Thursday, February 13, 2025
ARTICLE - WRITING POETRY
1. Finding Your Inspiration:
- Observe the world: Pay attention to your surroundings. Notice the details – the way light falls on a leaf, the sound of rain, the emotions in a person's eyes. These observations can be the seeds of a poem.
- Reflect on your experiences: Your feelings, memories, and relationships are rich sources of poetic material. Don't be afraid to explore your inner world.
- Read widely: Immerse yourself in the work of other poets. Pay attention to their use of language, imagery, and form. This will expand your poetic vocabulary and give you ideas.
- Listen to music: Music can evoke strong emotions and inspire creative expression. Pay attention to the rhythm, melody, and lyrics.
- Engage with other art forms: Visual art, dance, and theater can also be sources of inspiration.
2. Key Elements of Poetry:
- Imagery: Use vivid and descriptive language to create mental pictures for the reader. Appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Metaphors and similes are powerful tools for creating imagery.
- Figurative Language: Go beyond the literal meaning of words to create deeper meaning. This includes metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, and other figures of speech.
- Sound Devices: Pay attention to the sounds of words. Use alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia to create musicality and rhythm.
- Rhythm and Meter: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry is called meter. While free verse doesn't adhere to strict metrical patterns, it still relies on rhythm and cadence.
- Form and Structure: Consider the shape and arrangement of your poem. Will it be a sonnet, a haiku, a free verse poem, or something else? The form can contribute to the meaning and impact of the poem.
- Theme and Subject: What is the poem about? What message or idea are you trying to convey? The theme can be explicit or implicit.
- Tone and Mood: The tone is the attitude of the speaker towards the subject. The mood is the feeling that the poem evokes in the reader.
3. Writing Tips:
- Start with a small idea: Don't try to write an epic poem right away. Begin with a simple observation, feeling, or image.
- Brainstorm: Generate a list of words, phrases, and ideas related to your subject.
- Experiment with language: Play with different words and phrases until you find the right ones.
- Read your work aloud: This will help you hear the rhythm and flow of your poem.
- Revise and edit: Poetry is a process of revision. Don't be afraid to make changes to your work.
- Get feedback: Share your poems with trusted friends or writing groups and ask for constructive criticism.
- Don't be afraid to experiment: There are no hard and fast rules in poetry. Try different forms, styles, and techniques.
- Write regularly: The more you write, the better you will become.
4. Example Exercise:
Let's say you want to write about a rainy day.
- Brainstorm: Rain, clouds, puddles, umbrellas, gray, wet, cold, cozy, inside, books, tea, sleep, thunder, lightning.
- Imagery: "The sky weeps tears of silver," "Puddles mirror the somber clouds," "The rhythmic drumming of rain on the roof."
- Feeling: Cozy, peaceful, melancholy, reflective.
Now, try to combine these elements into a few lines of poetry. Don't worry about perfection, just let the words flow.
Example:
The sky weeps tears of silver, On the roof, a rhythmic drumming, Puddles mirror somber clouds, A cozy peace, the rain keeps coming.
This is just a starting point. You can continue to develop these lines, add more imagery, and explore the emotions associated with a rainy day.
Remember, poetry is a journey of discovery. Enjoy the process of writing and don't be afraid to express yourself!
CLICK HERE TO READ SOME OF MY POETRY
Labels: donovan baldwin, poetry, pomes, writing poetry
Saturday, September 08, 2018
ESSAY: WRITING POETRY
By: Donovan Baldwin
Writing poetry, which is what I really enjoy doing, means, among a lot of other quasi creative stuff, putting yourself in some place that may or may not exist, experiencing some events and situations which I made up myself, or stole from someone else, and then, trying to say it in some way that somebody, who doesn't think a bit like I do, can understand... somehow.
Sometimes I write it down. Sometimes I say it... out loud, to myself, to a wall, a dog, or simply trees, birds, ponds, whatever, which may be around me... or which I may even be imaging.
I write things down and read back over them, write them again, and maybe again, and then... Hell, I don't know... lots of different stuff.
I say things, and then repeat them, changing them as I go ... or, if it rings true, or, I simply cannot figure out another way to say it, or another thing to say ... leaving it to ferment or fester ... until it becomes something which I can do something with ... in ten minutes, tomorrow, or a few years from now, BUT, it never disappears entirely, just sinks beneath the waves of thought, floats in a sea of paper, and surfaces ... or not ... to be worked and reworked again ... or not ... I never know.
People encountering me at odd moments could assume me to be afflicted with the necessity to write and say things that make no sense ... to them, and, perhaps, even to me.
They may be right, or, I may just be trying out my poet disguise. I work on the premise that if I act strange enough, and write enough, enough of it will seem other worldly and ethereal enough that others will start calling me "poet", and then I can quit saying it myself... to myself.
Sometimes I write it down. Sometimes I say it... out loud, to myself, to a wall, a dog, or simply trees, birds, ponds, whatever, which may be around me... or which I may even be imaging.
I write things down and read back over them, write them again, and maybe again, and then... Hell, I don't know... lots of different stuff.
I say things, and then repeat them, changing them as I go ... or, if it rings true, or, I simply cannot figure out another way to say it, or another thing to say ... leaving it to ferment or fester ... until it becomes something which I can do something with ... in ten minutes, tomorrow, or a few years from now, BUT, it never disappears entirely, just sinks beneath the waves of thought, floats in a sea of paper, and surfaces ... or not ... to be worked and reworked again ... or not ... I never know.
People encountering me at odd moments could assume me to be afflicted with the necessity to write and say things that make no sense ... to them, and, perhaps, even to me.
