A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF POETRY WRITING

Poetry writing is one out of the three genres of literature, it is composed in lines and verses spice up with literary devices such as rhyme, rhythm, assonance, pun, images and meter etc. . . .

Poetry writing is as old as man himself, though, firstly in an Oral form known as spoken words, it is considered the best way in conveying ones emotions at its highest peak.

It's an art that many wish to learn and master.

Being a poet I have been approached on several occasions by Fans and love ones alike, imploring me to take them in a journey of it exploration. Seeing that most of them are in haste wanting to start writing poems without understanding some essential and basic things they need to know before or after embarking in it was what triggers this piece.

 Are you a poet or aspiring one?

Do you want to be a poet too?

If "YES” then sit up and join us in it exploration. 

Here are the ten essential routes to success in a poetic world;

1.      Read and Listen to poetry

Writing is very much,  linked  to reading and listening, it is very much believed by most writers that before you can be a good poet or a good writer you have to be a reader or a good listener,  because being a good reader or good listener is an infant stage that mostly led to the love or passion for writing , when you read and listen, it broaden your horizon of knowledge and give birth to a new you having new perspective about the varieties of subjects you have read about or listen too, which will eventually lead to you wanting to voice or pen down your opinion or emotions regarding a subject matter. The same is applied to poetry writing, if you want to be a poet then you should accustom yourself to reading poems or listening to spoken words poetry, from there you will learn about the different types of poetry, styles of poetry writing, structure of poetry writing, literary devices and lot more.

 

2.  Learn the poetic language

Unlike prose that are written mostly in a literary way,  poems are written in a language that is known to be figurative: figurative language is language used in a literal manner, as in words or phrases that convey meaning beyond or in addition to the dictionary definition of those words. Poetic language or figurative language use by poet in writing poems is what makes poem very rich to it readers and listeners alike such language often relies on Imagery, simile, personification, hyperbole etc. . . . For example if you want to say " To me you are a goddess " in a poetical language you can put it this way "Upon the stool of the goddesses I have place your Callipygous booty “this is how we use words in poetry writing and for you to be a able to write a poem you most know how to put words poetically.

3.  Learn and know how to USE POETICAL/ literary devices

 Just like the seasoning use by chefs in food in order to add flavor and sauce to spice up the food, Literary devices or poetical devices are use in a like-manner by poet to add more sauce to their poems  , so for you to make your poems more attractive and catchy to your audiences you need to play with words (pun),  make it sing (rhythm & rhyme) , give it a motion picture or description  (imagery) these are the common  literally devices you need to learn and put in your poem in order to make it catchy ,Entertaining,  musical and fun.  Others literary devices are:

·        Allusion

·        Mood

·        Pun

·        Repetition

·        Apostrophe

·        Onomatopoeia

Etc.

 

4.  Pick a specialization

There is this popular advice I give young and aspiring writers “If you want to write at all, make sure you find out and understand the genres of writing that best suit your taste or find easier to write.

Coming to poetry writing, this is so because we have lot of types and structure of poetry writings, such as:

·        ODE

·        Lyrics

·        Didactic

·        Eulogy

·        Lullaby etc.

 

Structure

·        Haiku

·        Free verse

·        Cinquain

·        Acrostics

·        SonnetE etc.

 

The philosophy is that ,you can't just be good in all simultaneously ,but for sure you might find one or two,  three form  of poetry  types and structures easier for you to write on , so to be a better poet you have to stick to the one you know how to do best so that you can excel .

 

5. Avoid the use of big vocabularies

Big vocabularies isn't what makes poetry, in fact it brings disaster to it because most of your audiences won't understand your message except for few of your audiences who might be rich enough with vocabularies in their word bank

The mass communicators would say if your audiences didn't get your message after passing it out, it means communication didn't take place, they will say a "noice" as occur, therefore it would be better if you can use simple diction (Choice of words) Instead so that the layman and the academician from your audience would be able to comprehend your poems.

 

6. Associate with fellow poet

“Birds of the same feather” they say “flocks together ".

 Associating oneself with those who have similar skill, way of life, objectives and goals with us goes a long way in a speedy achievement of our goal.

"Associating" here, doesn't mean physical association alone but also encompasses joining poetical Whatsapp groups, subscription to poetical YouTube channels and lot more, this kind of association with fellow poet brings about great opportunities and it helps you in growing poetically, no doubt about that, but most importantly is for you to have a physical poetical associate from whom you might learn and grow together.

 

 7.  GET YOURSELF A MENTOR

A mentor is a wise and trusted counselor or teacher who might serve as your guide in a poetic world, it is not necessary you have a living mentor but it is wise you have a Living mentor you admire and wish to be like , a mentor who is ready to put you through the journey of poetry .

 

8.  WRITE OFTEN

You are not yet a poet/writer unless you start penning in paper or screen as frequent as possible, writing often is what led us to the perfection of the art of writing, because the more you write the better you become and the better you become the more worthy you will be to be called a writer or a poet.

 

9. ATTACH PICTURES TO YOUR POEMS

"Pictures" they say "speaks A thousand words"

(Speaks more than words of mouth or written words)

After writing a poem you should endeavor to compliment it with a picture, and not just any picture but pictures that are related or translate to the world the message you are trying to pass to your audience.

This is so because A picture attract audiences and even if they don't want to read your poems the picture you attached to the text might hinder them to read what you pen, if it's (the picture) attractive enough to buy or catch  their attention .

10.  READ AND RE-EDIT YOUR WORK

Some people find it  quite not  necessary to re-edit their works relying mostly on the traditional process of writing and editing especially when it comes with long poems or write-ups they find re-editing so hectic so they refrain from it not knowing that whatever poem or write up you put out there represent and depicts who you are to your audiences, any write up or poems that are full of grammatical or punctuation and spelling  error might harm the Interpretation of those messages and information they are trying to pass  and can even make the audience lose interest in their write ups and finally make the audience to question the educational background of such poet and writers, so it’s very important to edit and re-edit our works after concluding and preparing to publish or post our works .

These are the ten basic ways that might help you in your journey to the world of poetry writing , stuff  them into  your back pack these will serve as your water, food and shelter throughout the journey to your destination, study it,  practice it , and make use of these 10 essential steps then success will surely be yours .