Do you ever stare at the paper, waiting for poetic inspiration? Well, you can stop waiting and start using systematic techniques for creating poetry. If it seems too mechanical or artificial at first, don't worry. The point is just to get you writing, because creativity is stimulated by work.
When You Have A Poem In Mind
If you have your topic, ask yourself why it's important, and write down your answer. How do you feel about it? Write down those feelings. Write a line or a scene that exemplifies what you are trying to point out. Then, start rearranging the words into a poem. The main thing is to do anything other than waiting to stimulate your creativity.
Sometimes poems can come from a simple description. Write down a description of an event, and then find a way to form it into something more succinct and poetic. The poem below, "Religion," was created in this way:
On the shoulder of Keystone Road
A woman was laying in the dirt
Calling out for help
While ninety-three christians
Fourteen muslims
And five jews
Drove by
On a sunny afternoon
When You Need Ideas For Poems
1. Look around and write down what you see.
2. Write about anything that you felt today.
3. Ask anyone for a topic and start writing.
4. Use random words, one per line, to create a verse.
The following verse was written in a few minutes using four randomly chosen words:
Our dirty little secret
Our sorrow none can see
Is not
For things we cannot have
But for things we cannot be
Poets can break through the worst writers-block, by simply using any "tricks" available to start writing poems. Try it. Even very artificial, or "mechanical" techniques will get your creativity flowing. You'll find more of these poetic techniques in part two.
Steve Gillman has been playing with poetry for thirty years. He and his wife Ana created the game "Deal-A-Poem," which can be accessed for free at: http://www.dealapoem.com
Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAdvance: in Mr. Siluk's poetry one finds symbolist values, sensuous... Read More
Hammers. Timbers. Iron. Steel.They're laying down a mighty keel.As ant-like... Read More
English VersionA bunch of us guys in the hutIn ?Nam... Read More
To many non-specialists of literature, poetry is deeply unsatisfying. There... Read More
When I hear your voice inside my head it makes... Read More
Twilight, was now beginning. As forthe sun, it was down-down... Read More
Sometimes we feel hard-pressed, Our backs against the wall;... Read More
Poems have different cores, or so I believe, and can... Read More
Iquitos & the Amazon Part OneIt was December 2, l959,... Read More
You make me smile like I've seldom done before You... Read More
AFRICA (to africans in diaspora)africa here i come, africa africa... Read More
Footprints to Mantaro Valley (Peru; in English and Spanish)In what... Read More
[Episode Five]Arizona Blue-GunfighterThe Wolves Nest-in the North[Episode Five]Northern Minnesota Area?Winter... Read More
Tale of the Brick Maker, Of San Jer?nimo, Peru... Read More
Here are three more poems by the author, Dennis Siluk,... Read More
You cannot make someone love you. All you can do... Read More
I am not the one I was before yesterday.I cannot... Read More
My life has changedin so so many waysIt seems to... Read More
Our home was warm in the shade of the trees... Read More
Grandpa's House [The ole Real House]The house needed painting Sun-blistered... Read More
Little girl from HuancayoDo you really, really know? Just how... Read More
I cannot bear to think of when you will be... Read More
1) Shadows of the Andes [or: Song to the Andes]I... Read More
Stone Beds [Pompeii's surge]Advance: after the great eruption of Pompeii's... Read More
Ole Bulky JeepsThrough late summer's heat These bulky shaped jeeps... Read More
Antigo wedding limo .."Beautiful Dreamer" was written by Stephen Foster just before his... Read More
What do you do when you want to write poetry?... Read More
Daybreak at Pikes Creek [Summer of 2005]Daybreak by Lake Superior... Read More
YOU MIGHT THINK I AM STRONGI THINK YOU GOT IT... Read More
Two Poems and an Analysis ['Witness,' & 'An Old Love']WitnessMy... Read More
In the midst of darkness, there is light. In... Read More
The Torrents of HellHell's furnace- Likened to a chimney Vomits... Read More
You can show your poem to your mom, your spouse,... Read More
Five Poems from Home1) Remembering: Dorothy Parker [Dedicated to the... Read More
the disease of extremism is infectious-; whoever cannot think of... Read More
I can see the cerulean blue of the skiesOr the... Read More
When I am climbing up, you are stepping down. When... Read More
Iquitos & the Amazon Part OneIt was December 2, l959,... Read More
In early fall, in Minnesota, the rain falls, falls, In... Read More
Ah! Leave the gold, wealth and landSays the Inca King?;... Read More
Have you ever read the lyrics of a Simon and... Read More
Isn't that what they say?But what does that mean?There's no... Read More
On through the darkness she searches the bones Seeking the... Read More
She raised me like I was her own daughter from... Read More
English Version12) Black Poncho(of Saint Cosme Hill, by Lima, Peru)Lost... Read More
AFRICA (to africans in diaspora)africa here i come, africa africa... Read More
When your life becomes unbearable And the light of... Read More
Shakespeare's sonnets require time and effort to appreciate. Understanding the... Read More
The light of all eternity shines with me now /... Read More
The Goat and the Ropewhere there were devils I saw... Read More
Poetry |