Writing angry

This is one of the unwritten rules. Think of Virgil and his two lines of poetry every day. (That statistic has haunted me since I first heard it as a teenager).

They say "don't write angry". You might end up with an emotional mush like the worst kind of journaling - and yes, we have all been there as writers. Particularly the teenage stream of consciousness love poems that just seem to go on and on forever and then you did this and I did that and things never really come to a conclusion...no wonder poor old Virgil seems the enemy of teenagers with his methodical and concise method.

But perhaps we are just confusing anger with speed. Fast writing can lead to lack of form (but at other times it can be liberating).

So if you are a Virgil type poet let go of form and method and see where it gets you. Write when you have a rage inside. My guess is that the flow won't sink your boat. Who knows it might even take you all the way to Australia.