"This
article
appears
courtesy
of
the
Royal
Carpet
Poetry
Pavilion.
The
original
article
appears
at
http://www.geocities.com/promiserani/howtopoem.html.
People
write
poetry
in
several
ways.
Some
are
just
inspired
and
write
whatever
flows
into
their
minds,
others
spend
days,
weeks,
months,
even
minutes!
pondering
the
right
words
to
convey
the
right
meaning.
It's
up
to
you
to
find
what
works
best
for
you,
but
here
we
present
a
few
methods
that
work
for
the
beginner.
But
first,
some
things
that
will
help
you
be
a
better
poet:
Read,
read,
read.
Read
lots
of
poetry.
Read
the
kind
of
poetry
you
like
and
you'll
begin
to
write
like
that
too.
Read
literature
as
well.
Learning
words
and
turns
of
phrase
comes
not
only
from
poetry
but
from
beautiful
prose
and
lines.
Memorize
your
favorite
poems.
You
can
use
them
as
starting
points
for
your
writing.
When
you
draw
a
blank,
you
can
use
these
favorites
to
kickstart
your
literary
mind.
Put
down
what
you've
written.
Give
it
away.
Pretend
someone
else
wrote
it
and
then
have
someone
proofread.
It's
easy
to
become
so
attached
to
your
writing
that
you
hate
to
tear
it
up,
but
proofreading
and
correcting
can
make
a
huge
difference.
Here's
a
great
idea
for
good
practice
writing
as
well
as
learning
to
let
go
of
your
writing:
at
a
fair
or
group,
charge
$1
per
poem
and
set
up
a
poem
booth,
where
you
write
a
poem
on
any
topic
the
customer
chooses.
You
write
it
in
a
blank
notebook
within
5
minutes,
tear
it
out
and
give
it
away.
Set
a
goal
of
writing
one
poem
a
week
or
day
or
every
few
days.
Some
will
likely
be
awful,
but
there
will
be
those
few
gems
that
stand
out
from
the
rest.
Method
1:
For
the
word-challenged
1.
Get
a
magazine,
newspaper
or
random
book.
2.
Flip
through
it
and
write
down
or
cut
out
words
that
appeal
to
you.
You
may
also
just
sample
words
semi-randomly.
3.
Get
a
list
of
10
words
for
starters.
You
may
choose
more
or
less
if
you
have
a
proper
idea
of
what
you
want
to
write.
4.
Put
together
the
words
in
interesting
phrases.
For
example,
if
you
found
the
words
clandestine
and
explorer,
you
might
put
them
together
into
clandestine
explorer
on
one
line,
or
split
them
up
and
repair
them,
so
you
get
desert
explorer
and
eager
clandestine
a
few
lines
later.
5.
Make
several
lines
and
several
poems.
In
one
case,
add
articles
and
connecting
words,
to
make
the
desert
explorer
wandered
into
eager
clandestine
hands,
or
leave
out
the
extra
words
and
use
just
the
ones
you've
got.
6.
Change
tense,
add
ending
and
beginnings
and
descriptions
to
words.
Get
explorers,
exploring,
deserting,
exploratory,
deserted.
Add
punctuation
if
you
want.
7.
Even
if
you
randomly
throw
great
words
down
together,
you
can
get
a
great
poem.
If
you
fiddle
with
it,
your
poem
will
be
your
own
personal
creation,
just
to
convey
your
own
feelings.
Method
2:
For
the
poetically
challenged
1.
If
you're
having
trouble
with
beautiful
imagery,
do
this
practice:
take
a
boring
object
-
your
key,
the
doorknob,
a
speck
of
dust.
Now
look
at
it
and
describe
it.
In
the
case
of
the
key,
is
it
golden,
doe
it
have
ridges
along
the
side,
what
door
does
it
open,
how
deep
are
the
ridges,
what's
its
story?
You
may
come
up
with
this:
It
slipped
under
the
door,
Shone
in
the
dim
light
of
the
hallway
Rough
edges
worn
away
Years
of
wear
softened
lines
Paved
cracks
and
scratches
Unlocking
doors,
unlocking
fears
Left
finally
locked
and
discarded.
2.
Take
an
object.
Now
think
of
10
words
to
describe
it.
Take
another
object,
think
of
ten
words
to
describe
that.
Switch
the
words.
If
you
came
up
with
golden
hair
and
scaly
skin,
try
instead
scaly
hair
and
golden
skin.
Don't
be
afraid
to
put
weird
words
together.
3.
When
you
have
nice
descriptions,
you
can
put
them
into
lines
of
poetry.
There
is
no
limit
on
how
long
a
line
can
be.
Allen
Ginsburg's
lines
were
more
like
paragraphs.
Others
write
one-word
lines.
Others
have
no
lines
but
arrange
poems
into
pretty
pictures
(for
example,
a
poem
about
swans
may
be
arranged
into
the
shape
of
a
swan)
or
across
a
page
or
with
irregular
spacing.
Use
punctuation
as
words,
as
lines,
at
the
beginning
at
the
end,
in
the
middle,
wherever.
Method
3:
For
those
who
have
something
to
say
1.
If
you
have
something
to
say,
you
are
in
luck.
You
already
have
a
message
in
your
poem.
Keep
your
mind
focused
on
that,
but
don't
fear
experiment.
2.
You
can
just
write.
Write
whatever
comes
to
mind.
Any
words,
they
don't
have
to
be
coherent
or
even
spelled
correctly.
Write
them
as
you
hear
them
in
your
hear
or
as
you
see
the
pictures
in
your
mind.
Describe
pictures
as
well
as
emotions,
using
whatever
words
you
like.
Don't
shy
away
from
using
words
because
you
think
they're
"wrong".
3.
If
you
want,
you
can
just
compile
a
list
of
words
and
thoughts
and
rearrange
them
later.
Or,
use
the
above
writing
you
created
and
break
it
up
into
lines,
where
the
lines
have
actual
pauses
in
meaning
-
not
arbitrary,
because
a
line
should
break
naturally
and
not
just
because
it
seems
to
be
getting
too
long.
4.
When
you
think
you're
done,
let
it
go.
Come
back
and
read
it
