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Home » Poems & Poetry » Blogs » HOW DID YOU BECOME A POET?

HOW DID YOU BECOME A POET? - Brian Strand's Blog

About Brian Strand
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English experiential poet of open verse& creator of the FOOTLE (singular form)&EMAGI digital reverse ekphrasis.A regular @PS since 2007 ,with 9500+ poems posted&sponsor of 1260 contests ( Amazon books- (500+) reviews)GOOGLE my POETRY BLOGS @https://www.blogger.com/profile/02166493604739619406.Read an Ekphrasis e-book for free @ http://free-ekphrasis-ebook.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOW DID YOU BECOME A POET?

Blog Posted:4/5/2017 2:59:00 AM

How did you become a poet?

Did you have a natural affinity with words, rhythm ,rhymes etc? Is speechcraft in your dna?

Clearly being a poet  was'nt to make money or become a noted poet laureate, as very few have done either !

What is your story ..do tell.

and.....

What is it that  encouraged you to continue as long as you have, from those early tentative days when you dipped your toe in this minority pastime of ours?



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Grahamburglar Avatar
The
Grahamburglar
Date: 4/14/2017 9:00:00 PM
It's in my DNA for sure. My grandfather was a lawyer, his father a newspaper man, his grandfather a statesman, and founder of one of the largest newspapers in Utah. On the other side of the family, my grandmother is a published poet, as was her grandmother. I am a 1st cousin 5 times removed from Robert Louis Stevenson, who is a famous writer and poet. As for myself, I hated all things reading/writing until my early 20s when I suddenly realized that I not only enjoyed examining how things were written, or phrased, but naturally thought up ways to "improve" the way they were worded. It's almost like my talent for writing found me, rather than the other way around.
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Grahamburglar Avatar
The Grahamburglar
Date: 4/14/2017 9:02:00 PM
It turns out that writing comes quite naturally for me, and I've not done much of anything by way of formal training. I think it's just bred into me on a level I don't really know to be scientifically verifiable.
Capitano Avatar
Phil
Capitano
Date: 4/10/2017 8:15:00 AM
My first poem was written at ten for a contest sponsored by the local newspaper but it wasn't until high school that I really got hooked. It was the late sixties and music was everywhere so my friends and I tried to start a band. Inspired by Greg Lake and Steve Winwood, I took the lead as lyricist and began writing songs. Unfortunately, the rest of the guys rejected them saying "write something we can understand". That's when I realized I had an eclectic style and it was not for the masses. Fifty years later I get some of the same comments but I'm OK with that. Write on, dudes.
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Delaney Avatar
Suzanne
Delaney
Date: 4/6/2017 7:04:00 AM
Being of Irish heritage, poetry is in my soul. I always had a love of poetry but had never tried much writing. I wrote maybe 1 poem in high school and some compositions. In dealing with the stress of being a Charge Nurse at a large Medical Center I started Meditation. In quieting the mind poetry came through. I joined some Poetry Forums and Andrea and Connie were always very encouraging as we did word challenges for Kookamonga Square. Dale Edmonds was my first enthusiastic encourager. I love my poetry journey. Roadblocks and all.
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Delaney Avatar
Suzanne Delaney
Date: 4/8/2017 5:29:00 AM
They were wonderful. Such a time of discovery. Wrote so many poems playing with those word lists. It was fun watching you ' grow' as a poet. Dale was a wonderful poet. He died too young. It is strange to grieve someone you never met in person.
Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/6/2017 9:43:00 PM
thanks for the mention again, Suz. Those were such creative days for us. I am glad you are here now. Dale was a lovely man. I wish I had known him better.
Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 4/6/2017 3:22:00 AM
I became a poet by accident.Over twenty years back sitting in the shade one summer day the Holy Spirit popped a Christian alliteration (My poem 'Connections') into my head, and a small magazine published it.My love of 'one liners' took me into the area of short poetic forms and subsequently I came across this PS workshop and the rest is history(as they say) or rather the rest is in my back poem anthology and blog catalogue here.
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/6/2017 9:42:00 PM
You have a nice story as well, Brian.
Krampe Avatar
Agnes
Krampe
Date: 4/5/2017 4:59:00 PM
I started writing poetry when I was a child in Germany. It just came naturally. Later, I wrote in spurts, usually in times of intense emotion. When I went through a difficult period with depression, writing poetry helped me process and heal; I think I did some of my best work during the year I was very ill. Shortly after, we emigrated to the US. I tried to continue, but writing in German seemed more and more pointless, so I did not write anything for a decade. I have finally been able to write in English for the past 2-3 years. As I am entering a new phase in my life (kids grown), I am devoting more time and have become more serious and consistent about writing.
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Delaney Avatar
Suzanne Delaney
Date: 4/8/2017 5:41:00 AM
I admire people wha have more than one language. One of my favorite poets is Rainer Marie Rilke. His poems are in my bedside drawer. I can did an exercise translating one of his poems once - not being able to speak German- just writing what the feeling of the words brought to me. It was amazing to have picked up the real feeling of the poem.
Green Avatar
Chris
Green
Date: 4/5/2017 4:22:00 PM
