1. Finding the Poet within You
Understanding and Working with
Various Forms and Structures

2. Traditional Forms of Poetry
Ballads – Stories told in verse
Psalms – Built of two line verses
Sonnets – 14 lines, written in iambic pentameter, standard rhyme schemes
Ghazals (guzzle) – each line same # of syllables, series of couplets, lst couplet rhymes, others don’t need to, repition
Haiku – 5, 7, 5 syllables
Tankas – Haiku with two more lines of 7 syllables each

3. Open-form Poetry or Free Verse
Doesn’t have to rhyme
But usually has plenty of rhythm, patterns, and repetitions
Has self-imposed structure and form

4. Understanding Open-Form Poetry
What open-form is
What open-form isn’t
Almost anything goes
Open form is not closed
Designed to open your mind – memories, associations and subconscious thoughts
You don’t restrict the lines to only one shape, length or rule
Sudden swings in tone, feeling and subject – zig zags
No traditional sonnets, ballads or rhyme schemes
Trusting the poem and how it emerges
Can include iambic verses if they add something
Every feature must have a reason for being included

5. Techniques for Open-form Poetry
Economy of words – cut everything not necessary
Grammar and syntax – try alternatives to complete sentences, bursts of words, single words, word fragments, different punctuation
Parts of speech – focus on nouns and verbs, use adjectives that add something special
Rhythms – they should contribute to the meaning
Lengths of sentences – vary them, length based on need
Line endings – make them meaningful
Treating the page as a field

6. Exercises to Expand Your Creativity
Journal – create poems from words you capture
Walking poetry – a verse or stanza about each block
Write a one or two paragraph essay – turn it into a poem
Magazine poetry – clips words out of magazines and turn them into poetry
Nature or comforting sense of place – describe the place using a mind map and translate that to poetry
Beginnings – start a poem and have others finish it
Rework a poem – make the sentences different lengths, change the structure, edit it for un-needed words

7. Exercises – (continued)
Team project – have everyone write a poem together or have everyone write of the same topic and combine pieces into one poem
Take a group walk – everyone writes down notes and ideas, throw in hat to retrieve to create mix and max poem
Go to a totally different space with no distractions
Read others works – outloud or silently