Read Like A Writer

Writing well often depends on reading well, which means studying poems or other writings to see what works and why. To analyze what you read, ask questions of the text. For example, ask:

Why did the poet or writer use that particular form, structure, setting, viewpoint, character, or ____ (fill in the blank)?

What effect did that decision have on the poem or manuscript?

Is the style formal or chatty, and does that enhance the story or topic?

Does the poem or manuscript have a rhythmic flow when read aloud?

What words jump out? Do they add emphasis or reinforce a sound effect or encourage readers to think more about the topic?

Also, notice sensory details. Then analyze whether the poet or writer relied more heavily on the sense of sound, sight, smell, taste, touch, or feeling. A well-written poem or manuscript might tap into all of the senses.

Notice the viewpoint or perspective too. What would happen if a first person poem or story (I, me, mine, we) were written in second person (you) or third person (he, she, his, hers, them, they)?

Asking questions of a poem or manuscript may seem awkward at first, but your interrogation skills will improve with practice. To ease the task, start with a book, story, article, or poem you think is poorly written, and focus on the flaws. Identify each as clearly as you can, then consider how this might have been handled differently. If you suspect your writing has a similar flaw, ask questions of it too! See what’s not working and why. Then correct those mistakes as you revise.

© 2014 - 2010 Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer and poet-author of Living in the Nature Poem, the Bible-based poetry book Outside Eden, and other traditionally published books


Christian Poet’s Guide to Writing Poetry, e-book



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How To Wear A Poem

Regardless of your shape or size, putting on an appealing poem begins with a foundation of naturally firm but willowy lines or with an artificial yet artistic means of getting those natural lines into a traditionally pleasing shape. Various schools of poetry may disagree, but either way works. So, if you’re a highly gifted poet with a natural eye or ear for poetry, you and free verse will probably go nicely together. Or, if you’re a highly gifted poet with a natural eye and poetic ear, you might dress up well with an extraordinary use of traditional verse forms.

Before you wear yourself out with a poetic style you don’t like, consider what types of poetry you most like to wear when you’re reading. Is this the type of poem you would like to put on or show off or quietly carry over your shoulder like a shawl? Do you look good in those colorful images? Do you like to put on your dancing shoes of rhyme or regular rhyme? Can you pull off wearing bling in the sometimes flashy patterns of in end-line rhymes? Or do you prefer to tone it down by scattering rhyme freely into free verse, but not in predictable patterns?

If you’re more concerned about content, rather than a stylish form, you can tailor that preference to yourself too, wearing either free verse or traditional metered poetry such as the sonnet, villanelle, or sestina. It just depends on what appeals to you. So whatever you want to wear, be sure the poetic style fits you.

As you learn to wear your poems well, check the mirror for masters of that particular form or type of free verse. Don’t just study contemporary poets whose work you like the look of, but also scan old catalogs of classical poets who wrote with style throughout the centuries. Even if you opt for the bargain price of packing rhyme, rhythm, imagery, and social commentary into the vintage pattern of a sonnet, as countless poets have done, your voice, your fresh idea, your apt comparison, your poetic face can make an outmoded fashion look new and “in” again.


[For more about writing, revising, and marketing your poems, visit the Poetry Editor blog .]