mountain ghost: I am just beginning to enjoy writing poetry.
I have oft read, and enjoyed poetry, but never
seemed to write it myself naturally.Occasionally, I scrawled haphazardly into a pee-chee folder. Just the occasional drivel...
Any suggestions on improving my stabs at the craft?
    rosehill (Wendy): First off, stop stabing it. Buy a Thesaurus. Then, buy lots of paper and keep filling it up with your words. When less than three quarters of it ends up in the trash, you are really making progress. Remember that there are no wrong words in poetry, but there are perfect words and you should always search to find them. -
    mountain ghost: Thank You, that was very helpful. My trashcan is getting full.. -
    Earl of Oxford: It's great you're looking to learn and improve.

    I'd never written a word til I joined this site (the only site of ant description I'm a member of), but thanks to lots of patient advice from others, I like to think I've learned a thing or two - though still a long way to go.

    My advice would be to master meter if you wish to write rhyme/structured poetry, but whatever type of poetry you write, try to create vivid imagery and play with metaphors and alliteration.

    Best wishes, Ray -
    sicknormalboy: My advice is that poetry is emotion in words...if you FEEL something, you can write about it, if you are passionate about something, you can fill books at a time with that passion. Write about what you like, put your feelings into words then get creative and sprout from there, no two people would write the same thing about the same thing, make it your thoughts, not somebody else. 'rosehill' above pointed out something great, no wrong words, but there are perfect words... keep searching, I read at least 4 pages in the dictionary each day and keep a journal of words that I particularly enjoy saying or sound interesting. Keep it fun, but challenging, and play around with interchangeable words to see what fits better, like 'I wrote a poem' or 'I indited a poem'... which one sounds better? have fun and keep forging stories! -nb -
    Realist101: Hi there, and welcome...when I first started I was so intimidated. Let that go...and post. Let the wonderful folks here help you Mountain Ghost. You will be surprised at what the reviews can do for your work. Everyone here is the best. Susan -