How I write Poems
Hi everyone, and welcome back to my blog! I know I haven’t posted in a long time, but here we are! (I was actually supposed to post this last Sunday…) I’ve been really busy since school started, and I’ve had an extra course for the past few weeks on first aid, which I passed! I won’t have more of those until the summer though, which means more time to post! I’m so sorry for not posting in a while, but I hope this post will make up for the lost time. Anyway, this is going to be a longer post, so get comfy and enjoy reading!
♡♡♡♡♡♡
Let’s say you’ve been reading some poetry. All of a sudden, you feel inspired to write your very own poem! But what if you haven’t done this before, or it’s been quite a while since you last wrote poetry? If this description fits you nicely, then you’ve come to the right place, because in this blog post, I’ll be going through how I write poems.
You might be wondering, “Why’d she make the title How I Write Poems?" Why didn’t she make it how to write poems?” Well, let me tell you: Everyone has their own way of writing poetry. What I share here is just the way I write my poems. Many people don’t usually follow a system—they just write their hearts out, finding freedom, and that is amazing! Writing poetry is also very freeing for me, but this post is just for those who need a little structure. I know I do when I’m stumped on what my next poem is going to be about. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
1. Brainstorm prompts.
For me, prompts are like subjects for a poem to choose from. This could be different for other people, and that is completely ok! However, I’m following the subject format right now because there are so many interesting ways to view prompts, and I’ll admit that I don’t know them all.
To find and brainstorm prompts, you can look up poetry prompts on Google or Pinterest. If this doesn’t really work for you, you can go outside and take in your surroundings to try to find inspiration. You can still do this when you’re inside—just take in what’s going on around you.
Sometimes, even these don’t work for me. But you know what does? When I stop thinking about poetry altogether, and I just let the prompts come to me. Usually, they’ll pop into my head, and it’ll be a great idea!
2. Make a mind map.
Once you’ve got your prompt, put it in a cloud, then make a mind map. Branch out on every. Single. Detail! This is so useful. You can use the 5 senses to do this—for example, what did it feel like? What did I hear? What was the taste like? Zoom in on every detail to get even more details!
3. Brainstorm lines from your details.
Now that you have all your details, it’s finally time to make the lines! What I usually do is group similar details, put the words beside each other, and then try to make lines out of that. I usually make around 3-6 lines, I think? These “detail-groupings” start forming stanzas. I keep doing this until there are no more details left to the group.
Sometimes, lines just flow to your mind naturally!! This has happened to me so many times, and usually when I was in a relaxed state. So, don’t be too hard on yourself if lines aren’t coming to you right now! They will soon—just relax, and surely they’ll come to you.
4. Separate lines into stanzas.
The stanzas start forming in the step above; however, if you want to finalize and perfect the placement of each line, then you can do this step!
For example, if I was writing a poem about food and I had a bunch of lines about cooking the food and eating the food, then I would separate the lines about cooking the food into one stanza and lines about eating the food in another. After this, you can order your stanzas, which then reveal your poem!
I did this in my poem called “Going on a Walk.” The first stanza was mostly about grass and bunnies, the trees for the second stanza, and starting my walk for the third. You can read the full poem here: https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-poem-going-on-walk.html. Doing this makes the poem structured, and I feel like it makes the poem flow more smoothly—but that’s just my opinion.
5. Start editing the poem’s lines.
Now, you can figure out what words go where and/or which words don't really fit. Sometimes, more new lines can pop up in your head, which is great!
You can also read it out to see what feels better for your poem—it always helps me! For example, you could ask yourself: What words feel right, what sentences could move around, and do I need to add or take away any words? When reading out my poem, it’s much easier to figure out what’s natural because I know what’s comfortable to say and what feels awkward. Repeat this until you are completely happy with your poem, and you wouldn’t change a thing about it!
If you decide that you want to edit your poem a different way, then go for it! It’s your poem, so make any changes wherever you need to.
6. Find a title.
Personally, I think of the best titles after I finish the poem. If I do it before, the title ends up feeling a little weird for my poem. However, if your prompt seems like a good fit for your title, then go ahead! Name your poem that.
You could also name a line from your poem that seems significant and is also a good fit for your poem. I did this in my poem, “Going on a Walk.” To find out what exactly I did, go check out that poem!
♡♡♡♡♡♡
Voila! Your very own poem! Now you can read it as many times as you like, show it to however many people you want, and love it unconditionally. At the end of this process, I usually feel so accomplished! Writing poetry has helped me through so many things in my life, and it has helped me let go of many things as well. I hope it can do the same for you!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, and be sure to check out my other posts if you liked this one! What’s something you love to do that you could teach to other people? Mine is writing poetry, for example. Anyway, I hope you have a great day, and I’ll see you next time!
♡♡♡♡♡♡
If you liked this post, check out...
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/analyzing-songs-perfect-pair-by.html
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/poetic-devices-how-i-use-them.html
Poems!! ☆☆☆
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-poem-going-on-walk.html
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/salt-new-poem.htmlhttps://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/echoes-of-beach-poetry-acceptance.html
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/a-poem-when-its-early.html
https://poetryplusyelena.blogspot.com/2024/08/10-minutes-on-clock.html
.
.
Comments
Post a Comment