I was going to be a rock star when I was a kid and started writing songs in high school for whatever band I happened to be in at the time. Song lyrics back then needed to rhyme so I taught myself how to rhyme and count syllables, even though I failed English in HS and probably had no idea what a syllable was, I counted something so the words would fit to the music. Then when the rock star dream ended and (I had to get a real job) and the music became quiet I was left with poetry.
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Capitano Avatar
Phil Capitano
Date: 4/10/2017 8:05:00 AM
Sounds a little like my story (see above); music has influenced a lot of writers and would-be writers.
Stebbings Avatar
Barry
Stebbings
Date: 4/5/2017 4:09:00 PM
Started writing in my teens, heavily influenced by Lewes Carrol, Edward Lear, Spike Milligan. Although I have always had the ambition to be a writer I only wrote occasionally and then short stories but not published. I joined a local writing group and the poetry took off which really surprised me as I was not expecting to be a poet. I have only taken on more serious poetry since joining this site and I have been overwhelmed by the kind responses I have received to my work.
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea
Dietrich
Date: 4/5/2017 3:50:00 PM
Another good blog that I will try to comment to on my way out of here. (Gotta get home!!) I think it was in my DNA. My mom's side is primarily Welsh and she says they have some writers in her geneology. But I am the only one in my family who loves it. I always wrote a lot but in journals. Or I would write short stories in high school. i did parodies of Xmas songs through the 80's and a few love poems. It was not till the internet became a tool for poets to "become known" that I went full scale into poetry. A mentor encouraged me to try challenges. I had 100 poems in 2001 but after she mentored me, I took off like a rocket and i hope not to stop till I die!!
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Vinson Avatar
Doug
Vinson
Date: 4/5/2017 3:15:00 PM
Do like words, and Mom & Dad always had a ton of books in the house. I did enjoy rhymes as a kid, and wrote a few poems over the years. Once in a while there is one that *has to be written.*
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Lindley Avatar
Robert
Lindley
Date: 4/5/2017 1:34:00 PM
I looked out a broken window with stone-cold stare, the racing wind whispered some tender words- "poetry is thy key, seek sweet solace over there." I raced to catch that benevolent wind, as it looked back with a fierce glare- saying, "retreat thy lost wayward fool I pointed the key was over there"! Key stays in my pocket, safe and warm now... the muse arrived a few days later, she has been a headache to me ever since..
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Allison Avatar
Jan
Allison
Date: 4/5/2017 12:55:00 PM
I'd never written a poem since my schooldays and to be honest I hated poetry at school I found it so dull and boring especially Shakespeare... then hubby had cancer surgery and I picked my pen and wrote a poem called' Splendid Isolation'. I wrote a few poems which i posted on a friends '2facedbook' and someone I know saw them and persuaded me to join PS. I like to write with humour so I deliberately posted a funny poem as my first poem. I am amazed how i have taken to writing and am indebted to many wonderful people here who have encouraged me and taught me so so much:-)Poetry is in my dna as many relations on my mother's side of the family write, especially funny poems:-) hugs Jan xx
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/6/2017 9:44:00 PM
I love your humor and seeing your poetry ,Jan. And I don't blame you about Shakespeare. I love sonnets but his were just too "old English" for me!!
Allison Avatar
Jan Allison
Date: 4/6/2017 5:22:00 PM
Maybe its always been there Andrea it just took my hubbies cancer for me to put pen to paper and now I just can't stop lol:-) hugs Jan xx
Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/5/2017 3:51:00 PM
Jan, you are like Abe Lincoln: A poet and didn't even know it!!
La France Avatar
Constance
La France
Date: 4/5/2017 10:13:00 AM
My grandma gave me a beautiful journal and pen and told me to write my pain. And my pen has never stopped dripping words since a child. But poetry soup has taught me a lot about poetry writing. About forms, rhyming, etc. And I read the poets of yesterday for inspiration too.
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/6/2017 9:41:00 PM
You are ever growing, Constance and your poetry is ever beautiful.
Pennell Avatar
Stephen
Pennell
Date: 4/5/2017 7:09:00 AM
I was on the dole and attended a two day course at the local collage one of the subjects covered was english and he used war poems as an example for and against got me interested
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Puddifoot Avatar
Charlotte
Puddifoot
Date: 4/5/2017 5:21:00 AM
i've always had an affinity with words, but very little rhythm, and nothing in my life rhymes lol...before i learnt to write i told stories verbally, i had a whole world of characters in my head; my dad used to record me on an old tape recorder telling these stories, when i would enter into a kind of semi-trance-like state lol...but i didn't really start writing poetry until i was 15/16, sent my attempts off to editors and had my first poem accepted for publication very quickly...i suppose editors' feedback encouraged me to keep going, but poetry is necessary to me so i would've kept going anyway, i go to bed with it and it gets me out of bed mornings...
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 4/5/2017 3:52:00 PM
you do not need metrical rhythm for the way you write, Charlotte. you are so great with free verse.
Puddifoot Avatar
Charlotte Puddifoot
Date: 4/5/2017 5:27:00 AM
i was primarily a prose writer, used to say i hated poetry, but then i fell in love, and everything changed, as it does...

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