Poetry Writing Tips
October 24, 2004 by John Hewitt
Note: These are my personal guidelines for writing poetry. I don’t guarantee they will work for everybody, and I will happily break the rules whenever I feel like it. There are even some contradictions. Take what you like and forget the rest.
- A poem with Love in the title (or Destiny, Hate, or other HUGE themes) already has two strikes against it (and I like love poems).
- The bigger your point, the more important the details are.
- Say what you want to say and let your readers decide what it means.
- Feel free to write a bad poem.
- Develop your voice. Get comfortable with how you write.
- Don’t explain everything.
- Untitled poems are lazy. They’re like unnamed children. Obviously their parent doesn’t care about them.
- People will remember an image long after they’ve forgotten why it was there.
- That one perfect line in a thirty line poem may be what makes it all worthwhile, or it may be what makes the rest of the poem bad. Keep an eye on it.
- There are many excuses not to write. Try using writing as an excuse not to do other things.
- The more you read, the more you learn. The more you write, the more you develop.
- Poems that focus on form (Sonnet, Villanelle, etc.) are rarely my favorites, but most of my favorite poets learned how to write in forms before they discarded them. Writing in forms is a challenge. It makes you think.
- Don’t be afraid to write from a different point of view. Write a poem that says exactly the opposite of what you believe, and do it without irony.
- When you can’t write, lie on the floor a while. (thank you Jon Anderson)
- Write in different places. Keep a notebook. Write in a park or on a street-corner or in an alley. You don’t HAVE to write about the place, but it will influence you whether you do or not.
- Listen to talk radio while you write. Listen to the people who call. Great characters and voices emerge that way.
- If you don’t like a poem or poet, figure out exactly why. Chances are, it reflects something you don’t like about your own poetry.
- When nothing is coming, start writing very fast– any word, phrase or sentence that comes to mind. Do that for about a minute, then go back to your poem. (I call this flushing.) Whether to use anything you flushed is up to you. You can, but that’s not the purpose.
- Make a list of poems you can remember specific lines from. Go back and read those poems. Figure out why they stuck with you.
- Keep a dream journal. Dreams are your mind at it’s most creative so listen to it. Don’t feel you have to write a poem ABOUT your dreams. If you want to, fine, but the main goal is to see what thoughts the dreams lead you to.
- When nothing is coming for you, try analyzing someone else’ s poems. (or even one of yours) Figure out what works, what doesn’t work, and why. Think about what you would have done differently.
- Use humor, irony, and melodrama, just don’t abuse them.
- Write the worst poem you can possibly write. Use clichés, pretentious words, and beat your reader over the head with your point. Felt good, didn’t it? Now get back to work. The point is, don’t be afraid to write a bad poem. If it takes a hundred bad poems before you can produce a poem you like, fine, get that hundred out of the way.
- Dirty limericks can be fun too.
- Every great poet has written a bad poem, probably hundreds, possibly thousands. They kept writing though, and so should you.
- Every line of a poem should be important to the poem, and interesting to read. A poem with only 3 great lines should be 3 lines long.
- Poems should progress. There should be a reason why the first stanza comes before the second, the second before the third, and so on.
- Listen to criticism, and try to learn from it, but don’t live or die by it. When I was in college, I would always take my best reviewed poem from the previous class and submit it for review in the next. Invariably, the next professor hated the poem, and could provide good reasons why it failed.
- When you write a good poem, one you really like, immediately write another. Maybe that one poem was your peak for the night or maybe you’re on a roll. There’s only one way to find out.
- Follow your fear. Don’t back away from subjects that make you uncomfortable, and don’t try to keep your personal demons off the page. Even if you never publish the poems they produce, you have to push yourself and write as honestly as possible.
- Submit your poems. Sooner or later you have to send your babies out into the world to find their way. Emily Dickinson was a fluke, most people who don’t publish while they’re alive will never be seen or heard of — no matter how good their poems.
- Buy books of poetry, especially books by current writers working in the field and subscribe to poetry journals. Give back to the poetry community by reading (and paying for) the works of others. If you don’t, what right have you to expect others to do it for you?
