Writing Poetry?

Question

Um can soem give me advice on how to start off writing poetry. Maybe you can give me a sitauion were u had an idea and how you progressed into writing it.

Answer 1

Well, two good answers left for me to build on and to help a bit more.

You obviously want to write poetry because you've been moved by poems you've read and you "get" it. I would start with those poems, and you need to dig into the "why" of what makes you think to write poems. You can do this by breaking down the poems and understanding them better. The best way I've found to appreciate word choice and dynamics in a poem is to transcribe the poem. Write it out in long hand. This forces you to take your time with each word. The other tool, and this is the key to all good poetry, is to read it out loud. Not just once, but read it out loud several times. Both are going to help you to make new connections and associations with the poem, but they also allow you an insight into the poem.
After you've done both of these steps, it's time to sit down and perform a couple of little exercises. Without looking at the poem, can you duplicate it? The next exercise is to write a poem that uses the techniques, style and voice of the original poem. You can write on any subject, this is an exercise, so it is to develop the poetry writing muscles, if you will.
From there, I would recommend the book, The Poet's Companion, by Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio. A good set of exercises and and very good set of examples.

Write well.

Answer 2

Okay, I'll give it a shot for you. First though, the best way to start writing poetry is by reading good poetry and reflecting on what it means to your life.

Sometimes what inspires you is fairly simple. I was reflecting on issues in my childhood, and I wondered how can I deal with this in a poem. What image did it suggest to me. I thought maybe a weed amongst flowers. So, I started free writing ideas with that in mind for about an hour. I then looked at what I had and picked two lines out of it, came up with a title, and wrote the poem from those two lines. I then revised it about 50 times. If you set a time to write and commit to it you will eventually get the seed thoughts you need to write a poem.

Good luck to you.

Answer 3

Everybody has a different way of writing and finding inspiration. If you want to write poetry, you need to ask yourself if you really have something to say that someone else might want to hear. Inspiration can come from anywhere, any object, any person, place or thing or even any feeling. You look at a door and you can imagine someone you love walking through it...that might be inspiration for writing about waiting for someone, or how that door holds so many memories, or how it reminds you of the time you left, or the time someone came to visit, etc...and that's just a door! The next thing you need to do is decide how you feel about your subject, what images come to mind, and then describe that image, feeling, etc. in words that are more than just "my dog and I used to go fishing and he used to bark when I tried to fish"...they become "fishing with my best friend's tail, I used a pole and he used a bark" You describe things from the side, not always from head on. Whether or not it rhymes depends on how the words come to you...just don't try to force things to be something they're not. Don't try rhyming two lines one after another because you think that's how poetry is supposed to be, just write what you feel and the rest will come.
Read more poetry. Next to writing it, nothing will improve your writing and your inspiration more than reading.

hope this helps...keep writing