So you want to be a poet? There's no fast track. And poetry will never make you rich. At least not in financial terms. But the satisfaction of saying what you want to say in exactly the most effective way - that's something you can't price. Here are 10 hints and tips about how to start out...
1. Learn from the masters 2. Think of what you want to say 3. Practise, practise, practise 4. Be prepared 5. Show, don't tell 6. Convey the meaning 7. Choose your form 8. Getting published 9. It's a jungle out there 10. You can do it
1. Learn from the masters First of all, read. Read poets you admire. You can learn a lot from masters of their craft. Try to think, what do you like about them? What techniques do they use?
Some people are afraid to read other poets in case their style gets affected by the style of the famous writer, and they worry that they won't be able to express themselves. Don't worry about this - if you're good enough to sound like a famous writer, you'll be good enough eventually to find your own voice.
So try and copy your favourite writers. Study their style and their tricks. If you're lucky, after a lot of practice, your poems will start to sound like them. If you're VERY lucky, and after a lot more practice, you'll start to sound like yourself.
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2. Think of what you want to say You need more than emotion to write good poetry. You also need discipline and hard work to make sure you convey that emotion effectively. But if you haven't got something you really want to say - whether it's to express anger, fear, love or anything - then don't bother trying to write, because the spark won't be there.
Back to the top3. Practise, practise, practise!To be a published poet, you'll have to be ready for a long haul. It's like sport or playing a musical instrument - you can have natural talent but you still need to practice. You have to be prepared to put in the effort - writing, revising, throwing away, writing again.
Back to the top4. Be prepared to learnShare your work with someone more experienced - a teacher you trust, or an established writer. Listen to their criticism - hopefully it will be constructive - and then act on it. A
creative writing class is a great way to develop your talent. They're available in most towns and colleges.
Back to the top5. Show, don't tell Don't explain everything using adjectives. It's really difficult to find adjectives that haven't been used for that purpose before. Try to think in images.
For example, when Dylan Thomas wanted to talk about sleeping horses, he didn't say "slumbering, sleepy, silent, motionless, still horses" - all those adjectives are relevant, but they sound too predictable, too familiar.
So Dylan used an image and said "the anthracite statues of the horses sleep in the fields". Anthracite is a particularly hard and shiny kind of coal found in west Wales: using that image suggests hidden energy, darkness, glossiness, hardness and stillness. The fact that it is a local kind of coal also makes the image more powerful and relevant to the location he was writing about.
So the choice of that one image carries far more suggestions than the closed words of the adjectives.
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6. Convey the meaning Try and think of metaphors and similes which convey the meaning of what you're trying to say. Then work hard to link the images up and to develop them, so that each leads on to another. You could have a poem where the images are about food, or about the sea, or about football, or whatever.
Back to the top7. Choose your form
Rhyme can be a fantastic aid to expression, but if you choose the words just because they rhyme, then the rhyme will dominate your poem not the other way round. Think of what you want to say, then find the rhymes.
What about writing without rhyme? Easier in one way perhaps - and the rhyme won't dominate the poem - but you have to work harder to make the poem sound striking. It's not an easy option. Freedom has its own restrictions.
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8. Getting published
As for getting published, this is no easy task. You might be surprised how many aspiring poets there are in the world! Publishers are flooded with the work of wannabe poets.
Your best bet is to target magazines which seem to publish material of the kind you are writing. But be prepared for many rejections! Getting the advice of an experienced writer or the leader of a creative writing group is a good idea.
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9. It's a jungle out there!
Oh, and avoid vanity publishers. Some people make money out of people's desire to see their work in print. If you see an advertisement for poets, just ask yourself: do Manchester United advertise for new players? Does Hollywood advertise for new actors? No. Neither do serious poetry publishers. They're inundated with wannabe writers, and they're fed by regular sources of trained talent such as colleges and creative writing courses.
Adverts for aspiring poets often contain a financial sting in the tail. Many operations will send fulsome acceptance notes to every contributor, no matter how hopeless, telling them their work is wonderful and they will be included in a prestigious new volume.
The flattered contributor then forks out happily to buy a copy of the book, usually at a price vastly more than it cost to produce. And the vanity publisher laughs all the way to the bank. Real publishers send their authors free copies of their books and pay them. So be careful - it's a jungle out there!
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10. You can do it
If you've read this far, then you must really be interested in becoming a poet. So here's the last tip, which we've saved for those who are really dedicated.
Check out this link: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/peter.finch/advice.htm
The BBC is not repsonsible for the content of external websites
It's a site run by Peter Finch, a renowned poet and the chief executive of the Welsh Academi. It's got everything you need to know about getting into print.
Good luck
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Award winning Welsh poet Grahame Davies offers some advice to help improve your style and get your work into print...
