how to
How-tos for all things poetry; learn how to analyze a poem, construct a haiko, differentiate between a metaphor and simile and more.
Poetry Doesn't Have to be Poetic: How to Write Without Pressure
I started writing poetry a few years ago, back when I first began my University course. There were so many talented writers, all who dabbled in differing genres and forms of the written word, and I was astounded at the content they could pour onto the page. I began to doubt myself, but my stubborn arse wouldn't let itself give up. Instead, I created a poetry instagram and began uploading my first attempts directly to the world wide web for all to see.
By Jade Hadfield3 years ago in Poets
Why does painful poetry come more easily?
When I entered into Vocal’s ‘Color is Pride: True Colors’ challenge, I was both excited and intimidated by the project. I realised quite quickly this would be the most personal and likely the most challenged writing experience of my adult life. The last time I had written a poem I was fresh out of high school and in my first real relationship. There was a clear purpose, which helped; write something cute and dumb and that’ll do. Simple enough, right? Somehow it was still surprisingly difficult. It didn’t even need to be good to get the job done. It was very much one of those ‘it’s the thought that counts’ scenarios, but still I struggled.
By Bree Beadman3 years ago in Poets
An Unfinished Poem is Like Banana Bread
Have you ever taken a loaf of banana bread from the oven, and tried to pop it out of the pan right away? It’s too tempting to resist, and more than once, greedy for a slice of hot bread covered in my favorite Irish butter, I have made this mistake. The bread plops out, still steaming, and stubbornly refuses to maintain its form. Removed from the stoneware too soon, it slumps and falls inward on itself, no longer the sleek golden loaf it was meant to be. Any attempt to slice a normal piece from it results in a mound of crumbs and sadness. An unfinished poem is exactly the same: when it’s not quite done, it needs to be left alone for a bit — otherwise, it falls flat. The ideas that originally filled your mind must “cool,” and the trick is to take a break and come back to it later. In the cooling off, clarity crystallizes, and your ideas can break free from the restraints of the writing process. You’ll be able to return to it with fresh eyes, and carve from it exactly what you wanted — but giving yourself the time away is a crucial step in the completion of a good poem. Like all art — baking included — the master must learn from her creation the delicate and critical wait. It’s easier to butter a slice of bread than a mound of crumbs, and it’s more pleasing to read a poem that has been polished and perfected than one that has been rushed. In both cases, the wait is worth it.
By Vanessa Jimison3 years ago in Poets
Saving the World, Photon by Photon
(This poem began life in free verse with the title "Capturing the Sun", but I thought it might be an interesting exercise to rewrite it in a different format, namely a variant of blank verse. This was the format used by Shakespeare to write most of his plays and by Milton for "Paradise Lost". My blank verse falls far short of theirs! Proper blank verse comprises unrhymed iambic pentameters - my poem meets the requirements of lack of rhyme and 10 syllables to every line, but I cannot claim to have written in perfect iambs throughout!)
By John Welford3 years ago in Poets