Young Writers Society

I like poetry and I would love to practice writing it or even just write some for fun but I can never get inspiration for poems. I need something to write about.
How do you get inspiration for poetry? And if you don't have any tips do you have examples of poems you've written and what inspired you?
I've written one poem http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/topic65808.html and I was inspired in the middle of the night by my friend and the problem she has with this boy but that was purely a whim.
I need help and I can't wait to see what you guys say.

Little Princess

The best inspiration, I find, is good poetry itself. Read it, live it, breathe it. When you see how others do it - and do it well at that - then you feel like writing, too. Inspiration comes naturally.

Notice things. Pay more attention to the finer details of life, all the little things that make up a single moment. Be vigilant. That is not to say that you need to think about writing poetry every minute of every day - quite the opposite, in fact - but if you are observant, it certainly makes things easier. And don't forget that in a single poem you can also draw upon the bank of your past experiences, wishes, dreams as well - this, I find, is very useful as well.

Yeah, that's probably the best piece of advice: don't sit around waiting for poetic inspiration to come to you. If you're going to write about the finer details of life, LIVE!

I'm really into writing poetry, it's actually the main thing I write. I usually find one of the best sources of inspiration are situations and happenings around you. Any problems, any drama (which is abundant these days) can become inspiration for a poetic piece.

But also, like Navita said, you can use the details of life around you. With that you could write a descriptive poem or it could become symbolic.

Sometimes it's also great to just write. Start writing down/typing up random phrases that come to you, and sooner or later you'll be able to write a whole piece out of it. I was never really into that style until a few days ago when I tried that and ended up writing a piece I'm pretty proud of.

Hope some of that helps! And I look forward to reading some of your poetry :]

Where can you get inspiration? Anywhere!!!!
A pencil on the street,
a person sitting in the park,
your fingernail polish,
Just open your mind to everything around you, something will come! Instead of staring at the screen/paper thinking, go outside, maybe take a walk around your neighborhood. There's always stuff to write about outside, whether it be a bird singing or the smell of a neighbor's cooking!
So get out there!
and good luck

Inspiration, comes from what you think is great enough to write about. What inspires you can't be told by anybody but yourself. I'm bipolar, and my inspirational moments are when I'm either really really happy, or I fall into depression. My friend, forensics and mystery. Just, stuff like that have the ability to turn on the engine to turn the cogwheels in your head. Think of something that's detailed, but you don't have to write 300 pages on it. Simple, easy, done.

Wow inspiration thats genarally the problem for most people. It isn't the easiest thing, but look around and see hwat you come up with. You may find inspiration in nothing at all.

Think about things that have happened to you in the past. I also look at other peoples poetry and get inspired to start a new writing style.

There are many things to use as inspiration. Start with things you know:
Family,
People,
Your job,
Your school,

Then move maybe onto with things you appreciate:
Nature: (Which in itself brings to forth many subjects in itself)
The sun,
The earth,
The sky,
Clouds,
Moon,
Stars,

Love,
Money,
Peace,
Friendship,

Then you can be inspired by things you hate and are passionate about:
Murder,
Rape,
Racism,
Child beaters,
Nazis,
Injustice,
Poverty,
World hunger

All in all there are so many things in the world to write about. Hope this helps you

The best way to find inspiration is to just keep an open mind and be very inquisitive. I'm not much of a poetry person, but I was very inspired to write a poem a few days ago after sitting in another classroom. This teacher had posted a list of 'no-no words' like thing, good, bad, nice, kid, etc. And I kept staring at that list, thinking about how silly this was to say one should never use certain words.

So I started wanting to prove this teacher wrong and write a piece that incorporated simple words in order to create something powerful. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts sort of idea.

Challenging the world around you can be a great source of inspiration.

For my inspiration, I like to look at pictures! I have this cute little book of photography that I look through all the time. Try going to your local library to find a book similar to that. OR you could pick up a few picture books and study them closely. Details hold stories, so study those extra closely. Well, hope I helped!

Well, I don't know if this thread would be considered "old" here, but I'll post anyway.

Inspiration comes from everything and nothing. The best poetry comes from "nothing," a deep subconscious thought. Poetry is also everything. It comes from everything. Heres two one line poems just from looking around my room, I could probably turn this into a page if I tried.

My hands, chipped and cold, alive.
The screen, it reddens my eyes.
The hum of life, the bees, the planes, the computers.

There, see? Just look around, even if it sounds stupid, just come up with the dumbest thing possible for everything you look at. And, eventually what you come up with won't be stupid.

It really is about tapping into the little things sometimes. Most of the time, when I do attempt to write poetry, it's because something so random or rare has captured my attention that I can't help wanting to write about it.

Probably my only really good poem is Deciduous King and the whole thing was inspired by a simple glance at something I see every day and a little bit of conversation that I'd had with my grandpa. There's a tree in the local park that I would see litererally every single day but my grandpa went on vacation over and I was left in charge of running a few things like the sewage pumps which have to be checked very early in the morning. And it was such a wonderful morning. Chill and dew coated and I drive my three wheeler around and something about the way the dew had settled into this one king tree of ours, a massive oak tree that was causing a lot of problems unfortunately. And one of these years, before it crashes on the park, we'll have to chop it down. But that moment when the sun and the dew and everything seemed so perfect was enough to inspire me.

Look for the little things. Let it come naturally (but always keep your eyes open) and you'll see the poetry that's there for you to write.

I have to say, as a writer, my inspiration comes from my own experiences. I find this awkward at times, but it is because of my experiences that I write what I write. If my inspiration didn't come from my experiences, then I honestly don't know what I would write about.

Music
Evanescence is my favorite for poetry, and Flyleaf
Because not only does this kind of music put a certain mood into my head, but it also inspires, and puts gives me a rhythm to think about...
Did that help?

The best inspiration is life and love. If you live and you love and you own a dictionary or thessaurus than you can write a decent poem. try it today