Writing Prompts: A Fun Guide To Writing Poetry

Poetry writing is a great device in expressing what we feel with words beautifully blended into lyrical sounds. We’ve all written a poem at some point in our lives, whether it was about a teenage crush or in times of sorrow or maybe as a way of getting our thoughts out. Writing poetry can be very rewarding and entertaining and if you are looking to improve your poetry writing skills or get over your writer’s block which we’ve all experienced from time to time then here are some great tips on writing as well as some writing prompts to help jump start your poetry writing again.

Some of the elements to include when writing poetry are imagination, imagery, good use of rhythm and an understanding of the English language. There are many more elements but for the sake of simplicity we’ll cover just a few.

I’ll start with the English language first. Poetry should arouse the strongest emotions out of your readers, making them feel, hear, taste and see what you are trying to say, so having a strong knowledge of words is very important or at least have a dictionary and thesaurus readily available.

Now, I won’t get into the technical side of rhythm here but basically rhythm is the lyrical pattern created by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables. One way to check the rhythm of your poem is to read it out loud and hear how it sounds. Does it flow smoothly? Does it have a nice beat to it? That’s rhythm, loosely defined.

Imagery is the device we use in creating the strong images in our readers' minds. This is probably one of the most important elements when it comes to poetry. Without imagery your reader will not be able to feel your poem, so make sure you appeal to all the senses.

There are a few other elements that I feel fit under the imagery category and they are:

• Metaphors – A metaphor is a figure of speech comparing two unlikely things but without using the words like or as, i.e. “my tears rain down” or “my hair is silk”

• Similes – A simile is similar to a metaphor but with using the words like or as, i.e. “your words are like wine” or “cold as black ice”

• Alliterations – Alliteration is simply repeating the consonant at the beginning of each word, i.e. “the sound of sweet syllables sing softly”

Now that we’ve gone over some of the basic elements of a poem let’s move on to the fun part- Writing Prompts. Poetry writing prompts are a great way to jump start a new poem or get you out of your writer’s block by getting those creative juices flowing. Below are some of my favorite writing prompts.

• Writing Prompt 1. Personification

Look around your house and make a list of inanimate objects that interest you; something that seems to have a mood or personality. Pick out one of them and write a description of its personality or mood. Now build a poem around it from the perspective of the item.

• Writing Prompt 2. Alliteration

Make a list of phrases using alliteration. Then build images around a couple of the phrases and use it in a poem.

• Writing Prompt 3. Metaphor

Think about something that you like or dislike about yourself, something abstract like ambition, kindness, fear or depression. Then create a concrete image of what it feels like, such as feeling like you've climbed the tallest mountain or walking down the darkest alley. Once you’ve got the image of the topic create a poem around it using the topic as your title.

• Writing Prompt 4. Imagery

On a blank piece of paper, draw out 3 columns. Now, on the first column label it“adjectives” and make a list of adjectives, i.e. joyous, sweet, empty etc. Then label the second column “concrete nouns” and do the same with words like box, tears,room etc. The last column should be labeled “abstract nouns” and filled with words like love, whisper or pleasure. Now pick out a word from each column and put them together, i.e. sweet tears of love or joyous room of pleasure. Do that to a few of the words then create a poem out of them.

• Writing Prompt 5. Writing Exercise

Choose a topic you like, write it in the middle of a piece of paper and circle it. Next, draw 5 lines stemming from the topic and at the end of those 5 lines create a box. Lastly, label each box with the following: Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Alliteration and Rhyme. Once you are finished with your outline you can begin creating a description for each box then turning it into a poem using 2 or more of your descriptions.

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So, no matter if you’re a seasoned veteran or a novice writer writing prompts can be a fun way to kick starting a new poem or get you over a writing slump. Happy writing.