Writing great poetry

Is there a secret to writing good poetry? There are certainly no real rules. Watch Dead Poets Society, where the teacher tells his students to tear out the turgid introduction to 'How to Write Poetry', because it is rule bound, and actually stifles creative expression rather than encouraging it.  

So how do you go about writing a good poem? What is the process by which you end up with verse that is lyrical, beautiful to read, with some emotional impact? 

Well, the clue should be in the three elements I just listed. Let's take them one at a time...

Lyrical - what does it mean? Think of the lyrics in a song (more on this in a moment). Or think of the work of some of the masters of poetic expression. They don't simply say it as it is. William Wordsworth didn't just walk about a bit. He wandered lonely as a cloud (a simile). Dylan Thomas didn't write blandly about death - he raged against the dying of the light (a metaphor). Think deeply about what you are trying to describe and then go the extra mile. Nothing is off the table in poetry. Language can be made to mean what you want it to mean. Experiment, take risks, and write lyrical poetry that gets people thinking. Step out of the rut of the ABAB rhyme and try to colour outside the lines you've imposed upon yourself. 

Secondly, poetry should be beautiful to read. Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder (you can remove it with any eyewash). Essentially, poetry is subjective. Some may love your writing while others might despise it. Most will be fairly ambivalent, so it's up to you as the writer to convince your audience to keep reading. How do you captivate them? Think about the poetry of Paul Simon: 'My eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light, that split the night...' or 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls...' and see how he generates a stark urban imagery for his classic song Sound of Silence. There are various devices, tempos, formats and literary techniques you can employ to create atmosphere, tell a story or capture your reader's attention. Many are already presented in previous posts on this blog, so you'd be very silly not to explore them, wouldn't you? 

Finally, emotional impact. Yes, you can write a poem that is devoid of emotions, but such poems tend to be bland and sterile. Most poets have been through some kind of trauma, heartache or sadness in their lives. Write about your experiences, and you'll naturally have emotional impact.  Emotion can also present as joyful, angry or fearful, or a whole range of other expressions. Your poetry doesn't have to be melancholic to have emotional impact. It can be humorous, or it can be quizzical. Whatever you're writing, write it with some passion, and it will naturally have an emotional impact. 

Steve Wheeler

Image source Flickr

Read Me A Song!

 Read me a song and I’ll sing you a poem! 

Some folks tend to get confused when I refer to my poems as my songs. What’s the big diff? A bigger nose… smaller toes? All upon the same beautiful body…?

The lines between poetry, literature, and music tend to share the same fabric, only to create different colored clothing for what seems to be the same purpose… expression and entertainment.

Ray Charles was once asked what he liked about country music. He said, “The stories man, the stories!” Isn’t that what poets do? Don’t we write stories as well? Our poems are not linear in terms of chronology, plot, and character development…. yet they do share story characteristics. 

Stories, song lyrics, poems… there’s some bouncy correlations there, are there not?

Then there’s the music itself… expressions of light and shade… crescendos and quiet movements…. communicating emotions with notes that move our spirit and fire our imaginations. Piano concertos, blazing guitar solos, roaring horn sections, ukuleles (yes… ukuleles!!!) … they ALL evoke emotions of some sort! They soothe, excite, dance, reflect cultures… Is that not what poems do?

So why are poems not as popular as pop music or the latest on big time best seller lists? Why are there not coffee houses and auditoriums bursting at the seams with poets singing their songs? Websites and merchandise going into orbit with success and renown poets of golden recognition being knighted and decorated by governments around the world? Is poetry really that underground?

Yes it is.

Then why are you reading this?! 

I have a feeling it’s because you care. You care about words like expression, perspective, and emotion. You long to fire your imagination and stimulate senses beyond the physicality world. You want to be a part of something bigger than most of the drivel you hear on popular radio or read in magazines rife with nonsense about this and nonsense about that. 

You want focus. You want quality. You want diversity. You want POETRY!!!!

Now there is quality music and books out there... There are beautiful manifestations of art in so many forms… sculpture, architecture, even murals extemporaneously spray painted on box cars or on the walls of inner city building…  even to the commissioned immaculate variety. But is poetry? No! 

Poetry represents a valued medium that has every right to be right up there with the popular celebrations of the works of Michelangelo, Mozart, or the Beatles. Bob Dylan’s songs were poetry in themselves, which brings us right back to where we started… what’s the big diff?

For me… there is none.

Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments below. I would LOVE to hear some of your thoughts on this subject! 

More to come…

Matthew Elmore