This is some basic tips. No one has to follow them, but perhaps they can
be helpful to some. Now, don’t try to follow this too strictly because a
perfect poem doesn’t exist (and these tips definitely won’t help you make
a perfect poem
). Don’t loose your own stile when applying the tips;
alter them a bit so you don’t loose what makes your writing unique.
Also, don’t forget the reason you’re writing poems just because you want
to make them brilliant.
Good luck writing!
1. If you want to make it more poetic you can use metaphors, grand words
(be careful with that though) or be vague (but make sure you get the message across).
You can also use descriptive words (adjectives, adverbs).
2. Proofread and edit your poem before posting. Always.
3. Do not be too repetitive. It often gets real dull. Try to use synonyms
or another way of writing what you want to express rather than repeating yourself.
4. You need to create a flow. (For that see tip 5 and 6).
5. It would help if you wrote in stanzas. Sometimes though, if the poem is rather short,
that isn’t always necessary.
6. You need to use punctuation and capital letters. A full stop, sentences over.
New sentence, capital letter. The other way to go is to begin rows with a
capital letter if it’s a new sentence and a small letter if the sentence continues.
7 Try to write about something that’s not so common or write in a
different/unique way.
8 Try to write about something that other way of writing doesn’t give
justice to. For example, if what you wrote could have been some sort of
letter or a diary entry, then it probably won’t make a good poem.
And if you still want to write about such things write them in a way so that
it can only be a poem, nothing else.
9. If you want to rhyme you must think about the flow. Also you could try
not to use too banal, overused or predictable rhymes. Try not to use so
obvious rhymes such as “knife, life” or “bed, said”. And don’t put in a
rhyming word because you have to rhyme. You’ll end up with a forced
rhyme and sentences that only are fillers.
(Here's a tool to help you find rhymes)
10. Free verse is easier to start with. It doesn’t limit you in any way and
you can be much more elaborate.
11. Don’t steal other peoples work or bits of it. If you want to include
quotes you have to mention it somewhere as a reference, and you should
have a good reason to use someone else’s words and not your own.
12 Think about the structure of the poem. Perhaps rows with a similar
number of syllables or words are what you need? Or stanzas that look the same.
In any case you need some kind of structure to build your poem on, and it
will also be easier to avoid making it choppy.
stargirl.:I personally don't like to write in rhymes and I especially don't like to be told what to do in writing poetry, but I thought some people may think this is useful. In school we talked about poetry for a couple weeks and I try to translate what we did and write it in here.
1st: About Syllable Counters and Verse Gagers
In writing poetry you need to look after the smallest item first: the syllable. Sure you don't want a poem written in rhymes to sound bumpy. To avoid that you have to put in the same number of syllables in every verse. You have to count.
2nd: Subject and Motive
The subject of a poem means a big area of the contents, for example love, sadness or nature. The motive is secondary. It describes the subject of the poem more detailed.
Subject: Love
Motive: First love
3rd: Lyrical Me, Speaker
Instead of a teller in poems there is a lyrical me or a speaker. The lyrical me talks in the first person. But don't take the lyrical me for the writer! The speaker doesn't talk in the first person, they take up a general position.
4th: Verse, Stave, Line Skip
Poems almost always are more than one verse (=lines). If the verses are well recognizable pooled in separate groups, these groups are called staves. If a sentence doesn't end at the end of the verse it's called a line skip (enjambement).
5th: Measure, Time
A steady sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables is called measure. You make the measure clear by putting an accent above the stressed syllables ( á = stressed, a = unstressed). The smallest metrical item (two or three syllables, one of them is stressed) is called metrical feet or time. Here the most important sorts of times:
Trochee (á a)
Iamb (a á)
Dactyl (á a a)
Anapest (a a á)
6th: Rhymes
Couple rhyme: aabb
Example: house,
mouse,
mad,
sad
Cross rhyme: abab
Example: house,
bad,
mouse,
mad
Embracing rhyme: abba
Example: house,
bad,
mad,
mouse
Crowd rhyme: aaaa
Example: house,
mouse,
louse,
...
