Intimidated

Ok, so I guess I'm trying to decide if I want to get better at writing poetry/lyrics or if this is really just for myself.  I've looked up some online poetry workshop websites...  I am Intimated, to say the least.  There's one that has a forum meant for n00bs.  Oh my goodness, the critiques are harsh.  Harsh.  Not sure if I want to dip my toe in there or not.

Granted, the website is prefaced with very adequate warnings about what to expect.  The FAQ talks about how it is a forum to be critiqued in order that the writer can learn and get better.  That's what I want.

I guess the think that scares me a FAQ called "Five Beginner's Blunders."  Specificially, the number 2 blunder:

"... ignoring the audience. Everybody writes for their own satisfaction, and beginning authors may have received praise from family or friends for their work. At pffa, you are putting poems on display for strangers. They only know you through the words you put on the page. They don't know that you're only fourteen years old, or that you just broke up with your lover, or that your child just died unless the words in your poem convey this information."

Wait.  Writing isn't for me?  It's for someone else?


Honestly, that's kinda scary.  But, wait... What am I doing here?  Is this blog for me?  Or is it for you?  After lurking there for a while, I'm not quite sure right now.