The 3 misconceptions about poetry & how we can fix it.

For decades, we have established poetry as the master of word play storytelling. Often used to express our current emotions, poetry uses powerful metaphors to create imagery for our audiences to connect with. Overtime, we devalued the hidden powers of poetry into a genre that mostly entertains the masses, who still love the sound of catchy combinations. During my high school day’s, poetry was always a genre I overlooked personally. It’s a sad reality most people relate to due to its complexity as a genre. I used to believe it was a boring complicated genre myself, until I realized something about it’s purpose.

In 2011, I discovered what healing effects poetry can do for you long term. By writing my emotions down, It reduced the ongoing sadness I was facing at the time. Not only that, I was also finding ways to turn my sorrow into positive messages for my readers to learn & understand. Which is a new spin to the current poetry we consume today. Now one thing I can say about poetry is that poetry has no limitations or boundaries. It’s one genre that allows different word combinations to be explored In any shape or fashion. However, I noticed first hand how people really don’t understand the power of poetry & what it can do for you on a deeper level.

So let’s discuss the 3 misconceptions of poetry today. I will also give my personal tips on what you can add to your poems to help your audience connect with you even better.

No matter how long you been writing, we are not perfect & Learning is part of growing as writers. So let’s talk about the first misconception.

1. Poetry is only about creating imagery for the audience.

Not necessarily. Some poets are amazing at using certain words to design a scenario they experienced. This usually defines how good a particular poem is according to the public. However, imagery isn’t the biggest seller to our current generation now. Our new audience currently craves more. More depth in this case. One common response people usually give after hearing a good poem now is mostly how good it sounds. This is a big misconception because poetry is more then challenging our imaginations. People love those Triumphant stories, where authors write about some type of hardship & expressing how they overcame that hardship.

So how do we fix this misconception?

As writers to this genre, we must remind our audience that we are people too. Never be afraid to tell your readers how you overcame these experiences your telling. We do this with our friends & relatives effortlessly, so the idea is still relevant. By writing messages about how you overcame these struggles or even giving your two sense about it really grabs our audience’s attention. It can help our audience connect with us on a deeper level & elevate our favorite genre even further.

2. Poetry is only about rhyming & sounding good.

Another misconception to the poetry world. Remember, poetry is a genre with no rules. So why stress on rhyming 24/7? There is no law that states you must write in harmony to consider it poetry. A good poem can be created without this technique. Focusing on the core messages in your poems creates a different response from our audience. The best part of it all is getting your audience to create a discussion about what you wrote. As a poet myself, my goal is to always get the reader to think more about what I’m writing about, Giving each individual their own interpretation about what they believe it can mean.

The beauty about opinions is that you create discussion points with others. It can also lead to creating new ideas & even sharing them with others. Try writing some poems that focus on helping people see everyday topics differently. Don’t be afraid to tackle certain subjects. You never know who will resonate with your work. In the end, we all have our own audience.

3. Poems must be short & sweet to be concerned a poem.

Our last misconception & one I can definitely say isn’t said enough. Poems can be any length & size. Cutting your story because of normality is not something we should strive for as poets & writers. We are story tellers at the end, so writing poems longer then your forearm is totally doable. Some of my favorite pieces are longer poems simply because of the topic I was passionate about during that time. Adding extra lines to a poem your writing is totally understandable. You are the poetic writer. So any work you produce for your fans or even yourself, make sure YOU believe that your masterpiece is complete. Nobody should tell you how to write a poem.

The goal for any poet or writer is to make sure our audience understands us on a deeper level. So what can we take from this? Poetry as a genre is one of the best literature's to get into. Not only can you write in any way you please, poetry is one genre you can be yourself. No matter how dark or light your words may be, poetry is viewed as art with no judgement. If you feel that nobody understands you or your having a hard time expressing yourself, try using poetry. Someone will eventually hear you out & when they do, don’t expect backlash because it’s the only genre that can let you be the director to your life story.

©️2021, Kantshens ( M.Howard ) All rights reserved