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Writing Poetry with Holly Lyn Walrath is a podcast for poets. If you've ever wanted to learn about writing poetry or just need a refresher, this podcast is for you. Poet Holly Lyn Walrath guides listeners through one exercise per episode meant to inspire poets to create unique, beautiful, and well-crafted poems.
Season One of Writing Poetry covers the basics of what a poem is, how to write poems you love, and how to stay inspired as a poet. Each episode touches on an element of the poetry craft, all the while encouraging listeners to experiment and write from the heart. Got a question? Leave me a voicemail: (512) 790-2315 |
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Episode One: How Poetry Is Different than Fiction
What is poetry anyway? Emily Dickinson said, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” In this episode, I dive into the basics of what makes a poem: a title, line breaks, stanzas, a form or structure, and rhythm or meter. If you've always wanted to try writing a poem or just need writing inspiration, Season One of Writing Poetry has got you covered. While writing poetry is different than writing fiction, that shouldn't discourage you from trying it out! The structure of a poem is what makes it a poem. But as we’ll find out, not all poems look like poems and not all stories look like stories. Writing Exercise: In this episode, we'll try out a simple exercise for writing unique and interesting titles for your poems.
Episode Two: Fantastic First Lines
Writing first lines is one of the most important parts of writing poetry. In his poem, The First Line of a Poem, Billy Collins writes, “Before it flutters into my mouth, I might spend days squinting into the wind like an old man trying to thread a needle by a window in the dying light of late afternoon.” Writing the first line is complex. It’s a mystery why certain first lines pop into our heads. But you’ve probably memorized some of your favorite poems by remembering their first lines. As an editor, I’ve read hundreds of poems in the slush pile. One of the first things I examine is the first line. Does it hook me? Editors of magazines usually have a good idea of whether they are going to love a poem straight away – just by reading the first line. So in order to stand out as a poet, you need to have fantastic first lines that draw you into the world of the poem right away.
So how do you write a fantastic first line? Writing Exercise: In this episode, we'll write a first line with a twist in the middle.
So how do you write a fantastic first line? Writing Exercise: In this episode, we'll write a first line with a twist in the middle.