How I Wrote and Published a Poetry Book: Ideation

How I decided to write and publish a poetry book

When I was younger, I always loved writing poems in high school. They were a way for me to express my emotions and thoughts in a creative outlet. In my post, Writing Humble Beginnings, I mentioned that on January 6th, 2019, I’d pivot to writing as a lifestyle. I only just now thought about self-publishing a poetry collection when I had the idea to write and publish a poetry book. And like many aspiring poets, I asked, “how to publish a poetry book?” So, to save you the trouble, do not get bogged with the whole publishing process; first, focus on the idea you want to share.

When I’m intrigued, I explore it with zeal as a litmus test to determine whether what I’m passionate about is just a hobby or whether I can transform it into a business. When I explored branding and web design, it took me about two years to realize that I wanted to pursue something other than those as a business. Yes, I enjoyed those activities, but they did not fulfill me in the same way that writing does: a creative outlet, therapeutic effects, and the ability to help me clarify and understand subjects. Thus, I love creative writing, and the more you’re consistent with writing practice, the more words’ magic shapes the world.

When it comes down to generating ideas between the abstract in the inward eye and words on paper or a screen, it is akin to piecing together a puzzle. Here’s another way to visualize it: it’s easy to come up with ideas and fantasize about them or read words of the lines of a sonnet:

“Not marble nor the gilded monuments Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme,” —William Shakespeare, Sonnet 55 

Or the opening lines of George Orwell’s 1984 novel.

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” —George Orwell, 1984

Then suggest to yourself I can dream up something just as valuable or better, then you mull over it and put pen to paper (fingertips to keys). You’re smashed with writer’s block and recognize the insecurity of overestimating your ability. All you produced was a turd of words. 

This realization should normally humble the writer and result in a fervent search to unravel what separates decent ideas from precious ideas. Visualizing words from ideas isn’t easy, yet this enigma has its beauty in piecing together the amalgamation of fleeting thoughts–capturing the potential from chaos and manifesting it into reality. As the cliché goes, “ideas are cheap, execution is everything,” or in my own words, “ideas are better than nothing, deliberate practice is everything.”

Why this book of poetry first 

When I was sifting through my archives of written work, I didn’t know where to start or how to pursue the publishing process. For almost a decade, I had this one-story idea I shared with a close friend that could end up as a novel series. I was overwhelmed by this prospect. How can I produce large volumes of words as an amateur writer? This is especially true in a reasonable timeframe where I’m not intimidated by the scope of the undertaking. 

I pulled from an archive of writings I had stored since high school, glossed over them, and then organized the type of literature by genre. When I was finally done, I had enough poems to publish four to five poetry books and a couple of short story collections. For my sanity, I decided to start with a less wordy book to help gain momentum and gradually build up to writing a novel of 70,000 to 120,000 words. I assumed it would be a breeze with a poetry book of fewer than 20,000 words, and boy was I wrong. 

There are many challenges in writing a poetry book—I’ll say one thing—it’s not prose. Samuel Taylor Coleridge puts it succinctly:

“Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Consider what you already have to identify and start your first book, whether a notebook, DVD, or a common theme shared in social media posts.

The methods of Ideation

As for what message I wanted to convey in a poetry book, I had some ideas. Still, thankfully, I had an existing collection of poems with similarities. I aggregated them by their theme, and these poems consisted of being in love, pining, heartbreak, the love of life, and the power of love by its effect on us, good and bad. These would fall under the overarching theme of love and decide how to arrange the collection later. I had to reinvent some poems later in that book’s writing to make them fit within the collection. 

As I read through each poem more deliberately to set up their arrangement, there was an essence, a message I grasped enough to extract a list of words or phrases from each one that helped establish the idea of what each poem is about. Further, I adapted other poems or stories to align with that inspirational source in my book revision process. In addition, I stayed true to the essence of the poem. 

