There are many factors that create poetry. There are many factors that create all types of writing. With a poem, not only do you have to focus on meaning and style of writing, you also have to deal with size and form. Some people choose to use already made and famous forms, such as a sonnet, while others prefer free styling it. Either way, there are plenty of creative ways to make the poem stand out even more.
This is all about adding something more visual to the poem, not about actually altering the writing. Though it may seem unimportant to some, bringing the poem out of just being a piece of writing and more into a visual art can really capture the feeling and expression in the poem and make the reader’s experience more enjoyable.
The simplest way is to add artwork. This is the simplest way because it doesn’t involve actually dealing with the poem, but rather just adding some images near it. Depending on if the poem is on a website or a page of a book can determine just exactly what type of images you want to add.
The most complex would be scenery that brings the imagery of the poem to life. This can be very helpful for longer poems, those of more epic proportions, and help strengthen a particular scene or moment in the piece. For a smaller, shorter poem, this can be overpowering and not necessary.
Smaller images, a sketch of a character or object, can be effective too. It can put emphasis on certain meanings and focus in the poem. The key here is to not go overboard. You don’t need an illustration for everything mentioned, but one per page or so can just compliment the piece enough.
There is also borders, headers, or similar types of images. These don’t at first glance really have to do with the poem, meaning that sometimes the items or designs in them are not even mentioned in the poem, but they can be visually stimulating and help express a certain feeling the poem is getting across. Lighter designs, like using objects like flowers, butterflies, stars, etc, can bring a happy or romantic poem to life, while darker designs, like using weapons, bones, scary eyes, etc, can bring a sad or scary poem to life.
Another thing to consider is adding color to the poem. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the whole piece. Like all the other visuals, this is to compliment the poem, not to overpower it. The key is to use colors that benefit the poem, such as using blue for a water poem or a sad poem, red for a scary poem or a romantic poem, green for a nature poem, and so on. There are a few ways to add color effectively to a poem.
One is to emphasis repetitious lines, phrases, or words. Not only does it make it clearer that these are repeated, it also puts more dramatic effect to them.
There’s also using color to make patterns. Even subtle hints in color can create beautiful designs, weather it makes the poem looked striped or something well-known, or a completely different and unique design. Putting a few blue letters to create a swirl might just be the thing to make a water poem pop out of the page. Or maybe it is some browns and tan diamonds to emphasize the ruggedness of a mountain poem, or green spots to compliment a tree poem.
The third way to add creativity to a poem is to play with its form. This doesn’t necessarily have to effect its style so to say. This could be as simple as indenting a few lines and making the outline curvy. It could also be making the poem look like an object: a poem about butterflies shaped as a butterfly, a poem about water shaped as a drop of water, etc. This can be very unique for short and medium sized poems.
Even putting the poem into an abstract form, with sentence breaks and not following the rules of grammar and typical poetry, can provide something different. It doesn’t half to look like a real object, or look like a common poetry style. It can be your own unique and quirky form.
Poetry doesn’t need visual aids to make it powerful. Visual aids can however make the poem more than just a poem. It blends literature with art and not only shows the author’s other talents and creativity, but can make people think differently about how they view your writing. It’s not a bad thing to think outside of the box. It’s not a bad thing to think outside of the poem once in awhile.