Writing Poetry – Collecting Your Thoughts

Once of the reasons why writing poetry like this is so hard is because it is hard to get a handle on what you are feeling anyway. You probably have a kaleidoscope of emotions and it can be very hard to sort them in any type of logical form. However, if you want a good poem to come from it, you need to find a way to organize your thoughts, even if only for a bit. It will usually help you feel better about your situation anyway.

Begin once again, with writing your feelings down in list or chart form. You might want to create a chart that shows your different feelings and emotions and them stem from them and elaborate more on how it makes you feel. Don’t just tell; show. Make notes of how your body feels physically. All of this will help you sort through your feelings and form your poem.

You may want to construct a “poem tree” before writing your actual poem. This is a way to chart out and have an actual physical appearance of what your poem will look like and then you can tweak it later as you work on your actual drafts of your poem.

For example, take the topic you want to write on and put it at the top. For example, “losing Sara” and then make a few lines down to the next points you want to include. For example, how did it feel to lose her? Who was she? Why did you lose her? All of these questions may not be directly answered in your poem but they help you set the mood for writing it so they are very important.

You need to plan out the purpose or point of your poem. Typically poems will have some type of punch line or revelation in it. You need to plot out what this will be and how you will use it in your poem. How will you choose to reveal it? Will you add it at the end when it is unexpected? Will you blurt it out in the beginning and then explain? There are many different approaches you can take. The point is to have that “purpose” or point of the poem and be able to identify it and define it. You want someone to read your poem and think “Wow!” not “So what?”