For instance, I drew inspiration from the story of Venus and Adonis in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book 10) and William Shakespeare’s version to craft my style of that story’s account. While writing the book, the ideation process never stopped. It served as a stewpot of ingredients I cooked slowly to enhance its flavor.

There are many ways to generate ideas for your poem. Still, I suggest beginning with a list of words or phrases or drawing inspiration from various subtle sources, whether in real life or from media like movies, books, or poems. Then, write it down as soon as possible! Here are some examples with the help of Lady Muse, where to discover ideas:

• History — what you read and learn: maybe you want to write about the fall of the Roman Empire, your history, or someone you know.
• Emotion — what emotion/feeling is powerfully evoked in what context and pervades our life often enough to warrant scrutiny
• Location — Where are you looking? Are you looking at people in a cafe, on a seat in a park, or nearby ducks swimming in a lake? Or are you looking at things in your home?
• Phrases — watching a movie, reading a novel or poem, and a particular word sticks out as the impetus for something later.
• Philosophy — you could ask and address what is good, true, and real, why we are meaning-seeking beings — which can help you navigate life’s decisions and expand your point of view through a narrative or deliberate contemplation as you map it out
• Psychology — studying and observing how people think, act, and feel. Convey how personality plays into it or the meaning behind recurring dreams
• Mythology — creation and end of world myths, how sacred stories still resonate with us today, mainly present in today’s books; such as the Harry Potter series alludes to many mythos through symbolism, and the like — Myths explore mysteries; they do not explain them.
• Themes — for example, playing a narrative video game and discovering the overall theme that recurs in the play through symbolism/motifs or a hero’s journey in which they conquer their inner demons about the human condition and bring back the elixir of life.
• Narrative — a presentation or interpretation of a scenario or series of events that advocates for a specific worldview.
• Writing prompts — there is an array of prompts you can find online to kickstart a project; especially for those moments of writer’s block.
• Serendipity — inspiration born from drifting.
• Journaling — sometimes, unexpected reflection about life strikes an idea.
• Market research — write something about what people want more of or combine two disparate genres to pioneer something new.
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There are a few more ways to brainstorm or receive inspiration, but what’s important is you have methods for noting these ideas before they flee from your psyche. In my case, I use Evernote, Google Docs, or a notepad to take down notes, and when I don’t have access to these, I jot them down on a sticky note. Sometimes I find myself struck with inspiration in the middle of the night. I quickly jot it down on paper because we should never take for granted something that serves as an excellent source for our writing and, more importantly, for our lives.

The Gist

This post is the first step on how to publish a poetry book, and poetry publishing begins with an idea and results in a published book. Do not get bogged down by a book cover, whether to self-publish poetry or connect with poetry book publishers; however, the publishing industry for self-published poets is much more receptive than it was over a decade ago than feeling the pressure to go with traditional publishers. Suppose you plan a writing career as a poet. In that case, it helps connect with a poetry community (a large community of poets on social media like Instagram) and learn from other poets. More online resources are available than ever, especially with the self-publishing process, like the series of this post.

• Visualizing words from ideas isn’t easy, yet this enigma has its beauty in piecing together the amalgamation of fleeting thoughts–capturing the potential from chaos and manifesting it into reality.
• As the cliché goes, “ideas are cheap, execution is everything,” or in my own words, “ideas are better than nothing, deliberate practice is everything.”
• You may have a body of written work that needs to be put together with a sledgehammer and published for the benefit of everybody.
• Creativity is the ability to connect disparate phenomena in novel and interesting ways, whether blog posts, journal entries (memoirs?), essays, poems, fiction, or even educating/informing people on how to perceive or solve something. 
• Even if it’s something you have kept since childhood, it contains a quintessential message waiting to be produced for an audience to delight in
• As for sources to spark ideas, try scouring stories in myths, history, or phrases from a movie and write them down asap. You probably regret that decision when you’re struck in the middle of the night with an opening line to a novel and postpone it until the morning.