Writing a poem is a comment or analysis that you make after observing the world within and around you. A poem may represent the detailed analysis of anything, from hatred to love, motherhood the any noun found around you.
Writing poetry can seem intriguing, especially when you feel you are not a natural poet and creative or brimming with poetic ideas. With the inspiration and approach into you, you can actually write a poem that you can feel proud about and would love to share with friends in the community or with the friends.
Writing a Poem : Pro Tips to be Followed
- Starting the Poem
- Scripting the Poem
- Polishing the Poem
Writing a Poem : Starting the Poem
Excel in writing exercises.
A poem may have a starting line or idea as a snippet of a verse. It can be a line or two that seems to pop out or an image that you have in your head. You can get inspired for the poem by writing exercises and using world of words around you. Getting inspired, you can shape up the ideas and mould the thoughts into a piece of poem.
Brainstorming for Ideas
Feel free and try to write by grabbing a notebook or computer and instantaneously getting on with writing—about day, feelings, or anything that is there in your mind , it may be a piece of news that your have come across during the day, and has impacted a lot. Let the mind wander for 5-10 minutes and come up with an idea.
Write to a prompt.
Go and get poem prompts online or derive your own, like “what colour feels like” or “how it feels to be positive during negative times.” Jot down whatever comes to your mind and go with the flow, where it takes you.
Make a list or mind map of images.
Think of a situation when you are full of emotion and write down all the images that came to your mind at that time or positive ideas that really love to associate with. You may write about something that you are seeing right in front of you while taking a walk or watching a TV. Be prepared to write those thoughts as you see them.
Get inspired by the environment and people.
Inspiration can come from anything to everything. For a great poem, look all around around you. Try to see those details which normal person evades to see. Think of situation, every memory, and moment for a possible topic. You’ll definitely start experiencing poetry all around!
Finding a Topic
Try to go for a walk to the favorite park or spot in the city. You may take a walk through the neighborhood. Utilize the emotions of the people you see. Even the nature and buildings you see can act as an inspiration for a poem.
Write about someone you care about.
Think about someone who is important to you. try to recall a special moment you shared with them and put it in the form a poem. Through poem, try to show how you care about them.
Pick a memory with a strong feelings.
Close eyes, clear head, and check what memories start coming to the forefront of the mind. Pay attention to emotions that they bring with them—positive or negative—and probe into those emotions. Strong emotional moments can make beautiful and interesting poems.
Pick a specific theme or idea.
You can start with a poem while focusing on a specific idea which you find great and fascinating. Picking a special theme or idea to focus on in the poem can provide the poem with a clear objective. This will increase the sense of ease for you to narrow down to the images and descriptions you go through and use in the poem.
Choose a poetic form.
You may go for a poetic form that you consider easy to use, like free verse, or a form that you consider is more challenging, like a sonnet. Choose one poetic form and stick to it. Try to build a structure around it for your poem and feel cohesive to your reader. Get the creative juices flowing. Pick a form for the poem from many different poetic forms available for use, from free verse to sonnet to rhyming couplet.
Read examples of poetry.
You may look through examples of poetry to get a better sense of what fellow poets are writing. You may read their poems which are written in the same poetic form. It will help you understand the form, you are interested in or poems about themes or ideas that are inspiring you. To get a better sense of the genre, you may choose poems that are well known and considered “classics.”
Writing a Poem : Scripting the Poem
Use concrete imagery.
Try and avoid abstract imagery. Use concrete descriptions of people, places, and things in the poem. You should always try to describe using the five senses: smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound. Use concrete imagery to immerse the reader in the world of the poem. It will make images come alive for the readers.
Literary devices.
Literary devices like metaphor and simile help in adding variety and depth to the poetry. Using devices, help in making the poem stand out to the reader. It allows the poet to paint a detailed picture for the reader. Utilizing literary devices in the poem, varying them while using them as metaphors or similes in the writing.
Try a New Literary Device
Metaphor: A metaphor is a great way to add unique imagery and create an interesting tone.
Simile: Similes compare two things using “like” or “as.” They might seem interchangeable with metaphors, but both create a different flow and rhythm you can play with.
Personification: If you personify an object or idea, you’re describing it by using human qualities or attributes. This can clear up abstract ideas or images that are hard to visualize.
Alliteration: Alliteration occurs when you use words in quick succession that begin with the same letter. This is a great tool if you want to play with the way your poem sounds.
Write for the ear.
Poetry is made to be read out loud. You should write poem with a focus on how it sounds on the page. Writing for the ear allows to play with the structure of the poem and word choice. Notice how each stanza of the poem flows into one another. Placing one word next to another creates a rhythmic sound.
Avoid cliche.
The poetry will be stronger while avoiding cliches, phrases that have become so common they have lost their meaning. Try to be creative in descriptions and images in the poem. Reader can get surprised and intrigued by the writing.
Writing a Poem : Polishing the Poem
Read the poem out loud.
After the completion of the draft of the poem, you must read it aloud to yourself. Loud and clear reading helps in noticing how words sound in the page. Pay attention to how each stanza of the poem flows into the next. Keep a pen near you to mark lines or words or stanzas which may sound awkward or jumbled.
Get feedback from others.
You must share the poem with poets to get feedback from them to improve the poem. You can even join a poetry writing group. It will provide you a platform to have workshops on your poems with other poets and work on poetry together. You may take a poetry writing class to work with an instructor and aspiring poets to improve the writing. You can take the feedback that will be received from the peers and utilize it in the revision of the poem.
Revise the poem.
After receiving a feedback on the poem, you should revise it until it is at its best. Try to use feedback from others to cut some lines that feel confusing or unclear. Be willing to correct yourself and not hold onto pretty lines just for the sake of putting them in the poem. Ensure every stanza of the poem contributes to the overall idea, goal, and theme of the poem.