--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't want to write poems that are just…" description: "\"I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I don't want to write fiction t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef1/ben-lerner-9267_awareness_i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-jus_79632.jpg" --- # I don't want to write poems that are just really clear… ![“I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I don't want to write fiction that's about the irresponsibility of writing fiction and I've thrown out a lot of writing that I think was ultimately tainted by that kind of…” quote by Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef1/ben-lerner-9267_awareness_i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-jus_79632.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef1/ben-lerner-9267_awareness_i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-jus_79632.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef1/ben-lerner-9267_awareness_i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-jus_79632.jpg) > “I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I don't want to write fiction that's about the irresponsibility of writing fiction and I've thrown out a lot of writing that I think was ultimately tainted by that kind of self-awareness.” [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author rejects self‑conscious, meta‑poetry and fiction that foreground their own artifice, preferring work that feels genuine rather than self‑critical. **In simple terms:** Avoiding self‑aware trap in writing Key Takeaway Seek authenticity over meta‑awareness Themes authenticity self‑consciousness artistic integrity meta‑fiction creative honesty Mood reflective introspective Type literary quote artist statement When to use this quote - writing poetry - crafting fiction - literary criticism - creative workshops Key Concepts self‑awareness meta‑narrative creative process Practical Applications - teaching creative writing - guiding editorial direction Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑awareness affect a reader's immersion? - Can authenticity coexist with self‑reflection? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Irresponsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irresponsibility/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self -awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) [Writing poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Writing poetry helps me to write my fiction; each thing helps the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/writing-poetry-helps-me-to-write-my-fiction-each-thing-helps-the-other/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I wish I'd been better able to resist the sense of obligation to write some of the poems I did. It's in the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-wish-i-d-been-better-able-to-resist-the-sense-of-obligation-to/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [We want to be famous as a writer, as a poet, as a painter, as a politician, as a singer, or what you will.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-want-to-be-famous-as-a-writer-as-a-poet-as-a-painter-as-a/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I write poems like some people sing in the bathroom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-bhatia/i-write-poems-like-some-people-sing-in-the-bathroom/) [Amit Bhatia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-bhatia/) > [I used to write poems more when I was younger, but I haven't in a long time. I just write ideas and paragraphs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/i-used-to-write-poems-more-when-i-was-younger-but-i-haven-t-in-a-long/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [“This must be what feelings are. This is why people write poems! I get it now. I get it, and I want more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/this-must-be-what-feelings-are-this-is-why-people-write-poems-i-get/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [He does not write at all whose poems no man reads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/he-does-not-write-at-all-whose-poems-no-man-reads/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Entering into writing a poem is an emotional endeavor for me as well as a spiritual and creative one. Having to write those poems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/entering-into-writing-a-poem-is-an-emotional-endeavor-for-me-as-well/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [I would write poems and think up melodies to them later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennette-mccurdy/i-would-write-poems-and-think-up-melodies-to-them-later/) [Jennette McCurdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennette-mccurdy/) > [“When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I write poems. And then they say: 'No, what do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-algera/when-people-ask-me-what-i-do-for-a-living-i-tell-them-i-write-poems/) Mike Algera > [Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stevenson/yes-i-do-often-write-poems-from-the-mind-but-i-hope-i-don-t-ignore/) [Anne Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stevenson/) > [I never intended to write poems, nor to be a photographer, nor to be a film-maker. I just took many, many pictures and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/i-never-intended-to-write-poems-nor-to-be-a-photographer-nor-to-be-a/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [“but take away his poems and what does he have left? He wants to write more poems, enough to fill half the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nachoem-m-wijnberg/but-take-away-his-poems-and-what-does-he-have-left-he-wants-to-write/) Nachoem M Wijnberg > [“They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/they-re-just-people-that-write-poems-that-get-published-and/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [It took me 14 years to write poems about Vietnam. I had never thought about writing about it, and in a way I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/it-took-me-14-years-to-write-poems-about-vietnam-i-had-never-thought/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) ## More by Ben Lerner > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Shaving is a way to start the workday by ritually not cutting your throat when you've the chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/shaving-is-a-way-to-start-the-workday-by-ritually-not-cutting-your/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“What you need to do is harness the self-love you are hypostasizing as offspring, as the next generation of you, and let it branch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/what-you-need-to-do-is-harness-the-self-love-you-are-hypostasizing-as/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“And because his narrator was characterized above all by his anxiety regarding the disconnect between his internal experience and his social self-presentation,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/and-because-his-narrator-was-characterized-above-all-by-his-anxiety/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/and-i-want-to-say-something-to-the-schoolchildren-of-america-who-were/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“Part of what makes the book bizzare is that Whitman, because he wants to stand for everyone, because he wants to be less a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/part-of-what-makes-the-book-bizzare-is-that-whitman-because-he-wants/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [I didn't want to write another book about fraudulence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-didn-t-want-to-write-another-book-about-fraudulence/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [The problem is that if you're self-conscious about being a person on whom nothing is lost, isn't something lost - some kind of presence?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/the-problem-is-that-if-you-re-self-conscious-about-being-a-person-on/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Most of us start from that position of irony now and what I wanted to do - really felt like I had to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/most-of-us-start-from-that-position-of-irony-now-and-what-i-wanted-to/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Laser technology has fulfilled our people's ancient dream of a blade so fine that the person it cuts remains standing and alive until he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/laser-technology-has-fulfilled-our-people-s-ancient-dream-of-a-blade/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“Our contempt for any particular poem must be perfect, be total, because only a ruthless reading that allows us to measure the gap between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/our-contempt-for-any-particular-poem-must-be-perfect-be-total-because/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/if-i-was-a-poet-i-had-become-one-because-poetry-more-intensely-than/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Your interviews or blog posts or whatever are less supplements to your novel than part of it. I'm not private, but I believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/your-interviews-or-blog-posts-or-whatever-are-less-supplements-to/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“I’m going to kill the president. I promise. I surrender. I'm sorry. I'm gay. I'm pregnant. I'm dying. I'm not your father. You're fired.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-m-going-to-kill-the-president-i-promise-i-surrender-i-m-sorry-i-m/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Fiction doesn't appeal to me because it can describe physical appearances exhaustively or because it can offer access to the inner depths of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/fiction-doesn-t-appeal-to-me-because-it-can-describe-physical/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) [Explore all 73 Ben Lerner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) ## More Awareness quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [I know the importance of highly trained awareness of the “moment” and the immediate and intuitive response of the photographer. It should be obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-know-the-importance-of-highly-trained-awareness-of-the-moment-and/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [I'm part of a team that raises millions of dollars and raises awareness of HIV and AIDS all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-evangelista/i-m-part-of-a-team-that-raises-millions-of-dollars-and-raises/) [Linda Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-evangelista/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. 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Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. 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