Analysis of So You Want To Be A Writer
Charles Bukowski 1920 (Andernach) – 1994 (San Pedro)
if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.
don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
Scheme | axBcxdBexcfxBcxBxxBgxBbBhibjahai xxxh ejegxjxaxxxBjdxcfBxdB xxxba x x |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110110111 01110 111 01111111 1011011 011 111 11111110 10110101 11101 10 1011 111 111011101 1 111 111010111 10011 111 1111110 01101001 111 111111001101 111 111011110 1 01011 11111111111 1 11100 111011111 1101 1111111111 111111 111011100011 1110 11111010 111110101 10110110 1110100 010110111 1 0101011 1011 1 1011 1111 111 011111 111010 011011 111101 10110 111 01010111 1011 111 111101 0111110 11111 0101111101 011111101 111101 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,463 |
Words | 303 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 32, 4, 21, 5, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 194 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"So You Want To Be A Writer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/58707/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer>.
Discuss this Charles Bukowski poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In