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The landscape of life by Quattlebaum is a perfect example of how an ideal poem should be. Achieving this isn’t an impossible feat.

Poetry is a powerful means of sharing stories and lessons. This conveys a poet’s views and values in life through powerful yet beautiful lines. While this material is the shortest form of literature, it is an excellent companion to people at their lowest of lows.

Its graceful form and presentation undeniably make poetry a crowd favorite. While not everyone has a taste for its unique way of delivery, those who are in tune with it are likely to consume it over any other.

Poems have the power to move people physically to change, mentally and emotionally, to have a better mindset and perspective of life. Its typical combination of rhymes and rhythm might make it look like only a few can create this art form. But with a bit of practice and taking the first step, anyone can produce a poetic piece.

Start Freewriting

The best way to start a poetic journey is by writing. Without thinking of the technicalities, the rhymes, tones, or rhythm, grab your pen and scribble away.

You’ll find that you can express yourself when you don’t limit and pressure yourself into strictly following rules. Editing your content to fit into the structure of an ideal poem can come later.

What you want to focus on first is writing what you wish to convey, or absolutely anything that comes to your mind. This can include things about your day, any experiences you want to share, or any feelings you want to convey. For instance, in the landscape of life by Quattlebaum, he writes about romance relating it to anything under the sky. This shows the range of what poetry can tackle.

The great thing about poetry is everyone can write about anything. The sky’s your limit.

Begin Editing

The purpose of freewriting isn’t to make your time editing difficult. Instead, it’s for you to have a good enough starting point for your piece.

Now that you already have content, you can start editing little by little. Since you’re aiming for this to be your ideal poem, make it your own by adding your flair to it. You can do this by planning how you want your poem’s flow to sound and look. Consider things like the syllabic count per line and the rhyming style – you have the liberty to experiment with different flows and patterns.

To start editing, you can categorize your draft by themes or topics you’ve discussed. After putting lines together, you can then start building your stanzas.

Think Creativity

Now that you have stanzas of similar topics, you can start adding rhythmic and rhyming patterns. Begin editing your stanzas following your preferred pattern.

Do your lines have the exact syllabic count? Are your stanzas sharing the same number of lines? Now will be the perfect time to edit your patterns and make them more equal or according to how you want them.

Regarding creativity, reading the ideal poem aloud can also help make things sound more cohesive. This can help you identify whether your rhyming patterns work. When reading your poetry and some lines say out of place, trust your gut and edit your lines appropriately.

Work on Semantics

Now that you’re sure about the pattern of your stanzas, you can look closer into your word usage. Poetry must be impactful. It will help if you chose your words thoroughly. A dictionary or a thesaurus will be your best friend during this process.

Analyze your adjectives and adverbs. Are you using the most appropriate words, or are there better alternatives to make your lines more meaningful and sound impactful?

This process will be strictly trial and error. You might find better-sounding words, and they can destroy the pattern you’ve already created. Don’t retrace your steps and stop yourself from making these changes. You can always choose to adjust the piece accordingly.

Before you call the piece your masterpiece, it will undergo a complex and tiring round of editing and revising. You must ensure you’ve arrived at the best possible pattern and word usage before putting your pen down and calling it a piece.