Workshop

Poetry workshop is the place you want to go to learn more about the art of writing, reading, and interpreting poetry. The workshop includes various hot topics like different types of poetry, how to use rhythm in your writing, and what all those different terms like assonance and alliteration mean.

Not only this but if you’re feeling bored, you can try out one of these lesser-known forms of poetry like Clerihew? This section has all you will ever need when it comes to learning about reading, writing, and even speaking poetry.

To discover new ways to improve your poetry with these simple tips or find new ways to get inspired, keep on reading.

20 Poetry Topics with Over 100 Poetry Writing Prompts

August 2, 2015Gary R. Hess

Sometimes we hit a brick-wall when brainstorming for our next poetry topic. When this happens, its good to hear another person’s idea of what to write about. These types of suggestions are often referred to as writing prompts (because they prompt you to write. Get it?). Below you’ll find a list of poetry prompts on a variety of subjects. Feel free to change them as much or as little as you’d like. Just be sure to keep that rhythm!

Poetry Writing Prompts

1. An elderly couple has been married for 50 years. Suddenly, the wife passes away.

2. What was the beauty of the ocean the first time you saw it?

3. What is the sound of your house at night during a rainstorm?

4. What was the feeling you had the first time you fell in love?

5. Describe the fly that buzzes around your head on a hot and humid summer afternoon.

6. What are your feelings when you watch the sunset with the person you care about most?

7. Describe the buzzing sound in your ears after a screech.

8. Describe the screech of the chalkboard.

9. Describe the feeling of longing for something you can’t have.

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Different Types of Rhythm in Poetry

July 30, 2015Gary R. Hess

How do poets establish a rhythm in poetry? Poets use a variety of speech elements and patterns to establish a rhythm in poetry. Meter, feet, lines, stanzas, punctuation, and cadences are some of the most commonly used features in English poetry.

In this article, we will take a look at:

Different types of meter
Different types of feet
Use of lines
Use of stanzas
Use of various punctuations
Developing a cadence

Let’s first take a gander at meter. Meter is simply the number of feet in one line.(Continue reading…)

How to Read Poetry Out Loud: Tips for Reciting Poems

July 26, 2015Gary R. Hess

Are you looking for tips on how to read poetry out loud? You’ve come to the right place. Reciting poetry is an exciting yet difficult experience we all have to go through one time or another. Whether it is for your own writing process, for fun, a competition, or even a school project, reading out loud can be nerve-wracking.

However, I find that the easiest way to deal with nerves is to follow these simple steps.(Continue reading…)

How to Write Poetry: 7 Steps for Beginners

July 23, 2015Gary R. Hess

Are you new to writing poetry or do you simply wish to become a better writer? The steps outlined below are designed for beginners in mind. Be sure to follow the steps to the letter. Once you become a more advanced writer you may wish to change the order up a bit, add your own steps, or possibly even forgo the steps all-together. However, I personally feel that following a routine is the best way to get the creative juices going and to formulate a poem.

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber. Below is a list of seven steps beginners can follow to write their first poem.(Continue reading…)

5 Obscure Poetry Forms You’ve Never Heard of but Should Try

July 16, 2015Gary R. Hess

Are you looking for some new poetry forms to try? In this article, we will take a look at some uncommon and obscure poetry forms that you should take for a spin.

I’ve been writing poetry for over fifteen years now. I love to be able to share my thoughts and ideas in ways which I can’t do when writing prose. I feel that simple words and phrases don’t do them justice. This is why poetry is my favorite form of literature. It is powerful.

However, writing free verse does get tiring. I will sometimes look through a list of poetic forms and choose something different to try. At first, I’d write the common stuff–sonnets, haiku, odes–and then move to something less common–lyrics, cinquains, and limericks.(Continue reading…)

18 Tips to Help You Write Better Poetry

July 9, 2015Gary R. Hess

Every poet strives to be better. I’m no different. I continue to read poetry, refresh myself in the elements, and read tips from great authors as much as possible. During my free-time, I gathered some of the best tips I could find in poetry journals, magazines, and around the web over several years.

So here they are, the eighteen best tips I could find in order to help you write better poetry.(Continue reading…)

Characteristics of Contemporary Poetry

July 4, 2015Gary R. Hess

You’ve probably heard the phrase contemporary poetry, but what does it mean and what characteristics does it have? In this article, we will look at the four different eras of poetry along with how to spot contemporary poetry using the five basic characteristics associated with it.

First, let’s go ahead and talk about what the phrase means.

It actually depends! Yep, there are actually two different meanings. The first meaning is simply anyone who has been writing recently. Yeah. It is a time word. For example, we can say there are Victorian, Industrial, Modern, and Contemporary poets over the past 150 years.

On the other hand, contemporary can be seen as a style of poetry written today. With this, we can divide poets up into four groups–traditional, modern, post-modern, and contemporary. Actually, many people divide it into only two groups–traditional and modern or traditional and contemporary.

Experience it. Listen to a contemporary poem by Gary R. Hess.

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