TEN TIPS FOR WRITING POETRY
1. Pay attention to the world around
you—little things, big things, people, animals, buildings,
events, etc. What do you see, hear, taste, smell, feel?
2. Listen to words and sentences. What kind of music do they
have? How is the music of poetry different from the music of
songs?
3. Read all kinds of poetry. Which poems do you like and why?
4. Read what you write out loud. How does it sound? How could it
sound better?
5. Ask yourself: does this poem have to rhyme? Would it be good
or better if it didn’t? If it should rhyme, what kind of
rhyme would be best? (For example, 1st and 2nd lines rhyme; 3rd
and 4th lines rhyme—“Roses are red/So is your
head/Violets are blue/So is your shoe"; or 1st and 3rd lines
rhyme; 2nd and 4th lines rhyme—“What is your name?/Who
is your mother?/This poem is quite lame/I should try
another.”
6. Ask yourself: does this poem sound phoney? Don’t stick in
big words or extra words just because you think a poem ought to
have them.
7. A title is part of a poem. It can tell you what the poem is
about. It can even be another line of the poem.
8. Before you write, think about what you want your whole poem to
say.
9. If you end up saying something else, that’s okay, too.
Poet X.J. Kennedy says, “You intend to write a poem about
dogs, say, and poodle is the first word you’re going to find
a rhyme for. You might want to talk about police dogs, Saint
Bernards, and terriers, but your need for a rhyme will lead you
to noodle and strudel. The darned poem will
make you forget about dogs and write about food instead.”
10. Go wild. Be funny. Be serious. Be whatever you want! Use your
imagination, your own way of seeing.