- Go to poetry readings. Check your local arts publications, almost any sizable town has readings every week or every other week. This is a great opportunity to meet poets and people who care about poetry.
When you go to readings, donate money and buy books if you can. - Host a poetry event or organize a reading.
- If you want to swap poetry and criticism with your peers, form your own group. Many local arts publications let you list your group for free.
- Publish your own poetry journal. Even a few sheets of paper stapled together gets the word out.
- Form a poetry circle or group.
Below is an index to our 30 Poems in 30 Days Project.
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Why you should write poetry
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing About Yourself
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing About Issues
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Poetry of Place
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Persona Poems
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Developing Your Voice
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: About Forms and Lists
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Elegies and Memories
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: A Brief Glossary of Meter
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: The Good the Bad and the Meter
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Courting Controversy
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Syllabic Verse
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: What is Your Writing Process?
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Repetition
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Imagism
- 30 poems in 30 Days: Review Your Old Work
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: The Constraint as a Tool
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Joining the Community
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: About the Line
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Staying Positive
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Progression
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Breaking the Rules
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Confessional Poetry
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Say What You Want to Say
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Poetry Contests
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Free Verse
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Finding New Ways To Stay Inspired
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Word Choice
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: A Little Advice
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Collaboration
i recently graduated college and although i didn’t major in creative writing i really enjoyed poetry and was pretty good at it but have found it hard to keep up. Thank for this informative website it may help get those juices flowing.
Just wanted to send over some appreciation for this very helpful page. I especially liked the part where you said “There are many excuses not to write. Try using writing as an excuse not to do other things.” From experience, I’ve learned that in particularly difficult and joyful times (which obviously cause a surge of emotions), you are most likely to do your best at writing. However, at these times… you are more likely to have difficulty in winding down enough to do so. The ideas are there, but the concentration is not. There I was in denial… thinking that I would never write again. Once you force yourself to sit down with a pen and paper (or in this case, a computer)… letting everything out comes easily, and naturally. I’ts good to be back in “the swing of things”, and I found this advice to be somewhat inspiring.
I Write music. Mostly The music but sometimes the Lyrics.. this Site Helped me so much when i was struggling with the lyrics on my bands new song “Running w/ the Darkness”
Thanx
Lynn
I enjoyed the fact that you weren’t keen on ‘forms’ of poetry.
I’ve been writing my poems for years…… and then one day I came across a site with all the ‘Rules@ for writing poetry!!!!!
If I’d read that first —- I’d never have written a poem!
WHY SHOULD THERE BE SO MANY RULES? At the end of the day - if you like my poems you’ll read them.
And if you don’t like them - you won’t!….. So why should that put anyone off writing their own?
So in my opinion- forget rules and go with your feelings!
Thanx
Randy free-poems-and-poetry.com
These are great tips.I teach a writing class and think I’ll ask them to read and comment on your advise.
I’m a bit afraid.
I have never written anything other than school projects (20 years ago) and medical documentation. Yet I have such a yearning to express myself and record my memories. Since I love to read poetry, this seems to be the path to take. I don’t really care if my work is read by others. I just want to be able to verbalize my inner thoughts. Your tips have encouraged me. I am a rule follower, technique and information gather (that is how I found your site!). This has always prevented me from putting pen to paper. I will continue to seek to learn but today I will write! Thank you.
I think these are great tips. I understand why you would say an untitles poem would be lazy but often it can let the reader use their imaginationto make up
their own title. I find it adds a mysterious effect. I do like alot of your tips though and i will surely take them into consideration while writing my own poetry because i do do alot of it.
i read over your Poetry Writing Tips. It’s really interesting to see how you came up with all these wonderful tips. Alot of them are true, and when I try to write a poem and nothing comes to my mind, i look back on the journals i write about and see if i have anything interesting in them to think of a poem for.Is this website a reason why you made this website with the tips for everyone else to have a clearer view of what some of the problems of writing poems.
Ha ha. I like the advice about the poetry naming. It’s so true that a poem becomes cheesy when someone decides to name it, “Life is so Hateful” or something along those lines. Is there ever an exception to the rule? Can’t huge themes at some point be effective if used in the right situation and with the right grace? I thought about the idea of letting yourself write a bad poem. It seems like a pretty good idea. I guess that I thought that by writing a bad poem you might be able to get that bad idea out, then make it better when you’ve got a clearer head.
