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Poetry Tips - Brian Patten
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Brian Patten grew up in Liverpool wanting to be a writer and now writes poetry for adults and children as well as writing for theatre, television and radio. You can find out more about Brian Patten's work by checking out his website. Here are Brian's top poetry writing tips: |
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1) Where to get ideas |
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2) Techniques to write a good poem |
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3) Deciding on style, length and layout |
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4) What to do when you get stuck |
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5) Other helpful tips |
1)
Where do you get the ideas for your poetry?
...Not many people know this, but there is a little shop down a back alley in Liverpool; it is a tiny place full of wonderful ideas; they have gigantic jars full of them, some are blue, others are golden, some glitter, some simply shimmer and others are very quiet and some are even a bit dull. Any way, I get my ideas from this shop.............. |
2)
What are the techniques used to write a good poem?
Rewriting, stamping on cliches, and brevity all help, but there are many different techniques used as there are raindrops in a duck pond. I like using half rhymes at the moment, and just the occasional rhyme-rhyme tends to tie the ideas in the poem together, best to avoid the too obvious dum de dum rhymes though, they can take over the poem at the expense of its meaning. |
3) How do you decide on the style, length and layout?
Really it is the idea behind the poem, the unborn poem itself, that decides these things. |
4) What do you do when you get stuck with part of a poem?
Leave it out and see if the poem is going to work better without it, or come back to it later..... |
....get a few pencils, cut them up into 8 bits, sharpen them at both ends and stick them in the pockets of your various clothes, because whenever you get an idea you should write it down and work on it later. If you do not write the line that pops into your head, it will go to someone else, muttering about you not being worth bothering with. Remember the imagination grows larger and stronger if used, and shrivels if it isn't being used.... |
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