THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD LESSON OF POETRY

   Writing  a poem is just like writing a short story, you need to include the 3 W's (Who, What and Why) if you want your readers to understand your work. Many poets only write part of the story, they make the mistake of thinking everyone is in their head and assumes everyone knows or understands what they know. Say you are writing a poem about a girl you know, if you don't tell that to your readers how are they going to understand about the Who of your poem. I read hundreds of poems that say things like "She broke my heart" but never bother to explain who she is or how she did it or even why she did it before they move on to something else like "I forgot her and moved on". If you read a book that was so cryptic or vague you most likely would lose interest in it and not finish reading it. I tell every poet I know they need to have someone read their poetry out loud to them so they can hear how it sounds. When you read it yourself your mind fills in the gaps because it knows the whole story, but when you listen to it being read out loud to you, you'll only hear the words written. Hearing it read to you is the best way to catch the small mistakes we all make.
                   Bear

THE SECOND LESSON OF POETRY

A Poem by Bear

   Vocabulary! Write it the same way you would say it. Another mistake I see all the time in poems is where someone used a word that they didn't understand what the word really meant. This is the problem of using just a thesaurus, you look at a list of words with the same meaning but this is not always true. An example of this is the word LOST, say you are writing about something you lost, well absent is the first word that comes up on your thesaurus. An absent sock doesn't really mean the same thing as a lost sock. Also, you can't smell green or see happy without explaining just what you mean. Oh you can say (It was such a good day you could see the happiness.) If you use just that line without a supporting line then people are not really going to understand. Oh, you will get comments on your work but if you were to ask people what they thought that line meant their answers would be as vague as that line. Some of the best poems use simple words to get great depth and emotional meaning so: write it the same way you would say it and only use words that you know what they mean and if you are going to use a writing tool like a thesaurus also take the time to look the word's meaning up. Dictionary.com - The world's favorite online English dictionary! is a very good reference site for any and all writers.
                                   Bear

THE THIRD LESSON OF POETRY

A Poem by Bear

    What is the difference between a poem and a short story? Styling and sentence structure! A poem can be broken up into stanzas (an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme) whereas a story is broken up into paragraphs (a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line). Poems tend to be read with a meter or set timing for each line (much like a song), and a story is read at the same pace all the way through. Sentence structure also dictates the length of sentences, if you have ten words in a line and two in the next pairing line then you have changed the flow and meter the poem will be read. I am not saying each line should be the same length, I am saying that the length of each line determines how the poem is read. Think of it like this, long lines are read slow and short line fast, slow fast slow fast is a rhythm or pattern that make sense but slow slow fast slow slow slow fast fast is not. Try it, read a few poems out loud and see for yourself how the timing and flow is changed by different sentence length.

Well, that covers the basics of writing poetry. Feel free to send me a note if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer your questions if I am able.
                                 Bear


                      ANOTHER LINK JUST ADDED TO A GREAT WRITING TOOL
Grammarly makes you a better writer by finding and correcting up to 10x more mistakes then your word processor, do yourself a favor and check it out.
https://www.grammarly.com/1?affiliateID=1959&affiliateNetwork=ho
Or try this link https://app.grammarly.com/

                                    JUST ADDED
Sorry everyone but It occurred to me that I should have included this link from the very beginning http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.html This it the text to speech program I use. There are other programs, I like this one because it is easy to adjust the speed and voice sound to my liking

I just came across this website and fell in love with it, if you only want one site to help with your writing this is it!!! http://www.wordhippo.com/

Well, it seems I have overlooked a very helpful writing tool: The Thesaurus! If you have never used one it is a dictionary of words with the same or nearly the same meanings, it is a great writing tool that lets you find just the right word. Here is the link to the online thesaurus and dictionary that I use if you don't have one.
     http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/thesaurus

Another helpful writing tool is the Rhyming Dictionary, for those of you who don't have one here is the link to the one I use from Itools:
     http://itools.com/tag/rhymes
Here is a link to the gateway to the internet and from here you can find anything. A must have link: http://www.refdesk.com/

Author's Note

As you can see I have put all three lessons of poetry on the one page, I hope this is easier to read.

Reviews

[Margaux Alchem]

Thank you for the tips :) I find them all interesting and super helpful - I like the idea of having someone read your work to you .

[Bear]

That is the best writing tip you can give to anyone, I find many mistakes in my own work when I listen to it, Grammarly is the best editing tool I have come across so give it a look as well :~)

[PHFASCES]

Thank you for the information. You are a great teacher Bear.
Sam.

[Bear]

You are to kind, but thank you for the compliment :~)

[Carbon Muse]

This is a great resource, especially for new writers as me! There are so many questions haunting one's mind when you first start writing that it almost puts you off altogether due to fear of falling flat on your face.

For me, the biggest fear and challenge is in knowing whether my reader has a clear picture of what I am describing. It is so true that while writing you have a clear image in your head, yet not all the words always make it to paper.
An outside opinion is invaluable, not even just in writing but in any profession and the person doesn't even need to be knowledgeable in the technical aspects to notice things you have overlooked. I have always found it hilarious when a co-worker, from an entirely different department and entirely different technical background would peer over my shoulder and would say "Hey ... shouldn't that be like this instead of that?" and in so doing unwittingly help me solve a problem I have been struggling with for hours.

