I want to write a poem but struggle with words and formats.
I want to learn to write poetry but cannot find the right resources.
Can I write a poem online with tools and keywords?
I am keen to participate in poetry writing websites and free online poetry writing competitions, but I cannot decide which are good and worthwhile.
I write regularly, but I want to write a poetry book or get a poem published in reputed anthologies.
Help is at hand if you fall in any of the above categories. I’ve risen from getting poems published in college house magazines to being a published author on Amazon.
You can find my books on varied themes here.
And it has not been difficult. One needs to give time and be in the right network.
1. HOW TO START A BLOG
It is not difficult and gives you a web presence. It provides a forum where you can share links, interact with readers and writers, find writing prompts, and participate in online competitions.
Log on to WordPress or Blogspot, and the site will give you directions to create a profile and start a blog.
Proceed in the following manner.
1. Start posting your pieces so that visitors to the blog can get some reference points to get to know you and your writing style.
2. Follow other sites in the same genre and leave good comments. You may provide a link to your site or a particular poem. There is no harm in asking for a follow-up. But do not spam or pressurise too much. Poets are sensitive souls :)
3. Look around for writing prompts and writing challenges. Prompts are found more on WordPress than on other sites. It will be your single big step to enter the world of writing poetry.
You find ready prompts to cultivate a habit of writing every day.
You gain entry into communities, which helps in enhancing your web presence.
You enrich yourself by reading other takes on the same prompt. It demonstrates the numerous ways of interpreting a word picture or situation and how different characters can behave in the same ecosystem.
Please find a link to my blog here
Twitter and Facebook groups are social media platforms where one can find communities and followers. They become a place to experiment and learn what rocks the market.
LinkedIn has a few Poetry groups, too. Some can help you refine your poetry writing skills with constructive feedback, some are looking for contributors to anthologies, and some are looking for participants in poetry writing competitions.
One can post pictures or short videos on Instagram to popularise your poetry.
2. HOW TO WRITE SYLLABIC POETRY
Syllabic poetry is structured with several words, syllables and lines.
The commonest forms are
Haiku
Tanka
Haibun
Cinquain
Shadorma
Fibonacci
Nonet
Etheree
Example
A haiku is a micro-poem with three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. It is usually written to describe elements of nature. It should contain a nature word and a cutting word (gist of the poem). In some cases, it should read like a poem both ways.
We will discuss each form in a separate article.
The meaning of a syllable given in the Oxford dictionary is
a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word;
For example, imagination is one word but five syllables.
I - ma- gi- na - tion
3. HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT ONLINE SITES TO AID WRITING POETRY
Sites to count syllables
Check the following sites to count syllables.
Know that practice makes perfect.
Sites to find the right words
A technique to know if your poem will get the correct responses is to read it aloud.
Repetition of the exact words does not sound so good.
The sites to find different words to describe a feeling are
Sites to check grammatical perfection
4. HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT ONLINE POETRY COMPETITIONS
Poetry competitions are meant to identify new talent. It sounds good, but there are more commercial aspects to it.
Paid competitions charge an entry fee and have some prizes for winners. In my view, the only people who get rich are the organisers.
Look for free contests, and read the winning and other entries. This will give you a perspective on what the market wants.
These sites give details of free poetry writing competitions, which will run through 2021.
5. WHERE TO FIND THE ULTIMATE CHEAT SHEET ON WRITING POETRY
Some sites help you write poetry, or better still, a poem for you.
Let me give you an example of a good site first.
A pantoum poem involves rhyming and repeating lines in a specific pattern.
This is a site which helps you in formatting your pantoum. You start writing, and it populates the lines where repetition is required. Your pantoum is done when you stop adding stanzas.
It helps in giving a defined structure to your formatted poem.
There are online poem-generating sites where you can feed in your keywords, and they generate a poem with the help of artificial intelligence.
Many are more easily found in a Google Search, but I believe they lack personality, which is reflected in a poet’s authentic creation. A trained eye can easily distinguish between generated and genuine poems, so it makes sense not to use these sites for poetry writing contests.
If you can generate a poem and tweak it to let your spirit and personality shine through, I wish you all the best.
6. HOW TO GET PUBLISHED
If one of your dreams is to get a poem published in anthology, many compilers and publishers are looking for you.
Most of the proposals will go in the following manner:
Pay entry fees.
Submit a profile and your work in the required format.
Some will ask for unpublished poems, and others may accept poems published online or on social media.
You get a certain number of free copies.
Some publishers may make it compulsory for you to buy a certain number of copies.
If you can see through the game, they make money by selling books to you and your network. Contributors become salespersons for the book.
Publishing on Amazon is not difficult. It involves a number of steps, which will be discussed in a separate piece. Selling is difficult, but there are author coaches who help you sell and generate publicity for a book.
If you have used social media, the platforms also become your sales channels. However, the number of likes and congratulatory comments may not always match actual book sales. Set your expectations right. Visibility matters more to a beginner than sales and royalties.
7. HOW TO SHARE YOUR WORK
If you write on paper and your handwriting is presentable, pictures of the page can be shared.
Learn to make picture posts on Canva, Powerpoint or any picture creation app. Short poems are more readable. Sign it with your name indicating copyright.
Reena Saxena (c)2020
Pictures provide protection, as they get shared with your name on it.
Regular posts on social media can be plagiarised easily without giving due credit.
Posts on your blog carry a copyright and are not likely to be easily lifted.
You may mention the theme or the first few lines and then share a link to your blog on social media. However, LinkedIn and Facebook algorithms discourage the circulation of links, as they do not want traffic to be diverted outside the platform. Twitter is an excellent place to share links. Monitor the number of clicks against the impressions on the tweet.
Here’s wishing you all the best on your poetic journey…
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