They may be right, or, I may just be trying out my poet disguise. I work on the premise that if I act strange enough, and write enough, enough of it will seem other worldly and ethereal enough that others will start calling me "poet", and then I can quit saying it myself... to myself.
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Labels: creativity, donovan baldwin, poet, poetry, writing poetry
Sunday, August 19, 2018
I Write Poetry... At Least I Claim I Do
By: Donovan Baldwin
I write poetry.
At least I claim I do.
Sometimes it appears as philosophy, commentary, sometimes humor, sometimes just a feeling which must be let out upon the unsuspecting world... or, at least, out of the captivity of my mind.
Most people "get" the fact that poems, poetry, may be whimsy, may even bending, sometimes, like fantasy, breaking the bonds and bounds of reality.
It's about the words, the flow, the rhythm, the feelings, sometimes deep, sometimes fleeting and hard to identify, the thought behind the thought, the image, the statement of, or misstatement of, the "facts".
In a poem, the "facts" are what the poet sees, or imagines seeing, who, like an impressionist, may "see" an image, not as others see it, but, as it appears to the poet... which can sometimes be damned impossible to put into words.
But, we try. That attempt is poetry, a poem, even incomplete or just a few lines of the initial thought (of which I have several notebooks and pieces of paper) just as some brush strokes on a canvas, or chisel marks on a block of stone are a painting or sculpture... which, though conceived, might not have been born... yet.
Often, when we ARE finished,.. and we never TRULY are, we can look at our creation and see pretty clearly our "message" or madness, whatever it was we were trying to "paint", but, sometimes the reader just does not, CANNOT, "see" what we do... as a viewer in a museum may turn their head partly upside down trying to see what the painter was trying to "draw".
Problem with painters and poets, we don't always "see" things as they "really" are... or, do we?
Read more of my poetry at http://ravensong.mysite.com or find my articles at http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Donovan_Baldwin/19345.
I write poetry.
At least I claim I do.
Sometimes it appears as philosophy, commentary, sometimes humor, sometimes just a feeling which must be let out upon the unsuspecting world... or, at least, out of the captivity of my mind.
Most people "get" the fact that poems, poetry, may be whimsy, may even bending, sometimes, like fantasy, breaking the bonds and bounds of reality.
It's about the words, the flow, the rhythm, the feelings, sometimes deep, sometimes fleeting and hard to identify, the thought behind the thought, the image, the statement of, or misstatement of, the "facts".
In a poem, the "facts" are what the poet sees, or imagines seeing, who, like an impressionist, may "see" an image, not as others see it, but, as it appears to the poet... which can sometimes be damned impossible to put into words.
But, we try. That attempt is poetry, a poem, even incomplete or just a few lines of the initial thought (of which I have several notebooks and pieces of paper) just as some brush strokes on a canvas, or chisel marks on a block of stone are a painting or sculpture... which, though conceived, might not have been born... yet.
Often, when we ARE finished,.. and we never TRULY are, we can look at our creation and see pretty clearly our "message" or madness, whatever it was we were trying to "paint", but, sometimes the reader just does not, CANNOT, "see" what we do... as a viewer in a museum may turn their head partly upside down trying to see what the painter was trying to "draw".
Problem with painters and poets, we don't always "see" things as they "really" are... or, do we?
Read more of my poetry at http://ravensong.mysite.com or find my articles at http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Donovan_Baldwin/19345.
Labels: art, commentary, donovan baldwin, humor, impressionist, philosophy, poem, poet, poetry, writing poetry
Sunday, March 18, 2018
I Call Myself A Poet
By: Donovan Baldwin
I call myself a poet.
I think I've earned the right, and, enough other people have granted me that appellation, that I'm comfortable with it.
Am I a good poet?
That's always going to be a matter of opinion...as is any other adjective you put in front of the word, "poet".
I think a majority of people are poets at some point, or points, in their lives.
Since I've started posting poetry and comments online, I've more than once had someone write me saying they wish that they could write poetry. I admit, it can be difficult to get the thought down just the way you want it to sound...or close enough.
However, often, in writing back and forth to these people, I will get a message, especially from those who desire with all their hearts to speak truth or beauty, a simple message in their own words... a message that simply sings and soars.
I have, whenever this happened, and, it's happened more than once, pointed out that what they wrote was poetry.
Most spotted it, once I pointed at it, and most were surprised at their own ability.
Even if the words don't come, nothing says you are NOT a poet, if you ever told someone, from your heart, that you love them...child, partner, parent. If you've ever looked at a sunrise or sunset, a tree, or a bird and felt yourself filled with wonder, you're a poet. You just haven't "written" your poem yet.
I call myself a poet.
I think I've earned the right, and, enough other people have granted me that appellation, that I'm comfortable with it.
Am I a good poet?
That's always going to be a matter of opinion...as is any other adjective you put in front of the word, "poet".
I think a majority of people are poets at some point, or points, in their lives.
Since I've started posting poetry and comments online, I've more than once had someone write me saying they wish that they could write poetry. I admit, it can be difficult to get the thought down just the way you want it to sound...or close enough.
However, often, in writing back and forth to these people, I will get a message, especially from those who desire with all their hearts to speak truth or beauty, a simple message in their own words... a message that simply sings and soars.
I have, whenever this happened, and, it's happened more than once, pointed out that what they wrote was poetry.
Most spotted it, once I pointed at it, and most were surprised at their own ability.
Even if the words don't come, nothing says you are NOT a poet, if you ever told someone, from your heart, that you love them...child, partner, parent. If you've ever looked at a sunrise or sunset, a tree, or a bird and felt yourself filled with wonder, you're a poet. You just haven't "written" your poem yet.
Labels: donovan baldwin, poet, poetry, writing poetry
