Why do more people write poetry than read it?

Question

It appears that many people write poetry. Few people, however, actually read it. Why?

Answer 1

Right now there really isn't a good pipeline of good poetry published out there and identified through awards or critical recognition. Professor poets publish routinely and praise each other as a sort of career move, and independent poets don't fit into the scene. Most poets survive as faculty members or from grants, so relationships with other poets are crucial. This leads to career co-dependence, which silences true criticism. Without criticism, crap flourishes and the reading public is tired of it. Many more people write than should write because there is no one out there to tell them they suck at it.

Answer 2

I do not agree. I think that many more people read it than write it. This explains all the books of poetry being sold throughout history. Many appreciate poetry without ever having written it.

Poetry is a result of cleverness and a true need to let the world know in a figurative way exactly how the author feels. I suppose this would explain why so many people write it.

Answer 3

How do you get this? Granted, there are those that do write without reading others, but more often than not people will have read some poetry (even if just 1 or 2) in writing their own.

Answer 4

I ask myself this question a lot. It's sort of along the same vein as people who call themselves writers that don't like to read. I think there is a perceived status associated with calling yourself a "poet." Many people are rather enamoured with the idea of saying that they write poetry.

That's not to say that people don't read poetry, or at least, read what they think is poetry. However herein is part of the problem. Folks tend to read poetry along the same vein as they themselves write. i.e. the angst-ridden goth teen reads poetry from other angst-ridden goth teens. Most of it simply rehashes the same old same old and doesn't really go anywhere new. And it creates a cycle of complacency. The "poet" never develops his or her own voice, but instead simply regurgitates what his/her peers write.

Answer 5

I read poetry just as much as I write it probly why people write is so they can put there emotions on paper in a way it makes you feel better . Why people dont read poetry much is because they dont find it interisting. In my ninthgrade im the only one that reads or writes poetry.

Answer 6

There are numerous reasons. For me, I don't write poetry anymore, but when I did it was a necessary outlet for creativity. I have always been selective in the poetry I read. I don't want to waste my time, so all the bad poets, including myself aren't going to be read as much as the ones who have proven themselves as worthwhile to the people who do read.

Answer 7

That's a good question. Maybe because there's not a huge market in buying poetry books, but everyone has emotions to pour into poetry. However, people listen to it more than they know--lyrics are poetry.

Answer 8

People write poetry for themselves, not for others. That is why most of the poets we hear about are dead--they did not publish their work. Somebody found their poems post-mortem and had them published. Writing poetry is a form of personal expression, and many poems are so personal that people keep them to themselves.

Answer 9

Crappy poetry is really, really easy to write, but hard to for anyone to read without gagging. Well-written poetry is sometimes harder to understand and people are not accustomed to putting effort into their entertainment. It is easier to write terrible poetry than it is to put effort into understanding the good stuff.

Answer 10

Because more people find it easy to put their feelings out in poetry. But it can be confusing to read and hard to understand. So many people would rather have it read out loud to them. Because it is easier to listen to than to read.