- Find what time is best for you. By this I mean find out during what time gives you the best ideas. I always get better ideas either at dusk or at night when I can see the moon. Like I said in a post a while back I wrote a good epilogue for FDTR just by looking out one summer evening and breathing in the cool air. If you ever wake up to change a part of a story at midnight, you never have to change it again. And this is why you should have a notebook under your pillow.
- Don't be afraid to people watch. Go to the local Saturday Market and sit down with some hot cocoa to watch everybody. I went to the Saturday Market just a few days ago and a local street musician was playing on drums. I wish I got a recording of him because he was amazing at just improv-ing his whole song. Every time someone gave him some money he added a thank you in his song. I, of course, had to write down the ideas I got from the market right away, else I would probably have forgotten then by now.
- Be Spontaneous with writing. God knows how many times I was zoning out in class while taking notes and some story scenes pop up I just write them down. I remember laughing when I saw my teachers face when she was checking off notes in Chemistry and parts of a story were written down. Don't worry if the writing doesn't sound good. It may help later in the future.
- Most poems are based off serious emotion. Try to find a way to make yourself feel the emotion of the poem. I have taught myself to cry whenever thinking something sad, but it only works one time with each sad thing. If you want an angry feeling poem, make yourself angry. Of course make sure you don't get too angry especially if people are nearby.
- I don't really have any more advice except (I know it's really cliche) Find what is in your mind, hidden, and write it down. I didn't know I could write poems until I actually tried it. Find the poem hidden in your mind and pull it out. You never know if you might be the next Shakespeare.
I hope everyone has a nice holiday season and I hope you enjoy writing now poems with some of these Tips. Wish I could remember all of them that I had earlier but I got distracted.
It is inspiring and confidence building to read what you have said. It seems to me that you are in reality self-taught. I think most writers be they poets or otherwise are in the main self taught. Others can only ever give hints or advice. It is the writer that has to observe, absorb and synthesise.
ReplyDeleteMost writers, but in particular poets, after some time at their craft, and if asked about how to write will come up with a list similar or the same in type as the points you have raised above.
Just yesterday I wrote this to my cousin who was posting lots of Picture Parables that appealed to her, I encouraged her to use her own words as well:
Have you ever felt like screaming at the top of your voice because you are frustrated? Have you ever felt like really crying but did not want to expose yourself? Have you ever been so sad that you don't know what to do? Have you ever felt so happy you were totally lost for words?
As your answer to all of these is probably yes; simply right it down. Put your passion into it, add your feelings, add the feeling of your soul. But first and most important of all, do it for yourself. Express yourself for yourself. Then if you want to share, then share. Whoever knew that when that furry, slow moving catapillar crawled into its' nest and spun a cocoon, that a beautiful butterfly would fly out one day and capture the imagination of everyone who saw it?
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Your words and advice are first rate. Its' a bit like being an actor I find; except that an actor acts and adds feeling the words. The writer desribes the actions and feelings using words.
Before you think to your self that I am silly (which may be correct) because of my spelling. I have a condition (I suppose you would call it) whereby using a key board often sees me using the wrong form of a word. In theis case above 'right' when it should be 'write'.
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