I don’t really find this advice at all, I mean it’s great don’t get me wrong, but it’s mostly just tips, not necessairly advice. Something I really liked was how in those little paragraphs you give me ideas to spice up my writing, like finding differen’t places to write. Or when you said take constructive critisim but that doesn’t mean you have to live or die by it. I really liked that because sometimes when someone says something about your poetry your first instinct is to get defensive. So instead of that, just listen, it doesn’t mean you have to change what you have written or even consider just be courteous. My question to you would be, what kind of poetry do you like to write? and where’s your favorite spot to write?
Dear Mr.John Hewitt,
I really liked the advice that you gave on poetry. I think that was an excellent way of making people understand that writing poetry isn’t about one specific thing. That it can be about many things at the same time. One thing that I really liked about your advice was don’t explain everything. I liked the fact that you said that because when some people try to write a poem, they put too much detail into it and it sounds more like a story then a actual poem. I only have one question to ask. Why do you think a person is lazy when they don’t title their poems. I don’t think that would mean their lazy, it’s just that they can’t find a title for their poem. One idea I had while reading your advice was that maybe I should try writing a poem that takes all of your advice into poem and see how that poem turns out.
What I liked about your advise is that you just give simple rules and things that you can do if
you’re feeling lost or what ever the case may be. I think that this will give people who are
having a hard time writing a lot of options on what to write or how to get effective ideas.
I liked the part where you say that it may take a hundred bad poems to get to a good one.I liked
this because it is very true. I love to write poetry and I noticed that it took me a long time
of writing poetry to write any that I was really impressed with. And now I feel that I can go
back and change all of theones I have previously written and make them better.
One question thatI have is whether or not youthink that someone needs to write bad poems in order
to write good ones. You say that you can’t write good poems all the time, so do you feel that
maybe even in order to write good peoms you must write bad poems?
I got a few ideas while reading this. One of the major one’s would be that everytime I write
a poem that is bad, not to stop writing. To just keep going and enjoy, because if really hate it that much than I can always go back and revise it.
Thank you so much for the great advise. It means a lot coming from
a talented writer like yourself.The one piece of advise that i really
took to heart was “Feel free to write a bad poem”, because i am always
nervous that my writing will be “bad”, and that it wont tell the
reader what i want it to tell. This piece let me know that it doesn’t
matter if your poem isn’t perfect. Do you ever fell like what your
saying in your writing your readers don’t want to hear?
Your advise also inspired me to write a piece called “Perfection”!
Thank you so much for everything you really got me back on track
with my writing!
I am a student that takes an awesome writing class and my teacher said that we should check
this website out. I think that your advice is so true. Young aspiring writers, like myself,
could really get a jump start into their career from your advice. But I do believe that every
new writer should try and make their own mistakes rather than following your career step by step.
I am a student attending a writing class at leohays and i believe that your advice is truly
amazing. if i were a writer looking for some advice i believe this page would be the one i would explore.
if this page does not inspire young writers to create pieces of writing then i dont know what type of advice they would need.
I suppose that some of your “tips” would be good and almost required for first time writers,but I personally did not find hardly any of them helpful. I did, however, like your take on unconfortable subjects-Follow Your FEar. I find that it applies to all aspects of writing, not just poetry. Upon reading your tips, I ask, “what kind of peotry do you write, or is it hard to define? Do you write poetry exclusivly, or do you write something else, such as short stories or novels?”
The advice was really good. I like what you said about one line can make the poem
seem full and makes it a different story.
I am not illiterate, just don’t proof read what I put on the internet. I wrote #17.
Well, after reading the wrong thing, and figuring out my mistake from my good buddy charlie (he wrote #s 17 and 19) i found the thing i was supposed to be reading. I enjoyed this one much better! I am a horrible poetry write(in my opinion) and i enjoyed the tips you had for me. Next time i have to write some poetry, and im stuck, i will try “flushing” like you mentioned. Again, thanks for the advice, it truly helped!!!