Trail rhyme: aabccb
Example: house,
mouse,
bad,
nice,
ice,
mad
7th: What Does a Poem Need to Include?
A poem needs to have
- verses
- a peculiar print layout (much white paper around the writ)
- a headline
A poem can have
- a steady rhytm
- rhymes
- staves
- a clear sense in it
- complete sentences
- a text that's easy to learn by heart
- Upper case at the beginning of the lines
8th: Comparison, Metaphor
Comparisons are there to make something more vivid. You can recognize them by the words "like" and "than"
He fights like a lion.
She's more beautiful than a rose
Metaphors are linguictic images, their meaning isn't really that what you can read. An easy kind of metaphor is the simplified comparison. The words "like" and "than" are missing.
He's the lion of the fight.
Meaning: He's the gutsiest fighter.
She's the rose amongst the women.
Meaning: She's the most beautiful woman amongst the others.
9th: Personification, Neologism, Rhetorical Question
If things and artefacts act like humans, it's called personification.
The sun tweaked his nose.
Neologisms are modified or advanced words.
hugesnakelong word
Rhetorical questions are sham asked. The reader doesn't expect an answer.
Did I do my homework?
Hella Intense:I've got a tip.
Never write a poem about "it" if you can say it in speach or essay form.
If there's nothing left to do with "it" than write a poem.
EDIT: Also.. what your writing.. is really sort of a tought form of poetry...
Annie Victim:Write about what you know.
It makes everything a monkeyload easier and it usually make it better.
Also! Write what you feel.
Say if you like chese and you write about how you hate it, it wouldn't be
very good because you'd have to build a different of different way of thinking.
Kitti:A few words on vocabulary:
While it's great that you've memorized that dictionary, it doesn't improve your poetry.
I've a creative writing book that defines poetry as "the best words in the best order." Not the biggest words. The words that suit your topic the best. The words that say what you mean instead of some long technical way of saying something similar to what you mean.
Extensive vocabulary is good. But statistically, you only need to know about 2000 words to be a good writer, as long as you can put them together well.
What am I saying?
Use fancy words. But know when enough is too much. You shouldn't need a dictionary to comprehend a good poem.
wait_what:I have some things I want to say!
It helps to remember that a poem is NEVER going to be completed really. You can't just write a poem and be done with it. Editing it over and over and over can make the poem so much more concise and better. Not ONE writer in the history of literature has sat down, written a poem, and been done with it. No one can write the final draft on the first try.
And when writing poetry with images, try using metaphos and similes that are uncommon but apt. "The tears flowed like rain" is just so trite and boring. Instead, maybe try something like, "The tears dropped like bombs" or something.
And don't try to just write WHAT you know. It's so much easier to write from an unclear viewpoint. If you're writing about your town, and you want to put in that a kid drowned in the creek behind a brick house, but there's not a brick house with a creek behind it in your town, put it in anyway. Create your own place/time/people.
Last, this is something Richard Hugo said, and it's about something so small and trivial, but so true: "Don't write with a pen. Ink tends to give the impression the words shouldn't be changed."
This was just some of the things I got from Purdue's English 205: Introduction to Creative Writing class.
I_worship_tre_Cool:
You may want to add something in about Symbolism, sybolism can make really great poems and add depth. You could add something in about alliteration. Another thing I would add in is something about the "Barnacle" test. My English teacher this year used that alot, whenever people would bring her poetry, if she didn't think something makes sense, she would use forms of the word barnacle to see if it made sense. I know you want example....
"The cat jumped over the moon.
Leys say you were not sure about the word jumped, so you substitute it with "barnacled"
"The cat barnacled over the moon"
Although I have no clue how something could be barnacled, it made sense, it was the correct part of speech, alot of poets get caught up in vivid words and lose track of their parts of speech, if you are worried about that, use the barnacle test. If it doesnt make sense, don't use it. having big, pretty words is pointless when you don't use them with proper grammar.
Again, these are just tips for beginners. You don't need to (And I really don't want you to) follow all these tips in one poem, because if you try to make it perfect you'll fuck it up. There is no "perfect poem", Everyone has their own feelings and everyone has their own way of expressing them. Just write about what you feel, then it is right.
Helpful.
xD
