Sympathetic Sybil is Write Out Loud's own Agony Aunt, send your problem to sybil@writeoutloud.net

 

Dear SS

I want to be a famous poet so I need to know how to write poetry, how does one get started?

 

A Starter

Dear A,

Well, of course, we all want to be a famous poet dear, but so few of us really make the grade and, the Lord knows, some of us have fame simply pushed upon us, no matter how much we protest.

As a young girl one had poetry of the ‘greats’ beaten into one a matter of course. We had to know the whole cannon of poems off by heart and would often be called upon to recite one at the most unlikely of times.

If, God forbid, one forgot a verse, it was not unknown to be made to stand in a bucket of cold custard and be made to recite the whole of Hiawatha, whilst being caned until one passed out – and ours was a progressive school.

Harsh though this may seem in today’s permissive society, it did give us a good grounding in the classics and whilst some came to hate poetry with a vengeance one just doesn’t find nowadays, some of us enjoyed both the verse and the punishment and look back on those days as the happiest in our lives. Indeed some of us even pay good money to try to re-capture the experience, though obviously I’m not one of those.

So my first advice is before you write anything immerse yourself in the classics, bathe in their brilliance, learn verses off by heart, read them out loud, fondle them, caress & embrace them, luxuriate in them. Feel the warmth, the mounting excitement as you reach the pinnacles of pleasure and explode into climaxes beyond imagination!

Erm… now then…

After several years of doing this, you’ll be thoroughly sick and tired of them and their strict metre and rhyming and will be ready to stick all of that into the poetry-skip and move on to writing your own stuff.

Have a look at what people write on this site and try some yourself. Forget all you’ve learned so far and don’t look to write about subjects far from home. Rather, just write the words down as you feel them. Tell us about your new love, your failed love-life, imminent divorce or whatever else is going on in your world. Try not to be too embarrassed about telling the world about the most intimate details of your life in glorious minute-by-minute, blow-by-blow, action-less, artless writing. No detail is too small or insignificant to write about... A touch of writers block? Then why not try staring at your naval (the ceiling/the cat/ anything mundane) for inspiration.

Don’t worry if it looks like prose, just cut it up so there aren’t too many words on a line. Oh, and don’t forget to vary the length of every line – it helps the reader know where they are. And stick in the odd rhyme from time to time, it is poetry after all, but don’t over do it.

You’ll soon be getting plenty of encouragement from other members of the site and don’t forget to praise their work too – you know it makes sense.

Finally, if you suddenly feel the need to do some research, to structure, edit, seek advice, or even get back to reading published poetry, suppress those urges at once and toss off another piece or three to share with your audience who, you know, are waiting with eager anticipation.

Obviously this won't make you a famous, well-loved poet but you will feel better and always remember that the only famous poet is a dead one.

Yours Sympathetic Sybil

 

Picture of Sybil by Hana: http://hrneale.wordpress.com/