How to Write a Poem | 3 Tips for Beginners

How to Write a Poem | 3 Tips for Beginners

So you want to learn how to write a poem…

I’m here to share my best tips for beginners.

I don’t know what made you interested in writing poetry. Maybe you’re going through a hard time and need to get some things off your chest. Maybe you have a special event coming up and want to write a poem for someone you love. Or maybe your high school English teacher is forcing you to submit a poem and you want to save yourself the embarrassment of writing a bad one.

Either way, I’m glad you’re here. I love talking all things poetry and passing on my passion.

Let’s get into my tips on how to write a poem for beginners.

Tip 1: Let your emotions lead the way.

You’ve probably read some wonderful poems where the author seems to be a master of alliteration or has somehow managed to coherently translate their thoughts into a stunning sonnet.

It can be overwhelming trying to decide how you’re going to rhyme all your thoughts when you don’t even know what those thoughts are yet.

Take a deep breath. Now throw all your poetic techniques (yes, the ones from when they taught you how to write poetry in school) out the window. You can collect them later, but for now, they are just clutter getting in the way.

Write from the heart first. Don’t worry if what you’re writing seems to be the worst poem ever written. You can edit your poems later.

Great poems always have to start from the heart.

Tip 2: Choose a great metaphor.

This is one of my favourite tips to share with beginners on how to write poetry. Poetry is a great place to express big emotions like love and grief. It’s no wonder that people often read and write poems for weddings and funerals: there is no better way to express love and grief than through poetry (at least in my biased opinion).

But these things can be so hard to express. That’s where metaphors come in. They represent those abstract emotions in a way we can picture.

Saying “I’m legally attached to you” is not nearly as powerful or beautiful as saying “our lives are now woven together” in your wedding vows.

Choosing a great metaphor for your poem is an art.

A tip when writing poetry is to select a metaphor that makes you feel the same way whatever or whoever you’re writing about does.

Does a special someone make you feel free? You could write about birds flying as a metaphor in your poem.

Is a situation making you feel stuck? You could write about grid-locked traffic as your metaphor.

If you need inspiration, you can take my quiz What Metaphor Should You Choose? (in the Poetry Writing Mini-Course) to help you find the perfect one for your poem.

Tip 3: Write first; edit later.

If you’re a beginner wondering how to write a poem, it’s important to just write first.

I often completely blank when I sit down to write. I can’t think of anything poetic or intelligent. But I find that if I just start writing, eventually one of my sentences will spark inspiration and help me cobble together a first draft of a poem.

The first draft of a poem is messy. It’s meant to be. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner of have been writing poetry for years––it’s rarely perfect first go.

Most of the time, you’ll need to edit your poem. But this doesn’t have to be boring! At the end of the day, editing is less about fixing mistakes and more about leaning into your strengths (at least in my opinion). For example:

• Are there any sentences you love? Make them more impactful by placing them as the last line of a stanza. Leave some “white space” (basically a paragraph/stanza break) after them to let your words dwell in the reader’s mind. Or better yet, put your favourite sentence as the last line of your poem.

• Did you use any great metaphors? Say you’ve compared your heartache to thorns on a rose and you think it’s the perfect metaphor. Expand on it. Write more about the rose. See how many comparisons you can make between it and your situation.

If you want more tips on how to write a poem, let me suggest the Poetry Writing Mini-Course.

It’s a step-by-step guide on how to write a poem that expresses your thoughts and feelings.

If you find writing poems overwhelming and often feel like you don’t know where to start, this course will walk you through the whole process in a way that’s easy AND fun!

You’ll leave the course with a poem you’re proud of and learn how to confidently and creatively express yourself through poetry.

Learn all about how to write a poem and explore more tips for beginners in the Poetry Writing Mini-Course.