Tips for Teaching Students to Write Poetry
1) Marinate
kids in lots of poems. Students need two kinds of poetry: playful poems they
“get” quickly, as well as deeper poems that haunt them.
2) Write
small. Poets take pleasure in naming the world. Look for the odd, disturbing detail.
3) “The secret
wish of poetry is to stop time.” (Charles Simic) Try to render the experience, not
explain it. Don’t say too
much.
4) Try to
create tension in the poem.
5) Look for
the mystery in your subject.
6) See if you
can end with your strongest line.
7) Listen to
suggestions, but learn to trust yourself.