My writting class was given this assignment to read you tips and reply. And I think your tips
are great. But could be gone in to more detail or even have a poem that you using that tip for.
But other then that you did a great job. You have given me alot of ideas to right other place
and try new things. I am only 16 so I have many more years to write, so thank you for all you
help
I am just a young writer. I am 16
years old and I am really into
poetry. I am written a few poems that
I like, but like this website said
it took me alot of bad ones to get
them. I appreciate all of the great
tips and I use them all.
Your advice helped me a lot when I was stuck in front of a piece of paper (or/and laptop)
I am a very young writer, 14, but I can say that these tips are really great.
poetry is like telling a story or rapping and if you just first think about what your goning to write then you think of words and write them down and then just start writing
I really appreciated the comments. I am seriously exploring writing poems at
the moment, and hope to develop children’s prose. Thank you for your insights,..
Even though i can kinda flow, poetry is hard
Well, I wrote about half a poem (a rough draft of half a poem, that is) while reading this article. Okay, so I stopped reading while I was writing and then went right back to reading again. Whatever. Point is, anything that makes me want to write
that much is excellent in my book.
I read your tips and they are so helpful.I understand more about poetry now than I did before thanks to you.I was writing a poem and it wasn’t working out to well so I typed in the word:poetry to ask jeeves and I clicked on this.I had know idea what I was clicking on, But I still kept reading.Thank God for this site and also I give thanks to you!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read your tip I love them I have writen a few poems before but now maybe i can get better i am
just in the 6th grade and i have won many things maybe i can get something bigger! I love writing!
Thanks!!!!! Kammi
I have an obsession for EROTIC POETRY. I agree that details mean everything in poetry. The problem is, most poets doesnt use this rule of thumb. Therefore, GOOD erotic poetry is so hard to find. I love D.H. Lawrence. The reader could feel as if they themself was a participant in the act that is being described. Why was this? The answer is simple, it was his detailed writting. Your instructional site is wonderful. I enjoyed every minute I was here.
Alisha
I am taking a creative writing class this semester and I’ve started to write some poetry.
This site has some very helpful tips. I have to say though, it’s a little scary reading
some of these comments. I hope the poetry these people are writing has better grammer and
spelling than what they’ve posted. Knowing how to properly speak and write is one important tip
for sure!
I am in ergent help of tips to write a poem
these are some really good tipes for students,like the Huss school but thats all I wanted to say for now thanks Bye.
i really love writing poetry its one of my favorite thing to do i am taking a lit/comp 10 class and we do a lot of creative writing i enjoy it alot when i grow up i want to be a poetrist writer i enjoy it so uch i wonder if anyone who reads my message likes it and would like to publish me to their company thanks.
hello this is jasmine your tips
help out alot itis worderful your tips
won me 100.00 dollars in a poetry contest
thanks
ps the laying on the ground works
Hi. I’m fourteen and I’m a huge writer and I love to write anything.
Your tips are great.
But I disagree with one of them.
The tip where it says poems without titles are lazy.
I disagree.
Take Emily Dickinson for an example.
She never titled her poems yet people say her poems are one of the best.
And if someone asked “Then isn’t the first line of the poem the title.”
No because that is just a way to search and find the poem. Plus if you number them
every book has different numbering. But if you say the first line everyone knows what you are talking about.
Thanks for the tips, I’m trying to figure out how to write a poem. For my wife to be’s hens.
Hi, Im 14, and ive recently found this website. Ive always been trying to write a good poem, and these tips seem very helpful. I haven’t applied these tips to any poem yet, but they sound helpful. Ill leave some feedback to you guys on how these tips are helping me. Thanks again.
there once was a site on the web
written by no woman,lady or deb
a reply is sent
no sarcasim ment
i like bad limericks call me a reb.
Hi, although im not writing poetry for choice right now, many of these tops have helped me to write assignments for my teacher. What I love about this page is it says to experiment, and right now I have a ditzy teacher who doesnt have her own ideas about anything so sshe just follows the rules that other people have already set fr poetry, once I showed her this page, she started appreciating free verse poems and other things of that nature. Thnx so much!
