Yuffie's Writing How-To's

How to write POETRY (Guest speaker!)

A big round of applause for a very special guest speaker, Mystified-Soul! She's one of the best poets I've ever seen on Wattpad, and you all must listen to her poetic wisdom.

Just because rhymes can help form a particular rhythm, it doesn't mean you should always use them.

Rhyme should be used to ENHANCE the piece, not as the FOCUS of the piece you're writing.  If it rhymes but feels forced, why would we enjoy it? If it rhymes but the content doesn't make sense, how are we suppose to understand you? IF it doesn't rhyme BUT makes sense and says EXACTLY what you want, then it rends to read much better.

Here's an example of rhyming for the sake of rhyming:

Your face is like a clock
telling me the time.
Every smile makes
my heart chime.

See, that's not really working. It seems childish and forced because it was written to rhyme instead of being written to say something.

Now here's how I'd write it including similar ideas but in free verse:

You are the clock face that the
gear train of my heart and the
pendulum of my personality hide behind.

My hands explore your face daily.

Each dimple is a day,
each smile is an hour.

And so it would go on. There is a major difference in the two but they explore similar ideas.

Now, that's not to say you shouldn't write rhyming poetry at all. You just have to make sure it's natural and manages to say exactly what you want it too.

This is a snippet of Edgar Allen Poe's 'Annabel Lee':

"It was many and many a year ago,


In a kingdom by the sea,


That a maiden there lived whom you may know


By the name of ANNABEL LEE;"

This flows smoothly and doesn't feel forced because it makes sense AND is all relevant information to include within the poem.

Another tip for you is to read as much poetry as you can or get audios/watch videos of poetry being performed. As much as you need to write, you need to read and study your favourites.