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-   -   Meaning of Charles Bukowski's "How to be a good writer" (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=393262)

  • Sep 3, 2009, 04:50 PM
    jpiger
    Meaning of Charles Bukowski's "How to be a good writer"
    I was wondering what people thought the meaning to this poem was, because I'm not sure I fully understand the meaning...

    You've got to a great many women
    Beautiful women
    And write a few decent love poems.

    And don't worry about age
    And/or freshly-arrived talents.

    Just drink more beer
    More and more beer

    And attend the racetrack at least once a

    Week

    And win
    If possible

    Learning to win is hard —
    Any slob can be a good loser.

    And don't forget your Brahms
    And your Bach and your
    Beer.

    Don't overexercise.

    Sleep until noon.

    Avoid paying credit cards
    Or paying for anything on
    Time.

    Remember that there isn't a piece of
    In this world over $50
    (in 1977).

    And if you have the ability to love
    Love yourself first
    But always be aware of the possibility of
    Total defeat
    Whether the reason for that defeat
    Seems right or wrong —

    An early taste of death is not necessarily
    A bad thing.

    Stay out of churches and bars and museums,
    And like the spider be
    Patient —
    Time is everybody's cross,
    Plus
    Exile
    Defeat
    Treachery

    All that dross.

    Stay with the beer.

    Beer is continuous blood.

    A continuous lover.

    Get a large typewriter
    And as the footsteps go up and down
    Outside your window

    Hit that thing
    Hit it hard

    Make it a heavyweight fight

    Make it the bull when he first charges in

    And remember the old dogs
    Who fought so well:
    Hemingway, Celine, Dostoevsky, Hamsun.

    If you think they didn't go crazy
    In tiny rooms
    Just like you're doing now

    Without women
    Without food
    Without hope

    Then you're not ready.

    Drink more beer.
    There's time.
    And if there's not
    That's all right
    Too.
  • Sep 3, 2009, 05:34 PM
    Jeffbx

    It simply means that to be a good writer, you should enjoy living and enjoy writing - do what you like and write what you like.
  • Oct 29, 2010, 06:24 PM
    patonwelsh
    To write to be real you have to get down to the heart and what it wants, strip away all that you are supposed to think, and tell the truth your truth. With everything you have.

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