they want, sure they can, but you’re trying to make money off of it. Using social media’s illusion to pass immature and limited material as some gold diminishes actual writers. Who’s work is of failure and endless scrutiny. And even then, unsure of the result - it’s actual workmanship. If you lump these people with them, you diminish and insult real writers. Stop contributing to the monetizing of poor quality goods and the generalizing of great writers next to terrible ones.”
But hey, writing is writing. Who am I to judge? Who am I to speak on this issue? I'm not claiming I'm an amazing writer nor am I claiming that I know more than you. But if you knew the amount of thought and work I put into my writing and how many times I've re-written one verse or sentence from a piece, you would understand my frustration. And there's no way I'm alone, I've talked with many different writers and most agree with me. It's a bandwagon of faux-minimalist writers who don't understand what minimalism even is and try to make money off of their thesaurus-inspired work.