Advice To Young Poets
Do not show your poems to friends and family for evaluation—except in the very unlikely case that they actually read poetry. I speak from experience, for I’ve had many hopeful poets show me their efforts. They often put the poems for which they’ve had the most positive feedback at the top, and almost without exception these are their weakest ones. The stuff with potential is usually at the bottom of the pile. What young research scientist would consult his parents about the quality of his statistical analysis? In that case (unless they were scientifically savvy) they’d beg off. Unfortunately, people don’t do that when it comes to the arts.
