Young Writers Society

I've never considered myself a poet. I've dabbled in it a few times before, and when I did write a poem it turned out cheesy and childish. Now I've decided to return to poetry and give it a true effort. So, I have a few questions that needs answers:

If a poem doesn't rhyme, is it a free verse or narrative?

Do all poems have to be super deep, emotional, and descriptive? The one I'm trying to write kind of tells a story.

Can they have dialogue?

Alright, I think that's all I can think of. Any additional tips to a poetry newcomer would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you in advance!

If it doesn't rhyme, it simply doesn't rhyme! It could be free verse, or blank verse, or any other number of things. Really, poetry is what you make it, so it can have dialogue, tell a story, anything! I can't promise everyone will like it, or it will be done well, but there really isn't a limit on what you can do, only how well you can accomplish what you're trying to do. Narrative tends to be poetry that tells a story in a more traditional way (i.e. characters, settings, plots, and generally a bit lengthier with more of a narrative structure) than other poems, though I'd argue that all poems tell a story.

If you haven't/aren't already, read lots of poetry! Read classics, current poets, anything and everything! For poems that tell a story, I'd look more at classic works, such as the Faerie Queen, Canterbury Tales (either in the original or "translated" to modern English for either), or Lady of Shalott, The Raven, Casey at the Bat, etc. - just off the top of my head. Always good to start with more classic literature, if only to see where modern writers have taken things from the past and built upon it and/or turned it completely on it's head.

Hello AttackofTheFlash!

First off, I think that it's great you're willing to go more in depth with looking at poetry as an art form. I'm glad you're taking it on. It's a really great way to express yourself when you want to get a point across and create an emotional connection.

If a poem doesn't rhyme, it could still be anything! A poem doesn't have to rhyme, but a lot of older structures in poetry have rhyming imbedded into them, such as Iambic Pentameter, and other meters which maintain a beat and a certain flow. There are structures which don't rhyme and are still considered structured poetry. You can check out a lot of the different structures and see what ones do and do not rhyme here: http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html
I also made a resource you can see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
Which just sort of goes over what structures have and what they use so you can pick a structure that you might want to try.

To answer your question, no, poetry that doesn't rhyme doesn't have to be free verse or narrative. There's another level of this question that I would like to address now.

Free verse poetry just means not structured. Basically it means you're not following some set of rules which is pre-established by the general collective. Not all structures rhyme, so you have to really know your structures if you want to tell if something's a structure or free verse. If it deviates from that structure a little, it may still be considered in that structure like Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" which is a villanelle without the typical refrains.

Narrative poetry is a type of poem that tells a story bringing the reader from point A to point B in a way that entertains them. This may or may not be rhymed, or structured. So a structured poem that doesn't rhyme could be a narrative poem, but a free verse that does rhyme could also be a narrative poem. Just because something is rhyming doesn't mean it has a structure.

All that "free verse" tells you is whether the writer was following a structure or not.

Shall we move on to the next question?

A poem can be super deep, emotional, and descriptive, yes, but not all poems need to be. While it is a common belief that poems need to be written for the affect they have on the reader, there are poems which do not necessarily do this with intent. Sometimes it's just about capturing a feeling of normalcy or a moment in time. Haiku are a great example of this. They look for just a single moment in time to capture the essence of nature and that second. They do this by juxtaposing two ideas together which capture a deeper message, yes, but they're also just beautiful to read. In a way I can answer your question by saying yes and no.

Super deep depends on the reader, so whether you write something simple, or complex, the reader is in charge of searching for that deeper meaning and thus you should try to write something that displays the experience you're trying to convey and not try to develop a dogmatic voice about what people should think or how they should relate to the poem. Instead of focusing on that, try to focus on creating something that's emotional.

Yes, emotions play a big part in poetry. It is good to try to get some response from the way that you put words together and the feelings you try to convey, but you don't necessarily have to use a single word that deals with feeling like hope, love, happy, sad, etc. Just like in writing novels and short stories, you can show these things rather than tell them through the dialogue that you present in the narrative.

Poems can be descriptive, but they don't have to be. If you're going for descriptive use words that would be unique for you to say and not something that anyone could say. Don't say things that you've heard before like "The deep blue ocean" because that's not going to capture the reader's attention. Instead, push the boundaries of what you recognize as day to day life and develop your own language to describe things. For instance one of my things for describing clouds to myself is "mashed potato clouds" but that's not going to work for someone else unless they hear how I use it. Description is best when it uses the least I guess is what I'm trying to say. Describe things conservatively if you need to describe them.

Yes, a poem can have dialogue.

What you mentioned about feeling like it all came out cliche is a problem that a lot of people experience when they first start really exploring poetry. We all get that. Don't expect the first poem to be perfect, and allow yourself the freedom to throw it away and start again. Sometimes it takes five or six writings of the same poem to really get the message across that you want, and then you still have to go back and edit t he poem to better fit your exact word choice and narrow down what you want to say to just what you said.

I hope that you allow yourself the freedom to write poetry as sappy and cliche as you like as you start to develop your voice as a poet and discover what works and what doesn't work. Check out the resources on YWS and you'll learn a lot about what people expect when they're picking up a poem.

I don't know if all of this makes sense, so tell me if you have some questions and I'm sure some other people will give their answers too. Like Mesh said, read poetry to write poetry. That's really the best way to get into it. Youtube has some great readings of poetry too.

@Meshugenah and @Aley thank you both so much! I greatly appreciate your advice/answers. They really helped! It has inspired me to keep trying to write poetry and read some. I used to be a huge fan of Poe; I'll probably get back into reading his works and check out some other poets (even here on YWS).