The mention of poetry in a college class tends to strike fear into the heart of anyone who\u2019s not an English major.\u00a0 But poetry isn\u2019t as scary as it often seems.\u00a0 Poems don\u2019t have to be fancy or complicated, and they are a wonderful way to express yourself.\u00a0 Many forms of artistic expression require learning new skills.\u00a0 Poetry doesn\u2019t; all you need to get started are the words and ideas you already know.<\/p>\n
To write poetry successfully, you must first learn how to be a poet.\u00a0 In other words, you must develop the habits of a poet.\u00a0 There are two habits that successful poets constantly keep in mind.\u00a0 The great news is that you can start practicing them today.<\/p>\n
The first essential habit for poets is reading.\u00a0 A poet\u2019s main tools are words and ideas.\u00a0 More importantly, the poet specializes in arranging these words and ideas in a meaningful way.\u00a0 Reading helps in two ways: it teaches you how to use the tools (words and ideas) you already have, and it introduces you to new ones.\u00a0 If you want to write poems but you don\u2019t know where to start, just read everything you can find.\u00a0 The material you read doesn\u2019t need to be academic or literary.\u00a0 You can read news sources, popular magazines, your favorite fiction series, or even comics.\u00a0 Whatever you\u2019re passionate about, read it more often.\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve got that down, try reading something you don\u2019t know much about; that will help broaden your understanding of the world.\u00a0 In addition, read other poets; that will deepen your ideas about how to make your poems effective and meaningful.<\/p>\n
Understanding the world is very important for poets.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the other habit any aspiring poet must have is thinking.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t mean that you must know all the answers to everything.\u00a0 Instead, it means that you must learn as much as you can and spend time figuring out what this new information means to you.\u00a0 Thinking is easier for some people than for others.\u00a0 It comes naturally to certain personality types, and for others, spending time inside their own minds can be a real struggle.\u00a0 Our modern world of distractions such as the Internet makes it hard to find time to think.\u00a0 Many individuals actively avoid deep thought because it makes them feel uncomfortable or uneasy.\u00a0 But if you want to be a poet, it is essential to figure out how you feel about yourself and everything else in the universe.\u00a0 So start thinking!\u00a0 Think about what makes you mad, what makes you sad, what you love, hate, or want to change.\u00a0 Think about what\u2019s funny, fascinating, brilliant, or stupid. When you\u2019re ready, you can start writing until you experience \u201cwriter\u2019s block.\u201d<\/p>\n
To defeat writer\u2019s block, there are some things you need to know.\u00a0 The poet\u2019s worst enemy is herself.\u00a0 Even the most veteran writers are stricken with writer\u2019s block. \u00a0The only difference is that writer\u2019s block usually comes from insecurity.\u00a0 Writer\u2019s block cleverly disguises itself in many forms, but the reason the plague strikes in the first place almost always comes down to you not believing you can write something.\u00a0 Writer\u2019s block can be especially hard for poets to overcome, because they\u2019re often trying to transfer their innermost thoughts onto the page, which is hard enough without writer\u2019s block. The solution is to continue to write until you gain the confidence and courage to finish your poem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The mention of poetry in a college class tends to strike fear into the heart of anyone who\u2019s not an English major.\u00a0 But poetry isn\u2019t as scary as it often seems.\u00a0 Poems don\u2019t have to be fancy or complicated, and they are a wonderful way to express yourself.\u00a0 Many forms of artistic expression require learning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[129],"tags":[284,282,283,285],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecolumbiaobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}