How to Write Poetry for Beginners

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Decide what your poem is about.

   You can write a poem about anything.
   
   A tree, the moon, time, your eyes.
   
   Most people tend to write about love.
   
   However, in this case we will write a poem about the sea.
2. 2

   Step 2: Choose the type of poem you want it to be.

   Your poem doesn't have to be among an already-set category.
   
   Poem structure is purely dependent on the poet and the poem itself.
   
   As a beginner, rhyming poems are basically the best starting point.
   
   Being arguably the easiest poem structure to master and execute, they give the kind of result that will boost you psych to continue writing poems..
   
   Note that a poem doesn't have to make sense grammatically; what does matter is that your readers or audience get the message you want to communicate using your own ingenious formation of the words. , Description of an element, object or emotion is a central part of evoking the feeling or depths of a poem.
   
   In fact, you could write a whole poem just describing something.
   
   To help you get started in this descriptive process, ask yourself questions.
   
   Taking the sea as the example, here are the types of questions you'd ask yourself:
   What is a sea? Is is just a local sea, a defined area of sea or the ocean? How does the sea look? Use descriptive terms relating to colors, motion, depth, temperature, and other standard features.
   
   The sea might be foaming, producing whirlpools, looking glassy, or turning grey at the advent or a storm; describe whatever comes to mind for you.
   
   What are some of its aspects that are noticeable in your sea? The froth of the waves, the fish under the surface, the height of waves during a storm, the lull when the wind dies down, the mounting garbage greys, a school of dolphins passing through, sea level rise along coastlines, the Sea Shepherd chasing whale hunters, the mournful cries of the Pacific gulls––these are all things you might notice in relation to the sea of your poem. , This is the most important line as it sets the rhythm of your poem, as well as being about making a first good impression.
   
   The first line determines whether your audience (if you're going to perform the poem) will listen attentively to the rest of the poem or be put off immediately.
   
   It has to be interesting or mysterious enough to make your reader want to read more.
   
   However, it should not so complex that your reader is caused confusion or considers the poem too hard to continue with.
   
   In other words, the top line has to be catchy.
   
   For the example of The Sea, the first line might be:clothed in blue with ends unseen , As mentioned earlier, you might find it best to start with rhyming poems first.
   
   This means looking at words that rhyme.
   
   For this example, the poem would use words that rhyme with the last syllable of 'seen'
   
   namely 'een'.
   
   Note:
   This example only rhymes at the end sentence to make your work easier for now. , This is to ensure that you clearly understand each word you place in your poem, understand its effect both in rhythm and meaning and are not swayed by introducing words that aren't truly sourced from your own way of perceiving the subject of your poem.
   
   A list of words for this example could include: been, chin, lean, teen, keen, sin, and so forth.
   
   These will help form the second line of the poem and consequently the third, and so on. , Try to think of what else you would like to say about your subject that deserves mention in your poem.
   
   Then try to make these words fit in to the words you came up with in step earlier.
   
   So in the poem The Sea, you could expound on its vastness, so the second line becomes:
   And realms unknown, no man has been
   --and the rest flows:
   I wish to explore, I wish to sinAnd with my ears sharp and eyes keen,I face the unknown, as to life does a teen. , Either in your mind or aloud.
   
   This allows you to get the right number of syllables needed to make the poem have a good flow. , Your little poem is complete.
   
   There is no limit as to how long a poem is.
   
   Some are a mere sentence long, while others are paragraphs long or even the length of a tale.
   
   It all rests with the poet's creativity. , You have now completed your draft.
   
   This is the initial version of your poem.
   
   More often than not, you will feel the need to edit the poem, replace a few words, or sometimes discard the whole poem.
   
   Whatever you do, just remember that you are the poet, expressing your feelings through your poems so intuition, above anything else, is key.
   
   Once you are done editing your draft, it's time to produce a clean copy of the poem.
   
   Here are some ideas:
   Write out the poem on a clean sheet of paper in cursive Type it out on a text editor and decorate it then print it out Make a slide show presentation of the poem, perhaps a stanza on each slide
3. 3

   Step 3: Be descriptive.

4. 4

   Step 4: Tackle the first line.

5. 5

   Step 5: Create rhyming words.

6. 6

   Step 6: Try to think of these words rather than looking them up in a rhyming words dictionary or online.

7. 7

   Step 7: Write the rest of the poem.

8. 8

   Step 8: Recite the lines as you write them.

9. 9

   Step 9: Decide when you are finished.

10. 10

    Step 10: Produce a clean copy of the poem.

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