Dear Editor,
I love Teen Ink, and I think that it is a fantastic way to hone your own writing skills and help others improve theirs. But I also think that in the poetry/ free verse section of the website, your poems should not have to be 100 characters long. I myself have tried, time and time again to enter short but extremely thoughtful poems into the free verse section and I always receive an "article must be at least 100 characters long.".
There are wonderful poems that have been written by famous poets that are shorter than 100 characters. Imagist poems, to give an example. these poems have a beautiful feel to them and you can see clearly what the poet is describing. Haikus do not have to be the only short poems on the magazine/ website.
I understand that all rules and regulations are made for a reason, and i am wondering about the cause of this one. Keep in mind, while you are reading this, that even though rules have a reason, sometimes those reasons cease to exist and we keep the rules, thinking that they are needed. Either because you have forgotten why it was put there in the first place (In which case you should probably look into it.) or because you mistakenly think that it makes the website a better place, even when it actually limits the amount of creativity that can be induced with the lifting of such a rule.
Please do not think that i am complaining, as I am not, but do please do take into consideration my letter, even if it is not published.
As I said before, I greatly admire Teen Ink and I just think that a few little tweaks can make it an even more creative and inspiring place.