I most write a poem for my soon to 5yr old girl Maya Marie. Her birthbay
is May 28, so I have a short time to come up one that I throght I would love
After reading this page I know that there are not many bad poems just bad
starts. I think if I can follow most of the info on this page I can make tis poem work
to say just what she really mean to me.
Thank you for this page I can start from the heart.I will tell more about
Thats really great. I think those are some standards that all poets can live by. If there is a way for me to publish your work on Poetrywithmeaning.com, I think that would be great. I would love to increase your readers by putting some of your articles on my site for other people to view.
Thankyou for inspiring all of us!
my room is like a tomb
filled with lots doom
dangerous and freaky
also very creepy!
when it’s night
it gives me even more of a fright.
i turn on the light
but then it worsens my sight.
i look under my bed
whilst holding Big Ted
and then all i could see
was my worst fear!
-do you think this is a good poem that i can submit to school?
Jelena-
Why is your room like a tomb?
Why would light worsen your sight?
Why is your poem so short?
The poem is cute, but it looks like a B- to me. Spend more time on it next time. Good luck!
hey i just really wanted to agree with your thoughts on grading poetry in school. i still
remember a poetry assignment which i completed when i was 15. and i put a lot of effort into it
and was shattered by my teachers response. it has taken me more than 10 years to get past the
belief that i cant write. and even now i am still too chicken to actually show what i am writing
to anyone
so to any teachers out there - be kind to your students work please!
i am trying to find the name of the poem and it’s author. i know one line: “None of life was life but what was here.” does anyone know it. thanks.
“None of life was life but what was here.” does anyone
know what poem it is from and who the author is?
Very good website. Keep up the good work
If you cant think of what to write, study an object and write about that.
[...] Writer’s Resource Center: Poetry Writing Tips [...]
Yea it helped me a bit..ive been writing alot of poems latley…u kno writing aobut whats in my heart & other people hav problems with it…1 minute they r goin on about how good they r & the nxt they r going on about how i hav depresson poems coz of wat i rite about…grrr
HEY im a 15 year old and love to write poetry and your advice really helped thanx a million
Hey, this was a wake up call for me. I have always loved reading poetry. The tips on poetry writing you’ve given, i think they’re awesome.I now want to start writing my own…even if they turn out bad poems, i know i’ll get to the 100th gorgeous poem! Thanks
I’ve been writing for years, on and off (and mostly off), and I have to say something:
All of these are true. All of them.
These are things I picked up from writing teachers, from fellow writers, from self-experience. Excellent advice.
“Dirty limericks can be fun too.”– I love it. I’m going to have to try that one. My look on poetry is a little different. I adore the structured poems, even though some of my favorites are not. Almost the entiraty of my collection so far is structured, for me thinking is not so much a part of writing a structured poem, but more specifically a specific sonnet or iambic pentameter. When you not only have to concentrate on the number of sylables but weather or not you need or want a rhyme scheme or weather the word get’s cut in half at the end of the line. Things can get complicated.
But I’m open to all kinds of poetry.
(scarily enough, I write best when I’m half asleep on my side… bizzare…)
[...] approaches to writing poetry How to write poetry 37 Ways to Write Poetry How to Write a Poem And this one actually seems worth a look: Poetry Writing Tips [...]
I am also into poetry and I have to write poetry for class. Lately I have a major brain cramp and have had nothing to talk about. What would you do?
hey i am a new writer and i just came to this site to try and become a better writer…i wrote a poem that all my friends loved and i am entering it into a contest here at school to see where i stand…if anyone has any good tips i would love to hear them thank you
Just started writing poems and all of them so far, is that i have got a fantastic news that my poems are all good.
But i just want to know how i will develop further.
Thanks
FG Johnson
I want to know how to writ poems.I am able to express my feelings but i donot know.PLZ tell me.
I have wrote several poems. but i face only one problem that all of them are emotional not even one contains some topic of jest or else, but i proud dat once someone reads my poem he or she will become councious about our society problem,, one more problem is that i never want someone to read my poems except my fast friends,,, even my frnds suggest me to publish it somewhere but i always say them a big “NO”.
