Poetry tips???
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In contrast to blue_ladybug I am of the school of thought that believes all poems need to rhyme.
My advice would be that if you are feeling very emotional you should write out your thoughts and feelings plainly, as one would write a journal. Later, when you are feeling more literary, try to extract the more poetic side of what you wrote and try to use poetic devices. POETIC DEVICES & LITERARY TERMS USE IN POETRY ANALYSIS - MR. MURRAY'S LITERATURE PAGE
A problem that many people have when rhyming is that they have a line that they really want to use, so they will write the line, and then the next line they will scramble for a rhyme, and the line will seem like it is clearly only there for the sake of rhyme. A way to fix this is to put your more powerful line second, and then come up with a line that rhymes that will lead into the more thought out second line.
My advice would be that if you are feeling very emotional you should write out your thoughts and feelings plainly, as one would write a journal. Later, when you are feeling more literary, try to extract the more poetic side of what you wrote and try to use poetic devices. POETIC DEVICES & LITERARY TERMS USE IN POETRY ANALYSIS - MR. MURRAY'S LITERATURE PAGE
A problem that many people have when rhyming is that they have a line that they really want to use, so they will write the line, and then the next line they will scramble for a rhyme, and the line will seem like it is clearly only there for the sake of rhyme. A way to fix this is to put your more powerful line second, and then come up with a line that rhymes that will lead into the more thought out second line.
Greetings Calmador.
It is good to see you entering into the realm of writing poems. I think this world could use more poetry (especially from a Christian perspective).
Personal advice I would give you as you begin in poetry would be the following:
1. Although there are differing views on the subject of whether or not poems need to rhyme (as is already seen in this thread), I personally do not believe poems must rhyme. Although my poems do in fact rhyme, I do that more out of a personal preference rather than following a rule. Some people have many great thoughts and ideas to share, but cannot necessarily write out their thoughts in the form of rhyme. So it would be a tragedy for those people to keep their thoughts to themselves and not write at all simply because they are told their poems must rhyme. Rhyme or not, write away.
2. Length of poems. As I personally don't believe poems have to rhyme, I also don't believe they have to have a certain amount of words or length of lines. My poems are on average about 32 lines long (one of my poems is 65 lines long) and yet one of my all time favorite poems to read is by Skylar Harris and is only 4 lines long, as seen below,
Birth does not exist alone
It dwells with death and loss
As in the humble manger looms
The shadow of the Cross
- Skylar Harris
I think it actually takes more skill to express a lot in a short poem than it does to express a lot in a long poem. So again, I would say don't be concerned about the length of your poems, as long as you are expressing truths in a clear and meaningful way.
3. Don't "force" poems. What I mean is that I never sit down to write a poem until I feel very strongly moved and inspired to write (which usually happens as I am reading a particular Bible verse or chapter during my personal Bible study time). That is why I personally only write about 2 or 3 poems a year. I would never say to myself "Hey, I haven't written a poem in 6 months, so I better sit down and write one immediately". To me that would just be forcing out a poem for numerical reasons and have no inspiration behind it to drive it on. So I would say wait to be moved and inspired before writing a poem.
4. Prayer. This piece of advice connects with my third point. After I've felt inspired to write a poem from reading Scripture, the very first thing I do before writing even one word is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me through each line and not let the poem be merely a product of my own strength and effort. We should not only write poems "for" God but "with" God.
5. Poetry for God's glory. Ultimately our poems are to bring glory to God, not to ourselves. When I read poetry in the Bible (which is the entire book of Psalms), I never once say to myself "Wow, what great poets King David and the other Psalmists are!" Instead when reading the Psalms my mind and heart are captured and focused on God Himself, not on the writers of the Psalms. So it should be with our poems; let God be the focus and purpose of your poetry, not yourself.
I hope these points can be of some assistance to you Calmador.
May God bless your newly found gift of poetry for His glory.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord."
- Psalm 19:14
It is good to see you entering into the realm of writing poems. I think this world could use more poetry (especially from a Christian perspective).
Personal advice I would give you as you begin in poetry would be the following:
1. Although there are differing views on the subject of whether or not poems need to rhyme (as is already seen in this thread), I personally do not believe poems must rhyme. Although my poems do in fact rhyme, I do that more out of a personal preference rather than following a rule. Some people have many great thoughts and ideas to share, but cannot necessarily write out their thoughts in the form of rhyme. So it would be a tragedy for those people to keep their thoughts to themselves and not write at all simply because they are told their poems must rhyme. Rhyme or not, write away.
