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Ways to improve your poetry. Post your techniques, tips, and creative ideas how to write better.

12/13/2014 2:36:30 PM Kate Ginsberg Posts: 14	I notice that my best poems write themselves...I almost feel like I just received them as if I'm a radio. And sometimes I'm not even sure what they mean! Sometimes one comes out, I write it down and then cry. Does anyone else experience this? Only seems to be the case in shorter poems, which is what I usually "write" (I almost feel like I'm cheating!). And if you're going to say God, let me warn you that I'm an Atheist. Not opposed to the idea of a higher power, just don't think it's a wizard with magical powers. But I digress and here's an example I submitted to the three line poetry site: Only a mind unfurled can reach the hidden kernel of another (c) 2014 by Kate Ginsberg/Three Line Poetry Again, if somebody knows what this means, I don't quite. My guess is a psychologist or some enlightened person???? Kinda sounds like something from the old Kung Fu series, lol. I see the truth in it, I think. Besides, this is what it wanted to say.
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2/7/2015 10:32:32 PM Edmund Linton Posts: 14	Two thoughts here: Beautiful insight on "getting out of the way" so that your perceptions can draw deep water. And - an unfurled mind is an, honest, unpretentious, open mind who can stir the memory and perceptions of a reader, listener, viewer - as commiseration and consolation even when the attendee is afraid.
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4/10/2015 10:30:56 PM Mark Ackerson Posts: 12	I agree, Kate. My best poems, those that have the power to convey truth or elicit strong emotions write themselves. It's as if the muses put me to sleep and write them. But I am a strong believer in revision, as well. My poems are poems which grow and ripen. I have never created any poem without a change here and there. I am not a religious person, although I am spiritual. I fell asleep and "Grace" came to be, which is a marriage of man and God and salvation. I would have never written this, but the muses write what they will...
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4/11/2015 8:24:50 PM K.M North Posts: 97	Hey, I agree with most of everything people have said. I'm a brutally fast writer. If you happen to read anything I've posted on here, nothing took me longer than 10 minutes to write at most and I don't revise any of my work, besides basic editing {one of the drawbacks to writing to fast is that I don't worry about making sure things are spelled correctly, or anything}. That's the only editing I do or that I have ever done. I write songs, poetry as well as short stories and novels. My first novel I write in less than two weeks. My last book which is made up of short stories and about 300 pages total probably took maybe 30 hours to write totally. This might come back to bite me cause you might say "well they read like crap and like you spent only 5 minutes on it" to which I'll say "Sorry". But I get something akin to a junky when I need to write. I need to get that fix so to say. It needs to come out and often times I'll lay in bed at night not being able to sleep cause I thought of a great line or two and I won't be able to sleep without writing them down. I definitely think it's part of "feeling" out yourself and your thoughts. It can be a cathartic experience that's for sure. So yeah, to make a long winded statement short, I agree that sometimes it just has to come out.
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4/13/2015 1:48:29 AM Mark Ackerson Posts: 12	Guess I'm old school, Kevin. I carry pen and paper all the time. Used to jot thoughts down on anything, cardboard, toilet paper, receipts, which grew to quite a menagerie after a while. I also use my Air 2 extensively. I'll store my stuff and mechanically go right to pieces when the muses hit. I never could write stram of consciousness, it comes out as so much jibberish, although I'm facsinated by those who can.
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4/13/2015 5:29:12 PM K.M North Posts: 97	I do that as well. I play music and play shows alot and often times I'll grab a pen and paper or something to write on and I'll just bust out a song or poem. I've got our house littered with things to write with and write on just in case that happens. Also happens alot to me in the car, I'll have to grab the phone or ipod or whatever is handy and just write stuff down. I hardly if ever write without music though, it's kind of funny
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1/15/2016 4:17:52 AM Steve Grammatico Posts: 1	No rewrites? A foreign concept to me. i work by settling on the theme and form of the poem at the start and then free associate the text. It's a messy first draft, in effect. Now I revise successive drafts, fine tuning, discarding until I am satisfied with the result. Oh wait. I am never satisfied with the result. No matter how much time I've put into a piece and declared, "I'm done," all I have to do is revisit it again and I'm sure to find a dozen things that need fixing. It's a curse. "Perfect is the enemy of done." edited by Steve Grammatico on 1/16/2016
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