Can anybody suggest me something which could improve my skills.
its my first time i want any sugession because “Art made tongue-tied by authority”
thanks a lot
khushboo
hi i m monika.i love writing poems.i write any kind of poem but all depend on my mood.i write love,inspirational,motivational,sad poems too.i was looking in here net to find somewhere i can publish my poems.i dont want my talent to get wasted.
thnx for your guidelines they are of good help.
i found this website really resourceful.i have searched for a website like this ,for close to two years now.though i have always had the ‘juice’,this website and it’s contents did really squeeze the waters out of me.
my first collection of poems will be out very soon.thanks!
Congratulations on the new book CKO!
Just wanted to say thank you for the tips you have provided on creative writing and poetry.
I have been interested in poetry for many years yet have only recently started looking for information online.
I have found some good sites though this site was a real bonus with easy to the point tips that anyone can utilise.
I wish you continued success and good fortune.
Rgds
Mark
good job! this site helped me with all aspects in life. love your detail and truthfullness!
xxx
Thanks man, these tips really help put some thing in perspective.
[...] October 15th, 1995, when the Internet was first getting noticed, I sat down and wrote a list of tips for poets. This was long before poewar.com, when I had a little spot on a newspaper’s server and dial up [...]
i love to wite but lately I can’t finds the words and iI don;t knowwhat to do. I don’t know how o line my poems I need help
I love to write but I can never find a good topic and never find the words to write the down on paper and people think that because I am 14 that I could never know what a true future could look like but I do and they are all wrong!!!!!!!!
Hey i know i am a REALLY YOUNG writer, (as i am only 11 years old) but these tips are really helpful, so thanks immensly
My site is http://www.michellepoetry.com take a look. I need feed back.
Your tips helped me a lot. I realize my poetry is MY expressions of things I have experienced.
hi its sammy and i love reading an writing poems this is SELL OFF for real
LOVE YOU
I think that this is a really great site. I really love poetry and once I graduate from University, I wish to become an author and writer.
I also want Jayden to be with me forever in the future. I <3 U
do you have any helpful info?!
IN APPRECIATION
Reading and writing are delight,
To throw all sorrows out ofsight.
Many more things are to be done,
To make our future full of fun.
Forget the sorrows of yesteryear,
That has gone,will never appear.
Keep thatto tomorrow’s present.
Your text in mindlivein present,
For gifts has been gift today,
That shall brighten my days.
Thankyou
Cheer my Soul
Oh how you cheer my soul.
Demonstrating your magic in this world full of profit and all the greed between the north and south pole.
There are Kings, Queeens and Emperors vying for control.
Obeyed in the lands they rule, but they do not raise the winds or move the clouds.
Stretching their powers, flexing their armies, they are feared in the minds of men.
Till the roar of your thunderous magic rolls acroos the land.
A sound that rumbles and shakes the foundation with a magic that could easily make or break any nation.
Such astounding magic can only be attributed to you, our Mighty God.
Only to you.
In all my labours, in everything I do,
I embrace all of nature’s treasures given us by you.
Filled like a glutton, full of deceit the world mutates.
And with each passing day your vision remains incomplete.
Your wish is my command,
But alas my dear Lord,
I am but one man.
Fear not, nor doubt my resolution,
rid me of all ambiguities.
So that when I walk through valley in the shadow of death, I walk with the armour of your commandments and the helmet of your wrath upon my head.
For dear Lord, dear God above,
how you cheer my soul
and fill me with love.
rmathis
great insight,
I have written and published a number of novels, and poetry collection (THIRTEEN CURSES ON MOTHER AFRICA), and for a guy with no formal training in the writing of scholastic literature course (not even at high-schol level), I have gone through literary droughts, written under a tree, in a park, in a cafe, in the washroom, in a bus, in a car on a street, facing a frozen lake in winter, “flushed,” and cried over some of my mistakes (after publishing my works), and I have never looked back five novels and still going.
Just to add: I have not seen a decent cheque (or is it check– mixed plowed with ploughed because I live in America after growing up British)—Yet there are folks out there in the virtual space, who believe that I am one of the “better known” contempoarary Luo social anthropologists because of a number of novels hardly any Kenyan has ever had of,namely “THE MILAYI CURSE” (clanism, christianity and politics), “SUNSET ON POLYGAMY” (polygamy, spiritualism and Marriage, AIDS) and “THE WISE ONE OF RAMOGILAND” (The Luo Mind, politics and Prophecies).
