Dear WHI's,
Happy world poetry day!
(It was yesterday but I had no time to post this...)
I love reading and writing poems. I believe words can motivate, make you feel things and make you understand. Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling) said it best.
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”
-Dumbledore
Today I want to show you my tips on writing, focussing on poems for today. I hope you enjoy reading it and that it will help you!
1. Write about something you feel connected to.
This doesn't mean it always has to go about something you have witnessed or felt, e.g. I wrote a poem about a picture once that spoke to me. It means that you don't fake you emotions or opinions. If you write about something that inspires you, it will automatically be more beautiful.
2. Try out new stuff
Having a style is wonderful, but can be difficult to achieve, so try many different styles and subject to find out what you really like! It is obviously always nice (even if you have been writing poems/stories for years) to try out something new. Try for example: a sonnet, a haiku, modern or traditional writing.
3. Use imagery
I love it when a poem speaks to me. One of the ways to achieve that is to use imagery. When you use imagery, you paint a picture in people their heads by using words. Some things you can use are: metaphors, personification, synesthesie and metonymia.
4. Rhyme
There are many different forms of rhyme. The most known one is end rhyme. But try to make your poem more interesting by using alliteration, assonance or a repeated rhyme scheme.
5. Style figures
Style figures make a text more interesting, and while you cannot use all of them in a text (you could, but they are not really excepted), in poetry there is much more 'allowed'. Use for example: repetition, pleonasm, antithesis, litotes or a paradox.
6. Study others
If you read a lot of poems from other people you'll get inspired and will learn new things. It is also a good way to try point 2. since reading other people's poems will show you what you find beautiful.
7. Ask for help
This might seem scary, but it can help if other people look at your work. They can see the things you could improved, where you might have a blind spot.
8. Try, try, try!
In order to become good at anything, you should practice. This also counts for poetry. So do not be disappointed in yourself if you don't like the first poems you have written. We all have to learn, and you will get better!
I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you wrote something and if you've used my tips!
Loads of love,
Mieke
