I need poetry help?

Question

I am like the worst poet ever and I have to write 20 for my english class. Can you give me some advice or a tip or something that will help me do this.

Answer 1

My advice, stick with haiku as a format:

5 syllables on line one
7 syllables on line two
5 syllables on line three

Make it about a time of day, a time of year, a place, and an emotion. Keep yourself out of the poem.

Example:

Night's fleeting moment:
Look, a snowman in the rain!
Thoughts too deep for tears.

See? we got a time of day: night. We have a time of year: winter but maybe late winter (since we have the rain, too). And we have emotion.

You don't need rhyme or anything too hard with that but you do need to count syllables.

Purists out there will say that true Japanese haiku actually does not use syllable count. That's ok. You are writing English haiku.

Best of luck and get writing. Fact is, write a bunch of five syllable lines and a few seven, then try different combinations of the same lines. See how those work for you.

Answer 2

HAVE FUN! Poetry (particularly free verse) can be an expression of play in language. Some suggestions:

1. Free write. Start writing and don't put down your pen for 5 minutes. Write nonsense if that's what comes out. Write sense if that's what does. That'll loosen your linguistic brain.

2. Write a list of funny words, luscious words, happy words, disgusting words.... try to feel how words make you feel. Try to sense the lens that the words give the world for you.

3. Read poetry. There are lots of great poets out there. Find a poet whose style you like and ask why. Is it the theme? The line-endings? The funny perspective? Choose one element of it-- say the alliteration-- and try to imitate it.

4. Go on a walk. Find something odd/funny/beautiful and sit and write something short. Don't worry about perfection. Just let the poem be what it is.

5. Ask for editors. Once you have rough drafts, hand the poems to anyone and just ask them what they think. Then think about what they say. Editing is a process of filtering comments, whether other people's or your own, and letting a poem evolve with feedback of all kinds.

Answer 3

Take out books on different styles of poetry and read as much as you can. I remember having a hard time with poetry when I was in school, too, and I ended up reading all the poetry in our textbook and that inspired me to the different ways I could write a poem.

Answer 4

1.poetry doesn't always need to rhyme to be effective
2. try to be as simple of possible.
look over it when you are finished your first draft, and then take out half the words that are not essential.
3.watch your continuity
4. don't try to hard..Don't overwork a poem..If its not working for you at that moment, walk away and try later....A poem can become overworked...
5. don't use one word too much...See how I used the word "work" in that last paragraph too much??? It sounds dumb hey?? The English language is huge...
6. finally have fun, language is your friend. Poetry is a language
you will learn to speak..It can be so much fun...

or try haiku??
It's suitably deep enough to impress your teacher...Chuck in a few..
I have added links for haiku,
Some helpful hints to help you on your way,
A glossary of poetry terms
And if you really get stuck, a rhyme generator

Answer 5

go to a site called livepoetsociety.com there is a list of poetry helpers there. Haiku, rhyming dictionairies etc.

Most song lyrics are poetry and have a either free rhymne scheme or are the traditional aa,bb, a or ab,ab,a-like a limmerick.

I know a girl named Jill
who went up on hill
with a guy named Jack
in a yellow taxi hack
and she probably paid the bill.

Hope it helps LOL.

Answer 6

for one, know the basics and keep it simple.
the whole poem must either have a syllable count consistency, or a paragraph (i think its called in that in a poem) with about 3 lines and having a syllabic count ratio of 3:2:3 or 2:3:2, or you could just free-verse.

if you want to finish early, keep it simple but don't go too systematized... you'll go to boring....

just tell them what your heart feels

Answer 7

Forget what the other guy said. Use rhymes or just stuff in the same categoriy like leaves and grass to make short poems

Answer 8

Stick to what you know and keep it simple. Try to use imagery as much as possible; it acts as filler and it evokes emotion easily. Write about what you think, what you see, and what you remember. The 20 poems should fly by.

Answer 9

Whenever I need poetry for any reason, I go to Lovingyou.com - they have tons of it and might tell you how to do it. I got a great one for my Anniversary that said exactly how I felt. Check it out.

Answer 10

free verseeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)