RSSTaking on Poetry
Apr 21
Poetry, Writing I love deadlines and especially that wooshing sound, national p, national poetry month, Poetry out, poetry out of nothing challenge, the most splendiferous poetry ever, tips and tricks for writing 1 Comment
Since April 27th is practically upon us, I thought it might be a good time to see how things are going. Are you taking me up on the Poetry Out of Nothing Challenge? Have you been working on your poems? If you have, a hearty huzzah for you! If this is your first time writing poetry, or even if you’ve published ten books of poems, you deserve a cheerleader. Facing down the blank page is never easy, no matter how often you do it.
With that in mind, I thought I’d try to offer up a few helpful hints and exercises for you as you work on the challenge:
- Before you do anything, I want you to stare down that idea of Poetry (with a capital “P”) say, “I am not afraid of you!” It will feel silly, but there’s something to be said for creating your own truth. (I give myself writer’s block all the time because I get nervous that I can’t possible write a good poem. Giving myself a stern talking to has done wonders.)
- Don’t just write one poem, try writing a couple–it will give you a chance to flex your muscles a bit and take some of the pressure off because you’ll have a few to choose from.
- Grab your rhyming dictionary. Or don’t. (i.e., do what feels right for you).
- If you’re struggling for subject matter, try one of these awesome exercises:
- Think of something you do every day–something you could do in your sleep. Write out instructions for it. Make it thorough. Then break it apart into lines and stanzas–you may find a poem there.
- If lines and stanzas aren’t your thing, give prose poetry a try. Write your thoughts out in paragraph form, then just work on editing that more familiar form into something you love.
- Pick a few words or phrases. Write them down over and over and over again, until they begin to look strange to you. It’s a great way to find the rhythm and sound you might otherwise take for granted.
- Madlib your poem. Find an existing poem and pull out the nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Fill the holes with your own words.
- Make a list of your favorite words. Then grab a thesaurus and look up some synonyms for them. Try to build a few sentences using those words you love so much and the new ones you’ve learned.
- Collect words and phrases from things you come across during the day–ads, menus, books, emails–and then jumble them all together to make your own found poem. Take liberties with your materials.
But most importantly, remember that it’s a poem because you say it’s a poem, not because it meets some invisible and complex set of rules and standards. Happy writing!
Do you have any writing tips or tricks you use when you need help getting started? Then share them here–I’d love to hear them, and so would your companions in this challenge!
***Feeling fuzzy on the Poetry Out of Nothing Challenge details? Find out more here.******
Apr 22, 2011 @ 08:28:33
Check out this wonderful line from Barbara Ueland’s “If You Want To Write”…great book!
“Why should we use all our creative power and write or paint or play music, or whatever it tells us to do? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money. Because the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or Yonder but to discover truth and beauty and express it, i.e., share it with others?”