Discover the poet in you: how to learn to write poetry

2 years ago

5 minutes

Perhaps reading poetry isn’t as popular as watching soap operas right now. But we believe that there are still true connoisseurs of poetry. Do you enjoy reading poems by Robert Frost, William Carlos William, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes and dream of composing something even remotely similar? Then read our advice. Perseverance, practice and here already instead of a dull text birthday greeting you write a whole poem for your friend!

Write only when there is inspiration

Creativity is directly linked to your inner state. It’s impossible to create something good if you don’t have the right mood. In no case don’t force yourself, don’t put you into some frameworks, like “I’ll write something tomorrow after classes because I have free time” or “I need to write a couple of lines tonight, and more tomorrow. Believe me, nothing good will come of it. Poetry is a reflection of your feelings and the impulse of your soul. Looking at a beautiful sunset you can feel the right mood and write a beautiful romantic poem.

Start simple

If you’ve been at least occasionally paying attention in literature class, you should remember that there are different types of rhymes and sizes of poems. But at the first stage, we don’t advise you to fill your head with this. For starters, just find the easiest rhymes that come to mind and write them down. Then with these words try to make up some lines. They don’t have to have any deep meaning, because you’re just trying. At the initial stage, the most important thing for you is to learn how to work with words.

Pick topics that interest you

Poets and writers have a huge scope for creativity. You can write about absolutely everything that happens in life, what surrounds us, how we feel. So it’s very important to find exactly what’s close to you. Usually the favorite maiden theme, of course, is love. But if you enjoy landscapes and like to listen to the sound of the sea, bravely reflect the feelings of unity with nature in the lines of a poem. If you’re concerned about finding yourself, write about it. Just listen to your inner voice and understand what you want to share with the world. Well… or only with the closest ones.

Write about everything you see

If you’ve already practiced rhyming words and putting together uncomplicated lines, it’s worth moving on to writing a specific poem about a specific theme. Where do you get it? From life, of course. And if there is nothing at all going on in your life, you need to make a radical change urgently! Try new things, agree to all-everything-even the craziest suggestions from friends, and also make the best of the bad. Unhappy love? Wonderful! That’s just an unploughed field for creativity! Write down all the words and phrases that are on your mind. If there aren’t any rhyming pairs, that’s okay. When you have a list with specific words and phrases, they will be guided: to come up with rhymes and determine the sequence.

Do not forget to use artistic techniques

Metaphors, epithets, antitheses, anaphors, alliteration – this is what makes a poem so light, fabulous and gives a perfect sound. After all, in ordinary life we seldom use such techniques. More often we talk very simply and clearly. Poetry gives us the opportunity to plunge into a completely different world, to see what was hidden. In general, means of artistic expression are your best friends.

Learn the theory

If you’ve already decided on the main themes, picked up a lot of rhymes, wrote a dozen simple poems without much meaning and realized that this is really interesting to you and you want to improve – it’s time to move on to a detailed study of this craft. Now it’s important to dive into theory and figure out what rhymes are, determine which ones you used in your first “works” and which ones are closest to your heart. Also be sure to study all the techniques that poets use. It’s very helpful to take all this theory apart with concrete examples, that is, to do a detailed analysis of famous works. You can even study with a tutor, if that’s easier for you.

Learn from professionals

Of course, in any case, you need a certain example, you have to look up to someone. Fortunately, we know a huge number of talented poets from whom you can learn something. So the best training in between writing your own poems would be to read the works of other authors. You’re very lucky, because we’ve compiled a selection of the best poems by the most talented poets just for you. They are all quite different, each in his own way sees and shows the world. You are sure to find one who is close to your heart.