Thesaurus.com and Google are two of my best friends. Yet, like you say, you still have to use common sense and look the word up before using it. I used to use Dictionary.com, but Google makes it so much easier nowadays. All you need to do is just type the word in the address line and it will already give you the correct spelling and definition within the search results without even having to browse to the link.

Some other resources I have found useful includes:

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poetry_resources/syllable_counter.aspx

This is great for poems with a strict structure to ensure that the variation of your syllable count is within an acceptable range. It is so easy for your mind to play tricks on you or for grammar and spelling rules to trip you up when counting syllables.

http://rhymezone.com/

Is another source I have been using, up until now when I find myself out of ideas to keep the rhyme scheme tight.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and resources, much appreciated ;)

[Bear]

You are right, there are tons of resources out there and all you have to do is look for them. I had thought about putting a lot of links like before when I first wrote these lessons, but then again to many choices makes it hard to pick which is best. I first created this lessons of poetry page for my students way back in 1997, there was also two pages of links, I learned then less really is better.:~)
Thank you for stopping bay and your thoughts, feel free to send my a message if you have any questions.

[Wem Ortiz]

this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D thank you!

[Bear]

I hope you find something here that helps with your writing :~)

[Wem Ortiz]

yes sir, definitely!


English wasn't my first language, and worst I'm such a delinquent student when I was young. I have problems with grammars before and i'm not the type who writes something at all or if I did my teachers would tell me that I have good ideas stored yet it was poorly written (don't get me wrong they were very good teachers), I hate to say this but I didn't mind them as long I passed. I like the playing with words that rhymes, connecting them in my notebook and because of that I was attracted to hiphop. So much attracted that I became a local rapper myself. Voicing out social issues and making up stories that were relevant with daily life struggles. In which I realize some of my lyrics were becoming senseless but not until I started reading books and ended up writing poetry instead. how I wish I could turn back time, I guess this is a part of growing up. Learning from past mistakes and eventually correcting them.

thanks for showing me something important that I'm missing at. hope to read more of these from you.
and by the way you remind me of my English literature teacher after you reviewed one of my writings. she would always come and tell me my errors without hesitations. I rather get corrected than getting compliments so your reviewed was greatly appreciated.

[Bear]

If I were to list my short coming when talking of my youthful attempts at writing I could fill half a page. I could have been the worlds worst speller (so I thank you the high lords of technology for the creation of word processors.
At present I get between 15 and 20 read request daily and more of them are for stories than poetry which can take up to 6 hours. So time becomes an issue with taking on any other projects but if you look at the Grammarly link https://www.grammarly.com/1?affiliateID=1959&affiliateNetwork=ho this is a great writing tool, I have started using it my self.

[Wem Ortiz]

will check on this hehehehe thanks! :D

[HipsterPrincess17]

Thank you for the information hopefully this will help me out a lot!

Your friend
Lia

[Bear]

Glad I could help, I am really pushing the Grammarly link it is the best writing tool of its type I have come across, I use it now and love it.

[HipsterPrincess17]

I looked it up but I cant afford it XP

I did find something like it though for free but its not the best..

[HipsterPrincess17]

Do you know any good websites like that for free?

[HipsterPrincess17]

Do you know any good websites like that for free?

[Bear]

Well they are about to release an app that works with Microsoft Wood and Outlook and it may be free, I will keep an eye on it.

[Bear]

I don't know if this will work for you or not as it is the link I have for what I believe is the test app but you might give it a try https://app.grammarly.com/

[HipsterPrincess17]

Awesome thank you!

[Kietsu Negative]

Thanks, as someone who got into poetry by force and use to write meaningless poems out of habit, this is a good start to get back into my old addiction. This time is my choice

[Bear]

I hope the info helps and be sure to check out the links at the bottom, there are some good stuff there.

[Kietsu Negative]

Indeed I shall.

[Bear]

I need to add this link to the list of good writing tool https://www.grammarly.com/1?affiliateID=1959&affiliateNetwork=ho

[Dalton Wagoner]

Great information, Bear! I will keep it in mind! 😉

[Bear]

You know how it is once a poetry teacher always a poetry teacher :~)

[Dalton Wagoner]

Lol yeah, I know. I actually just stared a poetry club at school. I was going to use you in some of my teachings.

[Bear]

You honor me, if there is anything I can do to help you out feel free to call on me :~)

[Dalton Wagoner]

I am going to personally message you right now at this moment.

[mattavelli]

Hi,
I enjoyed reading your lessons.
I'd like to recommend Rhymezone.com
I use it for metered/rhyming poetry.

[Bear]

Thank you for the link suggestion, ShadowWhysper told me the same thing. There are a number of good links I just posted the ones I use, maybe I should start collecting some of the better writing help and tool links and post them. Thanks for stopping by :~)

[mattavelli]

I haven't checked out the links you've listed, but rhymezone has rhymes, near rhymes, related words, definitions, antonyms, synonyms......... It's vey useful.

[Bear]

You should check out http://www.wordhippo.com/ it does all that plus: past and present tense of words, translations, words origin, plural and singular of word and more.

[mattavelli]

Cool, thanks. :)

[Insight "MH"]

This helps me a lot, cause i don't write perfectly.

Thank you for the pointers.

[Bear]

I am glad it was of use, feel free to call on me if I can help :~)

[Insight "MH"]

:) will do!