What is poetry?
So, what is poetry? It’s the oldest form of literature, dating back to before the written language via oral exchange of song and dance in rituals and passing down stories to next generations. Also, It’s a way of conveying emotion and ideas through rhythm and rhyme. And it’s something that anyone can do.
Poetry is about more than just putting words on a page. It’s about finding the right words to express your feelings and thoughts. It’s about using rhythm and rhyme to create a musicality that enhances the meaning of your words. And it’s about crafting your poem to speak to your reader emotionally or viscerally.
Keep this in mind if you’re interested in writing poetry. Start by brainstorming ideas and jotting down any words or phrases that come to mind.
The basics: what makes a good poem?
A poem is a form of creative writing that often uses figurative language to communicate emotions and ideas. Poetry can be short or long, serious or funny, personal or universal. The best poems are those that capture a moment or feeling in a way that is fresh and original. Poetry allows the writer to write in a multitude of styles and lengths, such as:
- narrative poem
- lyric poem
- short poem
To write a good poem, you need to have a strong understanding of the craft of poetry. This includes meter, rhyme, and stanza structure. However, in modern times, people write free verse poems; it’s still essential to understand the rules of writing poetry. You also need to be able to use literary devices like similes and metaphors to create vivid images. Finally, your poem should have a solid emotional core that speaks to the human experience.
If you want to write a good poem, start by studying the work of other poets. Read as much as you can, and pay attention to their techniques.
Writing poems: where to start?
If you’re new to writing poems, you may wonder where to start. The good news is that writing poetry has no hard and fast rules. However, you can keep a few things in mind to help you get started on the right foot.
One of the most important things to remember is that poems don’t have to rhyme. In fact, many modern poets eschew rhymes altogether, known as Free Verse. Just let the words flow and see where they take you. However, it’s just as important to understand the rules of poetry in order to break the rules and give birth to something new. When it comes to poetry forms, there are three main types:
- Formal Verse: Poetry with a strict meter (rhythmic pattern) and rhyme scheme.
- Blank Verse: Poetry with a strict meter but no rhyme scheme.
- Free Verse: Poetry without any strict meter or rhyme scheme.
Another helpful tip is to read your work aloud. This will help you catch any awkward phrasing or choppy sentences. It’s also an excellent way to get a sense of the rhythm and meter of your poem.
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.
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.
Example
The poem, The Cool and Warmth of Hearts, is a prologue poem in the book — wait for it, The Cool and Warmth of Hearts. It is impossible to pinpoint precisely when I wrote the first draft, but it may have been in high school or early in my adult years. I originally wrote the poem with three stanzas of only a couple of sentences in each line. It was a personal account where I used imagery and metaphor to describe how I met a woman in the summer who enamored and froze my world. When we embraced and kissed each other, I drew the analogy of a volcanic eruption followed by subsiding a warm comfort in locked lips. The original poem below — brace yourself:
When I met you in the summer, it felt like the winter breeze blew over me.
I was entrapped in an iceberg and felt so cold that it amazingly froze my heart while your kiss blew against my lips.
The moment we stood kissing, I melted in your arms drastically as a volcano erupted in me, bursting my holy body to the stars. It feels like a hearth so warm and comfy as our lips touch.
This poem is different from the final draft that was included in my book. Although the inspiration I received to transform it made the poem a powerful opening piece to introduce the rest of the poems, I did not initially consider opening my collection with one of my poems as a prologue to an overarching theme of love on a cosmic level (this is the beauty of collaboration with an editor in the editorial assessment that steered me in this direction).
While brainstorming for this poem, I noticed a pattern with the words. With that connection, an idea developed from a documentary I watched about how Earth used to be a snowball encased in ice where life thrived. For thousands of years, what began with tremors developed into volcanic eruptions (fire is a sacred symbol for life in many cultures). Life gradually found its way to recede the ice and once again thrive. Many mythologies about creation contain events about a beginning carved by deities.
My mind quickly went to a mythical story about life’s return; I recalled a deity or deities who passed down the metaphorical truth that we go through periods of the resurrection of beings from child to adult, from ignorance to wisdom, from ignorance to enlightenment. The cool warmth is a metaphor for the equilibrium that allowed the cosmos to manifest and balance the scales of nature (duality: light and dark, hot and cold, life and death) so that life can thrive even in the harshest environments.
Process with Examples
If you’re someone who loves to read my entire poetry writing process with examples, then you can check out my free download, where I provide the following:
- I provide the entire poetry writing process with an example poem published in my book, The Cool and Warmth of Hearts, from start to finish.
- I provide this in several formats for free, such as a PDF and JPG with an infographic.
- Lastly, the Google Doc template I use for every poem can be downloaded in other formats, e.g., .docx, .odt, and more.
Here is the link to it, and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks—Poetry Writing Process.
The Gist
To write poetry begins with a piece of simple advice, “start writing,” learn the craft, and read wide. It’s likely your first written work is a free verse poem. I suggest dabbling with a formal and blank verse (many poetic forms exist to learn from and try) to integrate the techniques and learn how to break the rules. What helps before writing in poetic form is simply free write your ideas first, then change the poem’s shape into its figurative language and poetic elements. The most successful poems were rarely completed with the first, second, or third draft. Sometimes, the best poem could take weeks, months, or even years. The number of lines will likely change, but what matters is staying persistent and authentic, and inviting the inner critic to create, edit, and arrange the best words to communicate the message’s deeper meaning.
- Poetry allows writers to write in many styles and lengths, such as narrative and lyric poems. To write a good poem, you need to have a strong understanding of the craft of poetry.
- If you want to write a good poem, start by studying the work of other poets and reading outside the genre.
- The good news is that writing poetry has no hard and fast rules but understanding the rules allows you to play with the various poetic elements.
- One of the most important things to remember is that poems don’t have to rhyme but can add musicality and be memorable.
- Another helpful tip is to read your work aloud. It’s also an excellent way to get a sense of the rhythm and meter of your poem.
The following poetry writing process covers free writing in prose.
