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
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.
