Why did you call your writings, "Bad Fiction"? I don't think they're bad at all. I write and read all the time, so I know about these things...lol. You're a great writer; don't be so hard on yourself. I know I used to do the same thing, though, but now if I come across an idea I don't like, I just "shelf it." One of my problems is that I'll sit down with a great idea, type for a few hours, get tired, go to bed, and then the next day I can't pick up where I left off. It's like if I don't finish the story RIGHT THEN, I won't be able to do so later. I'm what I like to call a spur-of-the-moment writer...I guess. LOL. My main thing, however, is poetry...I have been writing poetry for about four and a half years now, and it's amazing how much my writings have improved. When I first started writing them, every single poem had an AABB pattern, then they switched to ABAB, and now they rarely rhyme at all. My main thing now is metaphors...I LOVE using metaphors in my poetry. There are just so many things you can do with them...different people will interpret them in different ways, and there are so many THINGS you can use as metaphors! It excites me; it really does. I have over 400 poems now...trust me, I've counted, and some of them are very poorly-written or unfinished. I love them all, though, because they're ME, you know? I don't keep a diary or journal...well, I have a journal, but I write poems in it rather than journal entries. Whenever I'm down and out, I just reach for a pen and a piece of paper and pour my little heart out. You can say so much with words, and it really helps me release tension and emotions I don't want. I was feeling rather worried yesterday evening whether or not I'd done something right, and so I composed a poem, and it's one of the best I think I have ever written...probably because it's so truthful. The moment was right, I guess...hey, it even rhymed (the reason I'm usually anti-rhyme is because I think that when one attempts to make his/her poem rhyme, it forces your concentration away from your emotions and the meaning of the poem, and it makes you think only of meaningless words instead). The poem means a lot to me, but I want to know what anyone else might think before I say what it's really about. Anywho, I didn't even mean for it to rhyme, it just came out that way. It's going into the school poetry book...I think. It might be too personal...I don't know yet. I just don't want anyone to rip my writings off. My poems used to be kinda eerie, but now they're MUCH more uplifting and cheerful. ANYWAYS...I've included a link to the poem from yesterday. I'm too lazy to re-type it, so I just scanned it (I know it's hard to read, cuz the printer at school was running out of ink). Anyways...yeah. I expect everyone who reads it to let me know what they think. Oh, and Don, I already said this, but you are NOT a bad writer! A mailing list would be a great idea...hey, I'd join it. :)

~Den-"the poet who knows it and ain't afraid to show it"Kara