Five Ways to Jump Start Your Next Poem

1. Put yourself in a different frame of mind. Sometimes a different perspective on your topic will help the words come out smoother. Try listening to different music than usual. Writing a poem to smooth jazz will definitely give it a different feel than writing it to Salsa. The Putumayo CDs are great for exploring a different style of music from a distant land. I recommend Putumayo Presents: Turkish Groove, Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Arabia, and Cairo to Casablanca to name a few.

2. Take a walk. Wallace Stevens used to write his poems as he walked to and from his work as a lawyer for an insurance company. Walking can be an amazing way of thinking through a particularly hard part of the poem. If you are using a specific meter, you can time it with your steps. Walk slower or faster depending on what you are trying to convey with your poem. Increasing the blood flow by walking will help brain function and will cause you to benefit in more ways than just finishing your poem.

3. Describe a Photograph. Describe all of the details you think are essential to the life of a photograph. What makes the photograph great? What makes it awful? The photograph can be one you or someone you know took, or it can be of complete strangers. Get lost in the photograph, and write about how you found your way back.

4. Write in a form you are not used to. Sestina, Tanka, Haiku, Sonnet, Ghazal, etc. There are many styles to try. Pick one you have always wanted to try, or one at random, and try your hand at it. You may be surprised by how much you enjoy the new form.

5. Put your pen to paper. Sometimes just the act of writing, without regard to content, can produce amazing work. Usually the amazing part doesn’t appear until you write for a few minutes, but the stream-of-consciousness type of writing can unleash ideas you didn’t know you had.