Getting out of a rut

How long have you been stuck in that creative rut? You know the signs: the tendency to write the same old stuff over and over again. You can't seem to break out of the end rhyme scheme you're in. It's a never ending cycle and you can't break free from it. No matter how you try your writing keeps veering back toward that ABAB scheme. You can't think of any new theme or topic to write a poem about. You stare at a blank page and there is a nagging thought - that maybe your muse has left you and gone off to find some other poet to inspire. Writer's block! You overthink it; you contrive your lines, casting aside sense and purpose to try to force them to rhyme. It doesn't look very good at all. When you write your verse, it reads worse than ChatGPT on a bad day... boring and predictable, and full of cliches. Every poet goes through something like this at some point in their lives. Some are cursed with it forever, it seems.

Well, there are many ways to break out from this rut, so you can start to write creative, unique poetry. Here are ten cool tips to help you (if you know any others, you are welcome to add them to the comments section).

1) Keep writing. Write anything. It doesn't matter if it's garbage, Keep writing, and don't stop. Write down the first words that come into your head. Eventually, there will be a gem or two you can keep and build a poem around.

2) Keep a pad and pen, or your smartphone by your bed. If you wake in the night with an inspiration, write it down. Come back to it in the morning, and maybe there will be something your scribbled down in the dark that you can develop.

3) Ignore all the opinionated 'geniuses' out there who try to tell you what you can or can't write. They are usually pedantic hair-splitters anyway. There are no rules. You can write in any style and in any way you wish, to create your art. Don't stop because you think its nonsense, and don't listen to the poetry Nazis.

4) It doesn't need to rhyme. 

5) Try out some new formats and frames of writing. Experiment with a Pantoum or a Villanelle, or dabble with some Haiku or a freeform piece of writing. This blog is also full of ideas about how to work poetic devices into your poetry. Have a search around, and see what you can find.

6) Try writing from your stream of consciousness. Relax, close your eyes, and wait for the words or the thoughts to come to you. As they do, write them down. They may be disconnected from each other, and quite random. It doesn't matter. Write them all down. You can always edit them later...

7) Open a book at random, and with your eyes closed, point to somewhere on a page. Write about the word or phrase your finger has landed upon. 

8) Use cut-up poetry ideas - the concept of found poetry can have amazing results if you just go with the flow of what you discover. 

9) Ask someone to give you a topic or theme to write about. It can be one word, or a phrase, or a historical event or a person. Just write about whatever they have said. 

10) There are no rules. I have already said this in 3, but it's worth repeating - and this time, imagine an audience out there waiting to hear you perform that poem you're about to write. What do you want to say to them? How do you want to say it? Remember - there are no rules!

I hope these ten tips are useful to you, and help you to break out of the rut you might be in. Please add your ideas in the comments below. We would all love to read them, and try them out.

Steve Wheeler

Image used under a Creative Commons Licence by Smenglesrud

Poetic devices 3: Repetition and refrains

They say that history repeats itself. It has to. Because no-one ever listens. 

That was, of course, a clever line from a poem by Steve Turner from his Nice and Nasty collection. But repetition is also a poetic device. In songs it's known as a refrain. A line or a whole chorus is repeated throughout the song, mainly to carry the hook line, but also to emphasise a phrase or a key point. In poetry the latter is always a good reason to repeat a line. 

There are a variety of fixed form poems that build a repetition of selected lines into their structure. The Villanelle is one example; another is the Pantoum. In both, the refrain shapes the rhythm and tempo of the poem, but can also emphasise and drive home the message the poet wishes to convey. In rhetorical poetry and prose this is known as anaphora. 

Dog by Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a poem written from the perspective of the poet's dog. The poem appears simplistic at first but as you read it you quickly realise it is deeply philosophical, and the repeated lines begin to hammer home the message that the poem is really about us and our own inner dialogues.

The dog trots freely in the street
and sees reality
and the things he sees
are bigger than himself
...
The dog trots freely thru the street
and the things he sees
are smaller than himself
...
The dog trots freely in the street
and has his own dog’s life to live ...

The entire poem can be read at this link.

Another type of repetition is known as epistrophe, where the same line is repeated at the end of an entire stanza or multiple lines. Again, this can be used effectively for emphasis, but can also be used to maintain the tempo of the poem. For a great example of this, watch the Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke performing his excellent poem Beasley Street (this version has a music backing). 

Building repetition and refrains into your poetry takes a little effort, especially if you want it to make sense. But with a little effort and some practice it can become second nature. Quite a few of my own poemw draw to some extent on repetitive lines and rhythmic use of words. Try it. It's a lot of fun. (I said try it. It's a lot of fun).  

Previous posts in the poetic devices series:

1: Similes
2: Metaphors

Steve Wheeler

Image by Maurits Escher on Wikimedia Commons

Pull up a Pantoum

I've shown you around the Villanelle and taught you how to use the Triolet, now let's have a look at how to pull up a Pantoum. What on earth is a Pantoum I hear you ask? It's a poem of any length that is comprised of four line stanzas (quatrains), but there is an interesting little feature in the format.  The second and last lines of each stanza become the first and third lines of the next stanza! More often than not, the poem is concluded by the last line being the same as the first - you go full circle. 

The name Pantoum, might make you think that this type of poem originated in an Arab country. That would be incorrect. Pantoums first emerged in Malaysia in the 15th Century, and a variety of well known writers such as Charles Baudelaire and Victor Hugo were proponents. 

I would like to offer you an example, so to avoid any copyright issues, here's one of my Pantoums:

Once Upon a Time

Could this be us in once upon a time?
Is this a nightmare or a wild dream?
I feel like I’m performing in a pantomime
Is this as crazy as I think it seems?

Is this a nightmare or a wild dream?
My heart is racing like an untamed horse
Is this as crazy as I think it seems?
I need to get back to the source

My heart is racing like an untamed horse
I feel like I’m performing in a pantomime
I need to get back to the source
Could this be us in once upon a time?

Steve Wheeler © 31 March, 2022

As ever, your comments are welcomed, and also any of your own work in Pantoum form - please share in the comments box below. I promise to comment.

Steve Wheeler

Image from Wallpaper Flare shared under a Creative Commons Licence