How to write a poem.
There’s no right or wrong way to write a poem. There are techniques and methods you can learn, forms and formulas you can choose, and writing exercises or poetry prompts you can use. But if anyone tries to tell you how to write a poem, take it with a grain of salt.
That said, there are some best practices that poets can experiment with. For centuries (millennia?) poets have been honing their skills and strategies and passing what they’ve learned to future generations. Some of their wisdom may work for you and make your own poetry writing stronger or more refined. Maybe it will help you write more prolifically or simply make the process more enjoyable for you.
So it makes sense to explore other poets’ ideas about how to write a poem. Don’t take their advice as a mandate, but try some of their suggestions, see what works for you, and discard the rest.
How to Write a Poem: Tips and Ideas
Today I thought I’d share some tips and ideas I’ve collected over the years for how to write a poem. Some of these came from books or teachers. Others came from reading poems and studying poets. Some came from personal experience. Hopefully you can use a few of these to strengthen your own poetry writing.
- Freewriting: This is one of my personal favorite methods for poetry writing. It starts with timed writing sessions (twenty minutes is good). Write whatever comes to mind, no matter how bizarre or nonsensical. Then harvest the freewrite for interesting ideas and phrases. I have found that daily freewrites can produce tons of material from which poems can be harvested.
- Form and structure: I’m not a huge fan of form poetry, although there’s a special place in my heart for haiku. But form poetry can provide a structure that is very helpful for some poets, especially when the blank page is too intimidating or putting ideas into a poetic shape is difficult.
- Cut and Paste: This is another method I love, although it can be time consuming. Go through printed materials and highlight interesting words and phrases (much like you would with your freewrites). Clip these and then arrange them into a poem, adding and removing and rearranging as you see fit. Keep a box of clippings and add to it regularly. That way you can pull it out whenever you want and use it to make new poems.
- Daily journaling: I found that my own poetry was at its best when I was writing regularly, which is no surprise. Most of us find that our work is strongest when we practice every day. Journaling openly and freely is an excellent way to foster creativity. I keep an “anything journal,” which means I stash anything I want in it: prose, doodles, quotes, random thoughts and ideas, and of course, poems.
- Revision: Every once in a while, a poem will show up fully formed and need very little in terms of editing. But most poems need to cook a little. I’ve got poems that have been sitting around for years, waiting to be fine-tuned. I’ve learned that nothing benefits a poem like diligent revision. I’ve refined poems that were over a decade old — poems that almost got tossed — and found that perfect word or stanza that the piece was missing. I encounter a lot of fledgling poets who seem to think poetry should never be revised, but revision and time can be two significant ways to write a poem.
- Starters: The first few words are usually the hardest, unless I’ve been struck by a bolt of unearthly inspiration. But sometimes I want to write a poem when I’m not under the muse’s spell. That means I have to find creative ways to get my poem started. I will try anything from poetry prompts to perusing the news for subject matter. Sometimes I’ll tackle a tribute to something I love, or I’ll write about some conflict or struggle that’s been on my mind. If all else fails, I can always write about nature!
- Cadence: Sometimes poetry is not about words or images or subject matter. Sometimes it’s about sound. There’s a wannabe musician inside me somewhere and when she comes up with a tune, I often use it to form a poem that is designed by rhythm, meter, and flow. Some of these poems come out extremely abstract and weird, but I love them.
Do you ever write poetry? How do you write a poem? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing!
I suggest you get involved on a poetry site like Tweetspeak or All Poetry. You can do this for free and you can attend classes and join different groups of interest and read other poets. I’ve been part of All Poetry for over a year now and really like to explore the classes. I am just finishing an intermediate haiku class and it was great. I’ll probably go on to the advanced class or a tanka class next.There are paying levels but you dont have to join those levels unless you want to. 🙂
Thanks for the recommendation, Susan.
Yes, thanks for the recommendation, Susan. I just went to the site and it seems to have a wealth of groups and courses.
This post is very helpful. I love it when I write poetry; though it is not something I do all the time. I do journal excessively (!) and find it rewarding, healing and gets that hamster off the wheel and onto the paper. It has improved my writing in that I am able to communicate clearly when I write. I realized the other day that I usually write poetry after hearing music with lyrics. For the first time, I used the beats in the song to my poem and this gave it a form to follow. Thanks to James Taylor!
My favorite writing is poetry, but sadly, I haven’t done much poetry writing in recent years (for a variety of reasons). I’m currently getting back into journaling and trying to figure out how I want to journal. These are two of my favorite types of writing, so I totally relate!
