From: Natalie@yabbs To: Lestat!@yabbs Subject: re: whatever Date: Thu Jul 28 20:03:48 1994 ok, this is a base for criticism, right? from what i've read, your poetry seems very derivative of others' work. while you have strong imagaery and a good sense of language, when i read your poetry i can't help but thinking i've read it, or something LIKE it before. you've read a lot of the romantics, haven't you? and a bit of anne rice, as well (gee, that was hard to guess :) ) but i'm not saying this to be mean or to cut you down, just to point out to you whati notice. but i also gather you're just starting out, so it's ok to be somewhat derivative of your influences. but you HAVE to find your own voice if you want to get anywhere. i've been atthis for god knows how long and i'm still trying to distance myself from my influences (yeats and the romantics) in order to find my voice. natalie