2. Length of poems. As I personally don't believe poems have to rhyme, I also don't believe they have to have a certain amount of words or length of lines. My poems are on average about 32 lines long (one of my poems is 65 lines long) and yet one of my all time favorite poems to read is by Skylar Harris and is only 4 lines long, as seen below,
Birth does not exist alone
It dwells with death and loss
As in the humble manger looms
The shadow of the Cross
- Skylar Harris
I think it actually takes more skill to express a lot in a short poem than it does to express a lot in a long poem. So again, I would say don't be concerned about the length of your poems, as long as you are expressing truths in a clear and meaningful way.
3. Don't "force" poems. What I mean is that I never sit down to write a poem until I feel very strongly moved and inspired to write (which usually happens as I am reading a particular Bible verse or chapter during my personal Bible study time). That is why I personally only write about 2 or 3 poems a year. I would never say to myself "Hey, I haven't written a poem in 6 months, so I better sit down and write one immediately". To me that would just be forcing out a poem for numerical reasons and have no inspiration behind it to drive it on. So I would say wait to be moved and inspired before writing a poem.
4. Prayer. This piece of advice connects with my third point. After I've felt inspired to write a poem from reading Scripture, the very first thing I do before writing even one word is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me through each line and not let the poem be merely a product of my own strength and effort. We should not only write poems "for" God but "with" God.
5. Poetry for God's glory. Ultimately our poems are to bring glory to God, not to ourselves. When I read poetry in the Bible (which is the entire book of Psalms), I never once say to myself "Wow, what great poets King David and the other Psalmists are!" Instead when reading the Psalms my mind and heart are captured and focused on God Himself, not on the writers of the Psalms. So it should be with our poems; let God be the focus and purpose of your poetry, not yourself.
I hope these points can be of some assistance to you Calmador.
May God bless your newly found gift of poetry for His glory.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord."
- Psalm 19:14
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Regarding 'rhyming', if you look at the older Hebrew poetry as found in Scripture, the rhyming did not come in similar sounds e.g. "lime/time" but rather in repetition of similar or opposite meanings using phrases. Example...
Proverbs 9:7-9
7 Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult; whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse.
8 Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still; teach a righteous person and he will add to his learning.
Proverbs 9:7-9
7 Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult; whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse.
8 Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still; teach a righteous person and he will add to his learning.
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Here are a few tips from an English teacher.
1. Poems DO NOT need to rhyme. (This, btw, is not opinon, but fact). There are all kinds of conventions about poetry that are culturally based. Old English poetry did not rhyme, but made use of rhythm and sound devices. Some people prefer to write with rhyme (Edgar Allan Poe) and others do not (Walt Whitman). Some poets (Robert Frost, for example) wrote both rhymed and unrhymed poetry.
2. Poems can be about ANYTHING. There are no off-topic subjects in poetry. (See the Confessional Poets of the 60s for examples of poetry written about previously "taboo" or "unpoetic" subjects).
3. Poems are ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. This means they don't fall from the sky in one piece. There is going to be some crafting involved. Some people write first and craft later (so to speak). They get the idea out and then go on to edit the piece adding more literary language, adjusting line endings, etc. Others craft as they go along.
4. Poets should read GOOD POETRY. The best way to improve as a poet is to consume the good stuff. What is good? Well, given that we have like 6000 years worth of poetry on the planet, there's a lot to choose from. Maybe you like the spareness of Japanese haiku, or maybe you like epic poems like The Odyssey. Perhaps you're more into modern voices. Whatever inspires you, read that. Ask other poets about who inspires their work...and then read those folks too.
1. Poems DO NOT need to rhyme. (This, btw, is not opinon, but fact). There are all kinds of conventions about poetry that are culturally based. Old English poetry did not rhyme, but made use of rhythm and sound devices. Some people prefer to write with rhyme (Edgar Allan Poe) and others do not (Walt Whitman). Some poets (Robert Frost, for example) wrote both rhymed and unrhymed poetry.
2. Poems can be about ANYTHING. There are no off-topic subjects in poetry. (See the Confessional Poets of the 60s for examples of poetry written about previously "taboo" or "unpoetic" subjects).
3. Poems are ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. This means they don't fall from the sky in one piece. There is going to be some crafting involved. Some people write first and craft later (so to speak). They get the idea out and then go on to edit the piece adding more literary language, adjusting line endings, etc. Others craft as they go along.
4. Poets should read GOOD POETRY. The best way to improve as a poet is to consume the good stuff. What is good? Well, given that we have like 6000 years worth of poetry on the planet, there's a lot to choose from. Maybe you like the spareness of Japanese haiku, or maybe you like epic poems like The Odyssey. Perhaps you're more into modern voices. Whatever inspires you, read that. Ask other poets about who inspires their work...and then read those folks too.