The Format of Poetry

Hi All. Welcome to the "How To On Writing Poetry." Many creative people often have writer's block whenever they hit a line to rhyme that doesn't click or won't come to them easily. To this author, it happens generally when I'm in the midst of writing with no influence. That clearly is tip number one—to not write when the influence does not come to you. Writing when the influence isn’t really strong—I mean to the point where you cannot get the text out of your head—is going to leave you with a splotch of unrelated words or ideas and no way with which to relate them to one another. Generally, I usually know that the poem is going to be good when I can’t get the words out of my head, and I can write the poem in a relatively short amount of time—generally within 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, one never knows when the wealth train of poetic thought will strike you. You could be anywhere. If you have trouble coming up with ideas, try looking in books, looking at photographs, or listening to the radio. Now, there is where I get many of my ideas. Many of my poems are inspired by a particular lyric that I hear on the radio or on my favorite groups’ CDs. For instance, the other night I was listening to a live recording of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” One of (I think) my greatest poems came from the verse:

Sail on, Silvergirl,

Sail on by,

You’re time has come to shine,

All your dreams are on your way….—Paul Simon, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

That’s all I needed to come up with one of my greatest verses in a gospel and spiritual setting:

Oh my friend,

Come and see

The way the Lord,

Made you to be…

You’ll fly, oh Lord,

You’ll fly…

In fact, many of my song lyrics and poems have been inspired over and over by Paul Simon’s poetic verses. Borrowing from artists isn’t bad, as long as it is the inspiration that you are borrowing and the insight. But don’t quote the other author word for word. It could lead you to definite copyright trouble and maybe further punishment. But this is just an example of how a lyric could be formed by simply being inspired by the world around you. That’s a second key to success in poetry. Be inspired by your surroundings. Don’t live in a box. Be open to the world around you and take in as much as you can. In the next few blogs of the “How to on Writing Poetry,” some various techniques on rhyming, verse, prose techniques, mood descriptors, and punctuation of poetry will be revealed. Also in the blog, I will give you some further tips on topics you could write about, ranging from excerpts from the Bible, as well as personal prayer, descriptive symbolism, and various other sources. Stay tuned into “How To” to get more definite advice to make your poems shine and glow.



Cody Weinmann, Poet and Composer
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