What's in a name? Is it a song, spoken word poem, rap piece,
words and music piece. It's meant to be spoken and sung.
The name game explored.
Poetry Blogs, Creativity Blog, Spoken Word Blog.

JUNE 6, 2006

WORD PIECES? WORDS MUSIC? SPOKEN WORD PIECES? -
what best to call these unusual things
that began to appear in my mind?

Children have names. Likewise each of the pieces has its own name. But isn't there some convenient category they can be placed in?

The pieces have a life of their own. They don't care about categories. Like people, they're individual. Maybe someone else can find the right categories.

My own name for them: word pieces. It feels right and natural to me - because they're definitely pieces made of words.

My plan. One by one, the pieces will come onto the site, and I will figure out how to make things work, so they can take their place, these unconventional children of mine, children I'm proud of, pleased with, hopeful for.

JUNE 15, 2006

But if I don't find the right label, no one will find them. I might as well not put them on the web at all. That's the problem.

I've tried, over and over, to call them spoken word pieces, because that's what pieces like these are commonly called. Spoken word pieces. Spoken word poetry. Spoken word.

Okay, I say, they're spoken word pieces. But the term feels clumsy and clunky in my mouth. I think of shoes that don't fit right.

They're not poems, as poems are usually taken to be now - pieces meant to be slowly enjoyed, the layers of meanings delved into and gradually uncovered, and the deeper meanings elucidated only later still. No, my pieces are not that. At their best, they capture moments.

Nor do the pieces fit a traditional song format - though many have melodies and some are meant to be sung. But "songs"? I wouldn't mind calling quite a few of them songs, but I've been told, over and over, about all the rules songs need to follow. Also, they're meant to work, not just as songs, but just as they are - no music - and songs usually don't.

That brings me back to word pieces. The term just feels right. A stubborn little voice inside me holds on to the term.

So, welcome into my world of word pieces.

still JUNE 15, 2006

But I come back to: there's something else that matters, beyond what feels right to me. If I put them on the web as word pieces, chances are no one will find them, no matter how much people might like the pieces if only they knew they were there. No one is looking for word pieces. It's like, for clothing, no one is looking for fabric pieces - they want jeans and t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts.

What are people looking for?

But it's not like jeans and t-shirts. It's something that doesn't quite fit anywhere, so far at least, as far as I can make out.

Elsa
creating, connecting, exchanging -
or anyway, trying to

JUNE 15, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006, 2011
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006, 2011

Previous - June 15, 2006

Next - June 21, 2006

JUNE 16, 2009

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge. Three years and a day. I've found out what people search for. Poems. Poetry. Deep love poems. Poems of sadness. Loneliness poems. Romantic love song lyrics. New alternative rock lyrics. Very specific terms, for the most part. It took a long time for me to get things right. 2 years. So much learning.

What, inside myself, do I call the pieces? Word pieces, for the most part. But it's a matter of priorities. My priority isn't the term. It's getting the pieces out into the world.

Elsa
creating, connecting, exchanging -
or anyway, trying to

June 16, 2009

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2009, 2011
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2009, 2011

Previous - June 15, 2006

Next - June 21, 2006

If you enjoyed this poetry blog,
you might also like

more poetry blogs,
this one on letting the pieces be,
or fixing them to conform

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more writing on creativity,
more creativity explored



And now (February 2011),
Love Poems for You,
a collection of 22 love poems,
plus a writer blog on
the totally unexpected flow
of love poetry