Writing a Poem
Writing Tips for Beginning Poets
The adage, “Write what you know” is excellent advice, and this is particularly important when writing poetry. Good poetry is written from personal experience. No one can tell a personal story as well as the poet. No one's life is mundane; each person has unique experiences.
Write About Simple Experiences from Everyday Life
The best poets are able to take everyday events and turn them into poems that convey a universal image or idea. Elizabeth Bishop wrote about a gas station in her poem "Filling Station" and Ted Kooser wrote about a student walking across campus in his poem "Student."These are just a few examples of distinguished poets who took the ordinary and made it extraordinary.
Avoid Vague Terms
When writing poems it is essential that the reader is able to experience what the writer is attempting to recreate. In order to do this, it is important to avoid vague terms like “beautiful” or “terrible.” Instead, concentrate on using specific sensory details. Consider the five senses of touch, sound, taste, smell, and sight. The poet must attempt to place him or herself back in the moment he or she is writing about. Sometimes it is helpful to close the eyes and be in a quiet space while creating.
Sensory Detail Questions
- What people, places, and things does the poet see around them? He or she should take a 360 degrees tour and appreciate small items (the book of matches on the table, the letter that fell to the floor) as well as larger objects.
- What, if any, scents does the writer recognize? Smells are always present, although they may be taken for granted such as coffee brewing, blacktop being poured, the slightly flowery odor of shampoo on someone’s hair, or the rose scent wafting through the window screen.
- What are the poet's emotions? What do they feel inside? Is his or her stomach churning, the heart pounding, head aching?
- What sounds does the writer hear? He or she should be aware not only of loud noises, but the subtle sounds in the background such as birds tweeting, cars driving by, or a dog barking in the distance.
- What does the poet taste? People often “taste” things vicariously such as when they enter a movie theater and the smell of popcorn is so tangible that their mouth waters and they can almost taste the buttery, salty flavor.
- What is the tactile feel when the writer touches the things around them? Some examples might be velvet fabric on a chair, the smooth, polished wood of a table, the soft and slightly oily fur of a cat.
Similes and Metaphors
In poetry, the five senses are often conveyed through the use of similes and metaphors. A simile uses the word “like” or “as.” For example, the phrase “my head pounded like a thousand pistons in an engine” is a simile. A metaphor is similar but the comparing word is not used. “In my head was an engine with a thousand pistons” is an example of a metaphor. Both metaphors and similes are essential elements in poetry, but the poet needs to watch overusing them. If every line in the poem contains a simile or metaphor, the reader will find the writing hackneyed and boring.
Write and Rewrite
The writer should try these suggestions the next time that he or she attempts to write poetry. In addition, few serious poets ever published their first draft. At a poetry reading at Wright State Unversity on February 24, 2008, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Schultz stated that his poems often went through a hundred drafts before publishing. Poets should let their imagination take flight on the first draft, but then they need to rewrite, rewrite, then rewrite again.
Writing Poems
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