# How do I get good at poetry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230 "2004-01-02T05:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kurdt\_Kobain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/258eb7/32.png) [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/1 "2004-01-02T05:09:39Z")
Hello guys, If you have seen my poetry, you have seen my awful poetry then! But I wish to get better. How do i get better? Please offer advice/tutorials/suggestions, but please, only your words, no links to other sites or suggesting books! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/2 "2004-01-02T05:22:33Z")
I’d reccomend taking a basic poetry class, so you can learn basic poetry concepts, such as rhyming patterns, meters, metaphor, apostrophe (not the punctuation mark. But those are important too.) Then experiment a lot, ask for critiques (from people who know what they’re talking about, not relatives or messageboard people,) and experiment some more. Challenge yourself by working within certain meter, rhyme or subject boundaries. Then try ignoring those things and breaking all kinds of rules. I am a firm believer that in any art, you can’t successfuly break rules and eschew proper craftsmanship without having first learned them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/3 "2004-01-02T05:23:19Z")
If you have seen my poetry, you have seen my awful poetry then! But I wish to get better. How do i get better? Please offer advice/ tutorials /suggestions, but please, only your words, no links to other sites or suggesting books! looks like poetry to me. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/4 "2004-01-02T05:26:33Z")
:: **friedo** grabs telephone :: Hello?! Sweden? Get **Mr. Babbington** a Nobel Prize for Literature _at once!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/5 "2004-01-02T05:28:15Z")
It’s all Kurdt’s doing…give it to him. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/6 "2004-01-02T05:30:14Z")
The dead swans lay rotting in the stagnant water Every now and then pieces of them sloughed off They also stank quite a bit or a close approximation anyways, the world’s worst poetry, from Paula Millstone Jennings Now, someone else will come in to prove their superiority by giving an _exact_ quote. But, they wouldn’t have done so if I hadn’t posted this. 🙂 Aye, there’s the rub ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/7 "2004-01-02T06:04:41Z")
Practice. Write a lot of it. Go over each poem and analyze what you liked and didn’t like. Experiment. Play around with the different formats (haikus, sonnets, etc.), rhyming, free verse. Try new things. Read. Read a lot of poetry and figure out what you like/dislike about it, then try to incorporate it into your work. Discuss. Find a good poetry group or a few people you trust to share work with and discuss poetry, especially yours. Something like a writer’s group may work. ---
**Author:** ![Waddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Waddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waddle)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/8 "2004-01-02T06:13:56Z")
If all else fails use A)alcohol B)cocaine c)pot d)Sonata, a persription sleep aid(effects shown in a previous post of mine) ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/9 "2004-01-02T06:13:59Z")
Try writing haikus, then work from there. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/10 "2004-01-02T08:06:04Z")
Poet writes haiku He then tries working from there Bad, bad poetry ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/11 "2004-01-02T08:21:58Z")
To add to **Waddle’s** post: e) an STD, preferably syphilis. It seemed to have worked for a quite a few 18th and 19th century poets. See: [Baudelaire](http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C00070D) and [this site](http://poxblog.typepad.com/poxblog/2003/10/syphilitic_hand.html). How you go about acquiring it is up to you. France seems to be the choice location to pick it up – and I don’t think this is a tariffed item. In all seriousness, the only way to become better at something, barring a genie or a miracle, is to do it a lot. Whenever you feels the idea for a poem burbling up, write it down. Start reading everything you can get your hands on and try different styles. Let yourself write first drafts and go back and revise them. Rip them apart, re-arrange the pieces. Experimentation should be your favorite thing until you develop a style that you adore and is uniquely yours. Sarah ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/12 "2004-01-02T10:28:51Z")
In addition to the above chemical suggestions, laudanum and absinthe seem to have worked for some of the greats. Just stay away from the shrooms unless you want “shoehorn butterhorse”-style poems. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/13 "2004-01-02T12:35:34Z")
Find a poet whose work you admire, figure out what you think he or she does to achieve the admirable effect, then try to imitate that technique until you’re either sick of it or can do it at will. Then do the same with another poet you admire, etc. etc. This will either make you a poet or kill the urge ever to see poetry again. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/14 "2004-01-02T12:38:42Z")
Get one of those wheel things like Demi Moore had in _Ghost_ I think all the pros use them. ---
**Author:** ![Crimson\_Teardrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Crimson\_Teardrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crimson_Teardrop)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/15 "2004-01-02T13:58:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber \* > \*\*Find a poet whose work you admire, figure out what you think he or she does to achieve the admirable effect, then try to imitate that technique until you’re either sick of it or can do it at will. Then do the same with another poet you admire, etc. etc. > This will either make you a poet or kill the urge ever to see poetry again. \*\* exactly. Or just read a wide variety of poetry as you can. I don’t think you can really fail at poetry…a good poem to me is one that expresses exactly what the poet feels. As long as it does that it’s a success.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/16 "2004-01-02T17:38:07Z")
Carry around a small notepad and a writing implement at all times so you can jot down any thoughts or snippets of verse that come to you as you go about your day. If your inner monologue is lyrical, you probably think in poetry and if you don’t write it down, you’re likely to forget it. \*Note: I never follow this my own advice, and I’m pretty sure that my entire first breakthrough, best-seller novel has been lost and forgotten as a result. Also, keep in mind that definitions of “good” and “bad” poetry are subjective at best and vary by reader and context. You’re probably your own worst critic, so keep writing and refining until YOU approve of your work. And don’t be afraid to share your stuff with friends and family: sometimes reading your work aloud helps you step away from the way it “sounds” in your head, and you’ll have your listener’s perspective to compare to. Props to your effort and keep it up! Poetry is a lifelong pursuit! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/17 "2004-01-02T22:12:33Z")
I had a conversation with a “famous” poet once. (He was published, so he was famous. :dubious:) He said he loved writing poetry, but there’s no money in it. He had a million dollar smile on his face after that comment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/18 "2004-01-02T22:17:19Z")
But seriously, write a poem. Then make changes and write it over again, and again, and again. Most “good” poets I know do it that way. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/19 "2004-01-03T01:07:22Z")
Write. Write a lot. Play around with the different styles - sonnets, sestinas, haiku, the lot of them. Work on rhyme and meter and alliteration and assonance and consonance and all of that. Learn all the rules of grammar, and then proceed to break them. Write blank verse. Write free verse. Write, write, write. Sooner or later, you’ll sort out what works for you. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230/20 "2004-01-03T02:30:05Z")
_The Poet’s Handbook_ by Judson Jerome. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-good-at-poetry/222230.md?page=2)