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Tips and Tricks for your fellow writers!



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Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:44 pm
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Clarity says...



Tips and Tricks for your fellow writers!

How can you help the members of YWS with their poetry? Exchange some of your favourite tips for things you do to: get over writers block, find the right adjectives, offer constructive criticism, and learning how to accept that critique. Anything you think would help a fellow writer improve their craft!
"Be courageous and try to write in a way that scares you a little."

she/they


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Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:48 pm
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Clarity says...



I'll start with a tip for writers block. I started doing this recently and found it actually helps a lot for me.

I choose 5 random letters of the alphabet and apply an object to each corresponding letter, then I choose another 5 letters and apply an adjective. I mess around using each of these as prompts for little sentences (some of them silly) but I think it helps get the creative juices flowing. Maybe give it a try and let me know how it works for you? :)
"Be courageous and try to write in a way that scares you a little."

she/they


Home is where the books are kept.
  





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Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:57 am
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niteowl says...



1) If you have time to write a poem but no ideas, I seriously recommend the "Random Poetic Line Generator". poem_firstline.php

Sometimes the lines are super weird, but sometimes they're super cool like the one I just got, "the memories above you turn beyond this moment,"

2) Look beyond the "big" topics like love, death, sadness, the meaning of life, etc. Look at the every day, the little things that people don't normally write poems about. For example, I have written not one, but two poems about socks going missing in the dryer. One of my favorite poems I've ever written was about a day the bus showed up late. When you write about something "small", you tend to have better imagery and you might end up saying something interesting about one of the "big" topics.

3) http://www.shadowpoetry.com/ If you're interested in trying structured poems or are trying to remember the rules for a particular form, this is a great resource. I'm normally into free verse, but a structure can be a fun challenge.

4) Since the first post mentioned adjectives, I will point out that adjectives can be a weak point in a poem. Often, they can be replaced with a more interesting noun (like "boulder" instead of "big rock"). You may have even heard of the challenge to write a poem with no adjectives. This is hard, but can force you into using stronger images. Once you've written a poem, I would look at all the adjectives and decide if they're essential or if they can be eliminated or replaced.

I might have more in the future, but I think that's a good start!
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

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