poetry writing

Writing poetry shouldn't be difficult, so here's an almost foolproof method of writing free verse poetry that's pretty effective. And you can put together a poem in under five minutes, too.

Step 1
Write at least two long sentences for an okay-length poem. Actually, even just one sentence would be fine. It's your call. You can make your poem as short or as long as you want. In any case, make the sentences sound impressive. You don't have to use big words, just make them have that "wow" factor. Grammatical errors are allowed, as long as you make sure that they're within context of the poem you're writing. In other words, as long as there's a good reason, why not?

Here's an example:

Unseeing, you twist the knife deeper into your martyr heart and feel the pain that is the perverted happiness you so cherish. Unheeding, you joyously dance into the jaws of the chimera that devours you alive and sucks your spirit dry. And when you look around in the darkest recesses of the monster's belly, you find yourself alone for you have refused the hands that have offered you reprieve.

That sounds a little angry, doesn't it? Write down what you feel. That's what does the trick.

Step 2
Cut up the sentences into meaningful phrases and arrange them to look like a poem. Use your artistic talent in laying out the lines.

Like this:

Unseeing, you twist the knife
deeper into your martyr heart
and feel the pain that is the
perverted happiness you so cherish.
Unheeding, you joyously dance
into the jaws of the chimera
that devours you alive
and sucks your spirit dry.
And when you look around in
the darkest recesses of the monster's belly,
you find yourself alone
for you have refused the hands
that have offered you reprieve.

This is actually a poem that I wrote, and it's one of my favorites. It's called Chimera Lunch, and, IMHO, it kicks ass because it tells the brutal truth (at least as I see it).

Step 3
You're actually done with your poem by now, but it makes good sense to scrutinize and edit. There might be some stuff that looks or reads somewhat awkwardly, so you might want to revise those.

Congratulations! That's pretty much it. Poetry writing doesn't have to be difficult or complicated or rhyming. Eventually, through constant writing, you'd come up with your own style. Don't limit yourself, this is you written down in words, expressing what needs to be said. You don't have to be a word whiz or anything, just write down what you're feeling and that should do the trick. Forget those iambic pentameters and stuff...those are for class, this is for you!

Have fun experimenting!

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