by Steve Marshall

Created on: June 02, 2010

Poetry can be both easy and difficult to write.

We can write a poem that we feel inspired to write fairly quickly, but then when checking it over a few doubts might start to arise. We can't decide between one word or another. The more time that we spend on the poem, the more befuddled we become.

We can no longer recognise what is good poetry. Our mind is tired. At this stage, the best tip that we can remember to do, is to put the poem aside for a while, and to then come back to it again at a later time.

There will be something that we are not happy with in our poem, but we need a refreshed mind in order to have another go at it, at another time.

This type of problem can be remedied fairly easily then, that is if we have the strength to actually put the poem aside for now, but what are some of the other mistakes to avoid, when we are trying to write good poetry?

A poem should follow its own rhythm. It should create its own beat. We should reread our poem over, and over many times, in order to check the flow of the words. We should try to ascertain if our use of certain words adds to, or detracts away from the overall feel and rhythmic connective pull of our poem to the reader, in encouraging them to continue their reading.

We should try to feel the connection of one word to the other. The consistency of our beat or flow should be easily spotted from our rereading of the poem a few times. Can we substitute a longer or a shorter word, or perhaps add another small adjective to better balance the line to the previous, or to the coming lines?

Balance and connection are very important in writing a good poem. Another way that we can achieve connection and cadence is through the use of rhyme. Good rhyme adds to the flow of a poem, bad rhyme is almost disruptive, especially when a contrived almost forced direction, is being taken to achieve the rhyme.

Another common mistake that we can make in writing poetry is to write in a way that something is being lost from the real message of the poem that is being received by the reader. The reader is distracted by the rough edges of the poem, and so misses the underlying contextual realer message.

All poetry attempts to connectively involve the reader, but when a technique is badly used, it distracts the reader, rather than further engaging them in the work of poetry.

Good poetry caresses and grabs the reader in such a way that a feeling of emotional connection is established, and which then leaves the reader feeling rather pleasantly

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