Appendix
In our dictionary, the next word after «writing» is «wrong».
In this Appendix, we explain there is no bad writing. Like Sir Winston Churchill said: "There's no public opinion; there's just published opinion."
Good writing
The published opinion is that «work» earns money. If that work is «the work of an artist», the money usually goes to The Industry. In return, The Industry decides what's good and what's bad (read: what's published and what's rejected), and which rules writers should follow.
The published opinion claims that «good writing» sells; anything that doesn't give The Industry a profit is «bad writing». The general published opinion is convinced that poetry doesn't sell.
We, Ai Ni and Ronaldo, think «good writing» is writing that at least one reader likes. When a writer likes what she wrote, she automatically becomes hor own «one reader». And if she doesn't like it, she throws it away and writes something better. Conclusion: «bad writing» doesn't exist.
What would prove our opinion true?
Find a bundle of poetry with lots of readers of which the publisher doesn't earn one cent.
Genres
Publishers (and critical press) invented genres, like romance, mystery or action thrillers, for novels of fiction. This has a commercial reason: if you like a book of a certain genre, The Industry might convince you to buy another work of that genre.
For the same reason, The Industry dictates their published writers to limit their creativity and produce a complete series of similar books, with the same protagonist, of the same genre, and written in the same style. Their Number One isn't a creative spirit who generates art, but a robot who generates money.
We think creativity is more fun than working on a chain gang. It's awesome to take up challenges nobody ever imagined before. Who dares to write poems in all kinds of styles and genres?
The Industry is convinced we'll never get over ten million readers without advertising and promotion. Our goal isn't to reach the top of the New Joke Times Best-Seller List or become billionaires; our goal was to do something awesome and publish it, without depending on The Industry. If you read this, it's proof that we've reached our goal.
* * *
According to The Industry, Poetry and Humour are genres.
We think poetry is a format, and humour is a style.
The proof would be a romantic poem that makes you laugh (like 6.6 - «Love At First Write»).
Styles
According to the published opinion, there's only one style: follow the Style Guide, the set of rules The Industry invented. They invented the APA Style, the Chicago Manual of style, the MLA Handbook and lots of others.
Every novel of fiction (and non-fiction textbook), short story and poem must follow the publisher's Style Guide. We illustrate this with an example: the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition) is 2.426 pages; every writer should know those rules by heart and follow them from the first letter to the final dot. Yes, we're sarcastic.
Not only publishers suffer this «Industrial Disease». Schools, newspapers and companies also define the style in which writers of essays, articles and publications should tell their stories.
There are several Style Guides, each one with its own set of rules. How does a writer know which Style Guide her future publisher or employer worships? There's only one solution: buy and study them all. That's the work of a writer. According to The Industry, creativity is a combination of sloppiness, laziness and rebellious behaviour. Working hard, being industrious (for instance, by selling other people's work), is the only acceptable style.
Too bad. «Industrial Disease» kills a chance to be creative.
We know: informative writing benefits from consistent styles and format rules. We prefer to read in the newspaper «He scored the winning goal in the extra time.» instead of «At high pace, with lots of grace, a smile on his face, he saw the space and solved the case». But what's wrong with a bundle of poetry that combines different styles and genres, instead of an informative «How To Write Poems» textbook? Why can't you write an essay in the format of a letter to your grandmother, in Baby English, so she'll understand it better?
Teachers don't give extra points for an original style. They prefer to check if your exam matches their list of correct answers, and punish you for every difference. Like publishers, teachers prefer to be all-knowing Higher Powers who get paid for telling others they're not good enough.
We think that school wasn't invented to make life easier for teachers but for students to learn new skills. We learnt more from shifting the borders of our creativity than from copying others, according to the instructions.
The proof would be when lots of original writers write original poems, get published, find readers and feel admired. We'll come back to that idea later.
Is «Precious Poetry» art?
The interesting part of this book is the «we». Ai Ni created the illustrations and Ronaldo wrote the words, but «we» made this book: the poems inspired Ai Ni to paint even more beautiful birds, and her paintings inspired Ronaldo to write better poems. Democratically, we decided what was good enough to publish and what needed a second chance. Two birds of a completely different feather, we created something together, that neither of us could have done alone.
That beautiful feeling is the happy ending of this book. And perhaps it's also the surprise, as we never could imagine this happy ending at the moment of the Inciting Incident, when Ai Ni's husband asked Ronaldo's buddy John: "My wife has taken up painting. You paint too. Can I show you something she made? Perhaps, you can give her some advice?" It started an adventure of beauty and pleasure. «Precious Poetry» is our victory over shame, doubt, and what others might think.
Victory is not a result, but an act of trying.
"Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it." — Mahatma Gandhi
It's not important what others think. Important is what we think: "WOW!"
«Closing Image»
We hope our readers step out of their comfort zone, like authentic heroes, to enjoy making art as a team sport.
Is «Precious Poetry» good or bad?
This bundle won't make it into the best-seller lists. For Ai Ni, it's the first time she's published her work, and for Ronaldo, it's probably the last time he gets a chance to say something (the editor always has the last word). That makes this book an excellent medium to try out everything and see what we can do. In this Appendix, we summarise all the elements of writing, with references to poems in which we used them.
We've combined the seven colours of the diversity rainbow, to show how every songbird has a distinct voice. Every person can add something interesting to the symphony of artistic expressions that humanity is capable of.
Animals don't make art. We, humans, are the only species with a desire to create beauty. We're also the only species with a desire to make as much profit as we can.
There's a moral dilemma to solve here.
If we want to know if «Precious Poetry» is Good or Evil, we have to define these two terms first. We're not the all-knowing Higher Powers of Teaching and Publishing; we believe in public opinion to decide. That makes this an interactive book: you're allowed to vote!
Option 1: You prefer to buy the Number 1 from the New Joke Times Best-Seller Chart.
The published opinion sees moral as «the difference between profit and loss».
«Precious Poetry» is free, no profit, just loss: Evil!
Option 2: You prefer to read this free book, pre-sent by your friend.
We see moral as «the combination of beauty and love».
Ronaldo loves Ai Ni's beautiful paintings, and Ai Ni loves Ronaldo's beautiful words. Both loved working together, inspiring each other to create something even more beautiful.
When anyone loves «Precious Poetry», it's Good.
Let's publish «Precious Poetry» and ask for opinions on goodreads.com…