Let me add to your wise tips: Write a good, telescopic, first chapter, and feel free to change it later as the novel takes its natural course. Throw in a few lines of Poetry whenever your heart goes musical– thanks to semicolon.
JR ALILA
(AUTHOR: WHISPER TO MY ACHING HEART)
i write different types of poems… they can be about friendhip, love, or even hate…it all ahs to do on my emotions…these tips sre ok but i’ll stick with wat i’ll do…thanx anyway
Hey! Cool website! thanx 4 the awesome tips! My teacher tells me to write decriptive and all that but this is more not really into poetry.Its more about the thinking and brainstorming.Thanx anyway!Its COOL
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These writing tips are very valuable. At PublicLiterature.org we allow users to post their poetry and receive feedback from other authors.
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I’m a poetry writer and quotation person as well, I need to know do you have to patent your work before submitting or have it publize and if so how do you go about getting a patent and also can you enter poetry contest’s and knowing that your writing is not patent.
Danielle is a hat
a very trendy hat
a bowler hat
a fireman’s hat
a trendy hat indeed
but although she is a hat
in hatiful coloured splendour
she still has freckles
and shes still fat
I love writing poetry. When I’m confused, angry, or hurt I write. Well, basically every other time too! Thanks for the tips! Sometimes I sit down and I want to write, but I’m clueless. Thanks!
Thank you for these tips. I love poetry and these are some good guidelines that will really help me out and understand it better.
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I’ve been using these tips lately and they have definitely improved my writing. Thanks again for all the help!
Some awesome advice there. I have seen many of these before, but I am glad to read them again. The ’sending your babies out to the real world’ is absolutely true.
Hi PB. You probably have seen them before. They have been on the Web since 1994 or so. Poetry.com has been rerunning them without my permission for years.
I have another tip trow your feeling in your Poetry .
I’m a 12 year old boy bread in Ghana and honestly I loved this site. I’ve been composing some poems and with this advice I believe I’ll be able to improve upon my poetry skills. Please reply me on my e-mail address what you think of this:
The clear blue sky.
My pain inborn is appalling,
Though my face depicts otherwise.
My heart is ready for death to sweep over,
Until now it has not yet knocked at my door.
Countless occasions I weep over my miserable life,
But what keeps me is something,
Under which I came to meet at birth.
My grief disappears and is replaced with encouragement,
All thanks to that thing.
I ask myself
What is so fascinating about it?
But it’s just the fact that it’s a loving thing,
Something magical to its admirers.
The clear blue sky is one thing that works for me,
And certainly can for you too.
Why not look upon the sky,
For the soothe you will desire soon.
Because if there’s one thing that repels sorrow,
It definitely has to be the understandable and enchanting,
the bright and clear blue sky.
John Hewitt or whoever receiving this please, I’ll need your opinion of this. Please reply as soon as possible. I’m in dire need of your critic.
Hi David,
It is a nice effort, but my advice to you is to start looking at the world outside you and start describing that. Poems about personal pain are just that, personal. They don’t generally reach out to other people, although they are a great way of expressing your own feelings. Take a look at the world around you and write about what you see. When you can write well about the outside world, you might have more insight into your inner world.
i love writing an this is great advice in helping me keep it up thanks
This is a blog with useful information, thanks for the outlet!
When bad grows up to worst
it adds a verse to life’s endless rhyme
it takes a day and steals a minute
to stay a head of the time
So when good understood
and let better give birth to best
my best and worst fought within
and there I lay over-standing the rest
Blessed became my burden
so I bared it with pride
and if I die before i wake
my spoken words will still survive
LET WORDS LIVE LIFE
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I don’t think that untitled poems mean that the author is lazy. Many times I can’t think of a good title for a poem, so I don’t title it. If I REALLY didn’t care about the poem, I would just title it the first thing I thought of, which is normally not very good.
@ Claire
Leaving your poem unfinished is certainly your right, Claire. Just as long as you understand that without a title, I will consider your poem to be unfinished.