Oh, I can easily tell you how
To write a poem; first thing, now,
Is that you don’t, at any time,
Get anything approaching rhyme;
And then avoid, much as you can,
Some lines that actually scan;
So now, make absolutely sure
The sense, if any, is obscure,
And some advantage will be found
In putting words the wrong way round,
No punctuation should you see,
Or else just, use — it; randomly;
If you can do this, without fuss,
You will be hailed a genius!
Poetry is personal, and people are free to write it in any way they want. You are free to dislike and criticize the forms that others prefer, but it will not change anything. In fact, constantly complaining about how other people write is probably only going to make them dig their heels in. Having said that, this is a lovely little poem. Thanks for sharing it.
My poetry comes unsought
In odd moments,
Washing the dishes.
Walking for exercise,
The “Metered” the better,
Not interested in writing prose.
I have the same experience. It’s so frustrating when I’m in the middle of exercising and a great line for a poem pops into my head!
I am probably going to be thought of as reactionary, and not up to date. I do not consider much ‘poetry ‘ today to be poetry. It has neither of the two things that are usually considered poetry: rhythm and rhyme.
A poem has got to have a structure in the form of rhythm. It does not necessarily need to rhyme.
Much poetry today is just prose broken into lines. Is Melissa Donovan’s reply a poem? Write it in continuous prose, and would it still be a poem?
Writing poetry that has rhythm and/or rhyme is much more difficult than writing a piece of prose and breaking it up into lines. I’m not saying modern ‘poetry’ isn’t poetic. Much of it is, but it’s not poetry.
I’d like to ask a question, but I suspect it might come off as rude. So please know that this is asked out of genuine curiosity: Why do you feel that you have the right to decide what is or is not poetry?
I ask because I have encountered many people over the years who think a particular book is not “real storytelling” or an article wasn’t composed by a “real writer.” And it’s not uncommon to encounter such judgements on poets and their work as well.
Because here’s the thing: you don’t get to decide what is and is not poetry. There’s a whole subset of poetry called free verse, which I happen to write. I cannot imagine having the audacity to say to someone like you, “Oh, those old forms of structured poetry are outdated. That’s not how poetry is done anymore. It might have been considered poetry in the past, but now it’s just ancient history.”
I mean, who am I to say that to anyone?
As writers, our job is to communicate clearly. What’s wrong with saying, “I don’t like free verse” instead of trying to discredit free-verse poets by falsely stating that their work is not poetry?
I mean, that’s pretty messed up. Not a great way to treat other writers. In fact, I find such remarks incredibly disrespectful, not to mention narrow-minded.
Everyone gets to write poetry the way they want. Free verse and prose poetry are perfectly legitimate and acceptable forms of poetry, as evidenced by their very presence in the literary canon.
Finally, I’d like to issue a reminder that Writing Forward is a space to promote creative writing practices and encourage writers of all kinds. We do not invalidate the work of other writers here. Please keep that in mind during your future visits.
Thank you.
Right on! Anybody can just throw some words together and call it a poem, but it takes some thought and planning to make a poem rhyme. Purist: “Unrhyming poems aren’t poems at all”. the New Formalism group has been pushing for a return to formal verse for decades. The Revival of traditional forms! join in the fun!
I write poetry, though not as often as I would like to. Ran across an old piece the other day, and enjoyed what I had written. During that time, I was reading one of your books, “Ready, Set, Write: A guide to Creative Writing,” and chapter 13, Poetry, got to me and reminded me how much I love this way of writing. Like you, I am drawn to free writing and daily journaling, the later, my consistent habit. I also enjoy the art of rereading, so naturally, the content of “How to Write a Poem,” on this platform is old friends, worth reading again. It helps to clarify my understanding of a thing, like “Poetry.”
Thank you so much for reading my book. I deeply appreciate it! I also wish I wrote more poetry. Isn’t it wonderful to come across old pieces of writing and find that they’re actually quite good? I love when that happens!
I believe the best poetry is inspired and comes from the heart. It may be an event in the news or something you’ve experienced or just something from nature that lifted you . Otherwise poetry is rigid and forced and serves no purpose. No matter how many classes or courses you take it needs to inspired it cannot be forced.
In my experience, poetry (and other writing) that is inspired and comes from the heart is thrilling to write. But I also find that once the poem is done, it doesn’t matter how emotionally charged the writing was. I’ve been surprised to find that writing sessions that felt a bit forced can produce pretty good writing and some extremely passionate writing sessions churn out drivel. It’s interesting that we all have different experiences with these things.