Poetry: Exploration And Experience

Written by Mary Diane Hausman


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Following are some simple ideas for exploring poetry and using your own experience to create a poem. If you’d like in-depth technical information on form and poetry structure, there is a brief list of recommended books atrepparttar end of this article.

* Practice using your voice by writing a poem about a life experience, a memory, a desire, or a belief.

* Write a poem about your name. You may do this in either a positive or negative light—whatever is meaningful to you. You may even pick a name you like and write a poem about that name, making it your own.

* Select a poem written by someone else; write your version ofrepparttar 137905 poem.

* Select two poems by different poets which containrepparttar 137906 same theme. Write a couple of paragraphs comparingrepparttar 137907 poems.

* In your own words explain what you think makes a “good” poem.

* Pick a topic you dislike and write a poem about it.

* Try writing song lyrics. Compare your lyrics to a poem you’ve written.

* Read some material on different structures of poetry (iambic pentameter, rhyme, sonnet, etc.). Write a poem withrepparttar 137908 same theme in each specific structure. Pick at least three different structures.

* Write a poem explaining poetic rhythm.

* Explore and write examples of lyric and narrative poetry.

Some books on poetry worth owning:

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

Inrepparttar 137909 Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit

How to Interpret Poetry by Laurie E. Rozakis

The Poetry Dictionary by John Drury

Exploringrepparttar 137910 ideas listed above may help open new doors for your writing. In addition to your poems being well crafted, they must be submitted regularly and extensively. Beatrepparttar 137911 odds with strong writing COMBINED with a powerful and tenacious submission strategy.

Mary Diane Hausman was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country, and that experience provides a strong voice for her work. She teaches college level creative writing and poetry as well as public workshops. She has utilized Writer’s Relief Inc., an Author’s Submission Service, for ten years which frees her time to write. For more information, visit their web site at http://www.wrelief.com


Need a Great Idea? Feed Your Brain

Written by Michele Pariza Wacek


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When you travel, you open yourself up to lots of new and exciting experiences. New sights, new sounds, new smells, new tastes, new textures. And they all haverepparttar ability to form a reaction with something else.

Don't have time to hop on a plane to India? Take a day trip to a town you've never visited. Or, if you can only spare a few hours, seek out a park you've never been to or a museum you've been meaning to see or even that new cute little shop that just opened. You can always find somewhere new to visit no matter how long you've lived inrepparttar 137872 same city. And if you're truly desperate, try walking around your neighborhood onrepparttar 137873 opposite side ofrepparttar 137874 street inrepparttar 137875 opposite direction you normally walk. (It can help jolt you out of rut.)

3. Open yourself up to new things. Of all of these, this one is probablyrepparttar 137876 scariest. But, it also hasrepparttar 137877 potential to berepparttar 137878 most powerful.

Takerepparttar 137879 time to try new things. Meet people outside your normal circle of friends. Attend associations, nonprofits, hobby groups outside ofrepparttar 137880 ones you usually go to. Listen to speakers on topics you know nothing about. Take a class at a community college about something outside your scope of knowledge. Or even have dinner at an ethnic restaurant you've never tried.

Now I'm not just talking about "typical" creative things, like taking an art class or learning to belly dance. If you're a creative professional, take a class on doing your own taxes or budgeting your finances or repairing your car. (Oooh, I bet all you creative folk felt a chill when I mentioned that.) The point is to really stretch yourself past your comfort zone. Make yourself uncomfortable. It's not only a great way to grow, but it's a fabulous way to keep your muse fat and happy.

And that helps keeprepparttar 137881 ideas flowing.

Creativity Exercises -- Preparerepparttar 137882 banquet

Overrepparttar 137883 next month, I want you do to at least one tactic from each ofrepparttar 137884 above three techniques.

1. Read something you know nothing about. Even if you only spend five minutes skimming an article about quilting whenrepparttar 137885 last time you tried to sew a button on a shirt you stabbed yourself withrepparttar 137886 needle and got blood all overrepparttar 137887 material.

2. Travel somewhere you've never been before. Even if it's an antique shop andrepparttar 137888 most antique piece of furniture in your house is a bookshelf your parents bought from Sears when you were a little kid.

3. Stretch yourself in a different and potentially scary way. Even if it's attending one of those Home Depot gardening workshops despite every plant you've tried to grow didn't and if your thumb was any blacker it would fall off.

You know how you work better when you're not hungry, see how well your muse starts churning out ideas after a good meal.

Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek


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