Dave Hood “The Act of Writing Makes You a Writer.”—Julia Cameron The best creative writing is both an art and craft. How is it an art? First, creative writers use a set of cognitive skills to discover ideas to write about. They learn to mine their memories, use their imagination, observe the outer world, apply […]
Poets use different methods to compose their poetry. As well, books on “how to write poetry” offer a variety of suggestions. Some poets write a poem one word at a time. Others write line by line. Many write down a complete draft, and then revise for alliteration, simile, rhythm, and so forth. Clearly, there is no […]
By Dave Hood Where do you find inspiration to write free verse poetry? Many aspiring writers wait for inspiration to come into their life. The problem with this approach is that the writer relies on chance, and might wait a lifetime to discover something that motivates them to begin writing poetry. A better way to […]
Dave Hood The best free verse poets use several techniques of style to compose their poetry. Four important stylistic choices available to the poet are: Stanzas Line breaks Syntax or sentence structure or sentence variety Grammar of a poem A stanza is a group of lines in a poem, separated by white space. The stanza […]
By Dave Hood When writing a poem, a good poet will choose words for their meaning and their sound. Memorable poems have a pleasing sound. A pleasing sound is like music to the ear. The poet who composes free verse can select several poetic devices to create a pleasing sound, such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme, […]
Dave Hood Unlike traditional poetry, poets who write free verse aren’t forced to use a particular metrical pattern. And yet, some modern poets, such as Robert Frost, have used traditional forms to compose their poetry. Frost wrote in blank verse, a traditional form, which requires each line to be written in iambic pentameter and have […]
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