Tips on How to Make Poetry

Hi! I’m here to give you some pointers on how to create poetry. HOWEVER, please don’t expect award winning poetry right when you start off nor should you expect many views/faves on your poems because frankly most people on DA don’t look at written deviations all that much. (Which is okay because faves/views do not determine the quality of your writing.)


                                        TIP 1: Getting Inspired

Much like writing a story, one also needs inspiration when writing a poem. ANYTHING can inspire you, even a rock. (No, I am not joking, look below)

"Rock" by venusprincess

Weeks pass
Then months
Then years
Centuries go by
Time smearing
Weaving into just one long day that doesn’t seem to end
I’ve seen boys grow to men
And girls to women
Kids to parents to grandparents
Dark deaths
First loves
Secret meetings
Childhood games
Little adventures
All while sitting in the same spot
Weathering away

If you don’t feel like writing, don’t force yourself---just wait; it’ll come to you. Good ways to inspire yourself are: listening to music with interesting lyrics, watching a TV show, reading a book, thinking about your life and any current situations, putting yourself in another person’s(or object’s) perspective, etc. When you do come up with an idea be sure to write it down otherwise you won’t remember it later.


                                                  Tip 2: Topics

What exactly should you write about? Well, it’s good to be original. If you want to write about romance (a really overdone topic in poetry), please put your own style into it.
                                          (bad) Example--->  Roses are red
                                                                         Violets are blue
                                                                         I love you
                                                                         I really do

Mmmm…yeah, no -_-

Another really common topic in poetry: sadness. You have to be careful when you’re writing about this topic or it’ll become one of those emo gothic poems that don’t really have much depth into it other than “life sucks” and “oh gawd i’m sad”.

                                  Example of said poem---> Turmoil
                                                                           Death
                                                                           DESTRUCTION
                                                                           Is what life is
                                                                           My life
                                                                           It’s a dark abyss

I’m sorry, a poem like that does not make you look “deep” in any way, shape, or form. >.>
Although, this would be a good poem to write if you’re just trying to let off some steam.

Anyways, those 2 topics: love and sadness, are really common. Be original when writing about said topics…and any other topic for that matter.

Other topics you might want to explore: a story you want to write in poetry form, the way your pet acts, mythical creatures, a betrayal, a dream, a nightmare, and the list goes on.

A good way to figure out topics is practicing with a friend. (I do that sometimes) All you have to do with said friend is tell each other random topics. One friend could say, “giraffe”; so then the other friend must write a poem about a giraffe or in the perspective of a giraffe and then must also give a topic for the other to write about. This can also be done on your own by writing about whatever pops into your head even if it happens to be about toaster strudel.

                                                Tip 3- Styles

Now you also have to think about what kind of poetry style you want to use. I like doing open poetry, but there’s also haikus, visual, blackout, narrative, rhyming poems, etc. I recommend you write in whatever style suits you best. Also, remember that style isn’t just what KIND of poem you’re writing, it involves your STYLE too; the way you write.

Although you may be extremely comfortable with writing, say, haikus for instance. It’s also good to try to experiment with other styles and layouts.

For instance, you could try something like this…

Excerpt from “The Walls Looked Too Plain” by venusprincess


D
o
w
n  
the broken s
                     t
                        e
                           p
                             s
(Where Earth met the Sea
And June met July)

I changed the layout of my poem instead of just making it the standard stanza-space-stanza because I like laying out the words so they’re also visually connected to their meaning. It’s fun to play around with styles because sometimes you find a new way you like to lay out your poems. Just be creative!

You might also want to try a rhyme scheme. A rhyme scheme is basically a certain pattern used in poetry. For example: a, b, a, b. What does that mean? Look below

I was at home---a
And as I sat----b
I answered the phone----a
That’s a fact----b

Notice how the ending words rhyme. Home-Phone; Sat-Fact. However, rhyme schemes can be more complex---take a look at an excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,--->a           
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— ---> b
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, ---> c
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.---> b
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— ----> b

If you still need help with rhyme schemes; go to this website: www.rbuhsd.k12.ca.us/~rgrow/Rhyme%20Schemes.html

Another style to try out would be foreign language poetry. If you're fluent in another language, you could incorporate it into your native language poetry and include translations if you wish. If you're not fluent in another language, yet still want to try this out, check out an online translator.

And yet ANOTHER  style to try out...(lots of styles out there as you can see)  is blackout poetry. Blackout poetry is when you take a newspaper or a magazine article or basically any old piece of paper with words on it and then use a marker to block out certain words and the remaining words are what form your poem. If you'd like to see some examples, type in "blackout poetry" in the Deviation search box.
                                                        Tips: Misc.

- Make your words flow.

- PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. It's the only way to improve; don't give up!

-NEVER steal other people’s writing. That includes borrowing certain lines from other’s works without putting it into quotes and acknowledging you got it from someone else. You wouldn’t want someone to do that to you, so don’t do it to someone else.

-It’s great to be inspired by other’s poetry styles, but please don’t copy them. You’ll come up with your own style eventually. It’d probably be best to do it the standard way first (or how you started writing) and then branching out.

-Learn from others; check out poems here on DA and speak up and give your comments.

-If you have trouble italicizing or bolding words in your deviation, read this: http://help.deviantart.com/104/

                       Great Websites To Help With Your Poetry

www.dictionary.com
www.thesaurus.reference.com/
www.translate.reference.com/
www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Poem
www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
www.rbuhsd.k12.ca.us/~rgrow/Rhyme%20Schemes.html
www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/59


                                 I hope this helped. I wish you luck!
                                                               ^_^