Assignment Twenty – Jessica Ewing

How to: Write Poetry

As you can probably tell, I'm in a creative mood right now, and all I can think about is writing and, more specifically, poetry. So here's a step-by-step process to write some modern* poetry!

(DISCLAIMER: This is not a perfect guide. You will not get perfect poetry out of this. I admit my own faults and I am not claiming to be a master poet. These are just some tips and tricks that I follow when I write my own poetry)

*"Modern" in this case means pertaining closer to the styles of Atticus, Rupi Kaur, and Amanda Lovelace, those being styles that do not depend upon a rhyme scheme or other common poetic techniques such as iambic pentameter.


1. Think about a topic that interests you.

This is usually the hardest part, as this can pertain to a wide variety of topics. It can be anything from a physical subject, such as a hobby you enjoy or a movie or a sport, to a more abstract concept, such as emotions or philosophical questions. But in all honesty, anything can work to make a poem.

2. Narrow down your topic.

Now that you have your main subject, try to think of something specific within that subject that you could write about. If you're talking about a hobby, such as acting, what about it would you like to write about? Maybe the feeling of camaraderie you share with your cast mates, or that thrill you feel just before walking onstage on opening night. Try to make it as specific as possible.

3. Use figurative language to explain your topic.

What can you compare your idea to? Something to help your reader relate to your idea. Use imagery, similes, metaphors, whatever you want to your disposal to help explain your idea in simpler terms. For example, with the camaraderie idea from earlier, comparing your friendship with your cast mates to the strength of a pack of wolves.

4. Write out your comparison plainly.

The thing with a lot of modern poetry is that will come across as very obvious and straightforward until you look at it closer. In this case, you want to write down your idea as bluntly as possible. With the camaraderie idea from before, the easiest way to write it out would be to say "The friendship between me and my cast has the strength of a pack of wolves."

5. Simplify it.

This is different from writing it out plainly. This is now turning to use as few words as possible to convey your idea. Conciseness is key. You're writing a poem, not a novel. Verbosity is unnecessary (I mean, unless it's the style you're going for in your poem, which, by all means, go for it). To continue with our example, simplifying it could be shortened to "Our friendship is as strong as a pack of wolves." Feel free to make it more convoluted, too. It'll only add to the "mystery" of the poem.

6. Put it in a cool format

Now that you've got the poem down, it's time to put it in an aesthetic format style. A lot of modern poetry likes to split up the formatting to just a few words a line, so your poem could end up looking like this:

Our friendship
is as
strong
as a pack of
wolves.


And there you go! How to write 21st-century poetry in just 6 easy steps!



**If you want a real example of some of my actual poetry (sort of as an example that it doesn't have to be super short), here you go:

i wanted to
learn
how to
fly.

but you
clipped my
wings
and now here
i am,
stuck on the
ground
while you're off
soaring the
skies.