I'm Learning about Poetry

Something like six years into being a self-proclaimed poet, and I'm still learning. A lot.

As you know if you've explored the site or follow me on Instagram, I've written a poetry-writing prompt journal. I even have a free ten-day prompt journal available under the Write tab at the top right of the page. I learned a lot about how I think and feel about poetry and poem-writing, but the prompt journal I'm working on now? It's challenging me on a whole other level. So what's it about?I'm here to tell you.

For starters, I'm actually working on several prompt journals right now, but the one that's keeping me particularly busy is a thirty-day journal meant to teach writers about different types of poems.

Of course I've got the kinds of poems everyone knows about like a haiku and a sonnet; then I've got some that I learned about when I first started writing poetry and fell in love like the nonet; then there are those that are types I've learned about in workshops but only sort of attempted like the ghazal; and I'm also including some that I've only heard about in passing and not attempted before this like the clerihew. And I won't pretend to be an expert, or say that I now know everything about these poetic forms. Because that would be such a lie. But I am doing a fair bit of research on each type and I intend to add some resources as well for those who want to go more in-depth than I'm going in the journal.

With this project, I'm really just trying to make an approachable and low-stakes way for people to learn about different types of poems and get the barest sense of how to try writing one for themselves. I'm giving a brief description of when and where each form is thought to have originated, laying out the skeleton rules, and then giving some tips for how to approach writing one if I happen to have any. It's been a process and some forms take more thought and effort to explain than others, but I've been enjoying it.

Mainly, while it will hopefully be somewhat interesting or educational for anyone who picks it up, I'm having a great time learning about all these different poem types, reading a few of each type, and figuring out how I want the journal to be arranged so it's not overy intimidating in the beginning and not overwhelmingly difficult by the end. I don't have all the pieces together yet and am still researching and plugging away at writing up each section, but it really has been a great change of pace for me to be working on this journal in particular.

And, while I don't have a release date yet in sight, I'm very excited about the potential of the journal as a method to grow writing connections and writer buddies. Maybe it's delusional to know I'm not particularly educated in poetry and still hope to share information with others, but I'm choosing to look at it more like sharing something interesting and cool that I learned with friends. Who knows what will come of it, but I can't wait until it's actually ready to go out into the world. In the mean time, I hope you're not waiting to try new things and learn about whatever strikes your writing fancy.

Happy reading (and writing)!