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blog, Catherine Castle, creative writing, National Poetry Month, poems, writing tight, writing tips
There are three things, after all, that a poem must reach: the eye, the ear, and what we may call the heart of the mind. It is most important of all to reach the heart of the reader. Robert Frost.
April is National Poetry Month, and, as a poet, I feel it is only fitting to write something about this art form.
What on earth, you ask, does poetry have to do with novel writing? A lot more than you might think.
Poetry is an art form that requires tight, polished, concise writing. Tight, polished writing and great word choices are hallmarks of an accomplished writer.
One of the best ways to learn how to write tight is through writing poetry. Poetry, by its very nature, demands succinct, visual words that tell a story quickly and powerfully. Even if you’ve never written poetry before you should take a stab at it. Remember, poetry doesn’t always have to rhyme. Here’s several interesting poetry forms to try your hand, or should I say, your pen at.
Lune Poems – A Lune poem is a poem that consists of three lines of 5/3/5 syllables, or a poem that has lines with 3/5/3 words. Lune poems can be rhymed or unrhymed.
5/3/5 syllables Lune Poems
The Choir
Singing with glad hearts
we praise God
for His mighty pow’r.
—Catherine Castle
3/5/3/word Lune Poem
Baptized
Today I
am made new. I fly
on God’s side.
–Catherine Castle
Acrostic poem-An acrostic poem is a poem where the first letter of each line of the poem, read downward, form a word. Acrostics are easy to write. First you vertically write the word or phrase on the page, them go back in fill in the words using as many words as you like. Acrostics can be rhymed or unrhymed.
Salvation
Setting me free He laid himself
Against the tree and
Let them hammer the nails
Violently into innocent hands. He died
And willingly gave up self,
Taking my sins onto his perfection.
If I had been in His place, would I have
Obeyed? And knowing his sacrifice
Now, how can I not?
—Catherine Castle
Alphabet poem-An alphabet poem uses the letters of the alphabet in the poem. There are several kinds of alphabet poems. One type of poem takes a letter of the alphabet, looks at its appearance and writes a poem about the letter. For example the dot on the lowercase i looks like a child’s head. Or the letter M, turned sideways, looks like the open beak of a bird.
In another type of alphabet poem you might take a series of letters, for example A, B, C, D. or S, T, U, V, W, or any other sequence and write a poem where the first word of each line starts with one of those letters.
God’s Hand
Against the morning sky
Before the world awakens
Clearly I can see the
Deity’s hand. The reddened
Eastern sky is streaked by His
Fingertips. He stamps his fingerprint in
Gold as the blazing sun arises.
How can anyone who sees miss His
Imprint?
—Catherine Castle
Another alphabet poem that can be a lot of fun to write makes every, or almost every word, in a line begin with the same letter. The alliteration, or repeating of the sounds, can make these poems fun to read aloud.
The Circus
Acrobats accentuating aerial acts on altitudinous wires
Balance bars and bicycles between the
Cable, catching careening caps of clowns cavorting
Down under death-defying dare devils.
—Catherine Castle
Get the idea? Now try a few of your own. You might find it’s a lot of fun!
Catherine Castle 