Got any (non-urgent) questions about stuff? Post them here and hopefully someone will know the answer! If you're asking or answering a question jokingly, please indicate that it's a joke. I'd prefer we keep this to actual questions and answers in general, though. :) First off...okay this is dumb but since I suck at physics, I genuinely DON'T know how magnets work, and ever since that damn ICP song came out I've been super curious? Can anyone explain the basics to me, in layman's terms?
It has to do with the way electrons flow, when they flow in one direction they create a charge, which creates a magnetic field. Magnets are materials that hold a magnetic charge more easily, and tend to be drawn in by the field due to something in their structure (basically being made of smaller magnets, I think). The reason same poles repel is that the magnetic fields are pushing against one another, and the opposite poles attract because one is pulling in the direction the other pushes. All of this is also why magnets can grow weaker, as time reduces the charge they hold and the strength of their magnetic field also fades. I hope that helps a little. If not, will try a different explanation, until success is achieved.
Also, the curvy shapes iron filings make when you put them near a magnet line up along the magnetic field, it's like an outline. My understanding is that they go that way because the electrons.. push them that way?? I don't know, I understood this better back when I was taking physics... I HAVE A QUESTION: How does one practice writing poetry? I've been able to practice drawing through a mix of "observe life" and "look at guides", but... I don't have any guesses for poetry. I anticipate it would/will involve a lot of writing poetry, but how do I tell if its strengths and weaknesses? Do I have to show it do people, is there a way I can self evaluate? I can't flip a poem horizontally to check if it's even. ;P
Many thanks to both of you!! I mostly write fixed-format poetry, like villanelles and Shakespearean sonnets, and tbh that might be a good way to practice with rhyme schemes and meter? It also helps to read a lot of poetry. That way you can go "okay, this thing works really well," "I'd personally change this part a little," etc. I can link you to some good online poetry collections later when I am not phone if you'd like!! And unfortunately it's kinda hard to self-evaluate if you've just started learning, but hey, if you ever need gentle concrit just hit me up!
i agree with Acey-- the best thing you can do is read lots of poetry, by people who practice lots of different types of writing. get a feel for rhythm and meter. i took a poetry writing class in college and there was never any "this is how you write a poem" instruction really, it was "here are a lot of poems to read, now write your own." as far as "is this good or not", well, that's a tricky question with any kind of writing. (and for more abstract visual art, as well.) but a poetry workshopping thread would potentially be cool and useful, maybe!
I honestly still don't know what a field is. Like, okay, something subject to magnetism is somewhere near a magnet, it's affected... By what? How is the effect transmitted? I understand things like electrons and photons, or at least I know that they're a mechanism that I don't understand.
How do you evaluate it, though? Other than to go "yes that followed the rules of the format", I mean. Most of my thoughts about poems are whether or not I like/relate to the topic, but you can write about a topic without it being poetry? I am in support of a workshopping thread, because I think if I read what other people liked or disliked about poems other than their topics, it might help me think of more ways to look at them.
so there are definitely technical aspects to poetry writing, like rhyme and meter and whether or not you've got "filler" words that don't actually do anything for the poem. but as a person with a BA and an MA (and 4 years of a PhD before i had a breakdown and dropped out) in English Literature, i can tell you "is this good" is a very difficult question to answer. does it succeed at what it's trying to do? does it have an emotional impact? does it capture some specific image or feeling? does it make a point about something? all these are easier questions to answer about a poem, and even then people can (and will) argue about it. it's why people are still evaluating Shakespeare's sonnets, 400+ years after he wrote them. workshopping is super useful because it gets more eyes, and more opinions, on the piece. different people might (and probably will) have very different opinions about the same poem, but if there is a consensus about anything that's super useful information to have.
