Your words.
A place to begin.
You don’t have to call yourself a poet.
You just need something to notice.
Good poems start
with paying attention.
Start with one idea and build the same poem through all five lessons. Read an example, add your own words, then save and continue.
Examples are from Abigail’s author-approved draft. Your writing is never submitted. When browser storage is available, your work is saved in this tab until you close it.
01Find something worth writing about
Start small. A memory, a person, a place, a feeling, or something you love is enough. You do not need to know the ending before you begin.
Through my God, I stand and fight, Not barely winning, conquering alright. Through my God, I’m more than a conqueror, Through my God, I’m a lot stronger.
Notice how this works: Abigail begins with a truth from Scripture that matters to her. Your poem can begin with a belief, a memory, or something you want to understand more deeply.
Read the sample poems →Try it yourself: Choose your seed
Name one subject and write a sentence about why it matters to you. This is the idea you will carry through the workshop.
02Make the reader see it
A concrete detail is something a reader can picture, hear, smell, taste, or feel. Instead of naming an emotion alone, show what was happening around it.
Dad’s laughing at something dumb, Rusty’s asleep on my leg that’s now numb, Isaac’s playing games, how did you guess, Mom just woke up and her hair is a mess.
Notice how this works: “Rusty’s asleep on my leg that’s now numb” makes the scene physical. It is much more specific than “my dog is cute.”
Read the sample poems →Try it yourself: Collect details for your poem
Return to the subject you chose in lesson one. Gather details you can use when you write your first lines.
03Explore rhyme and rhythm
Rhyme repeats similar ending sounds. Rhythm is the pattern of movement you hear when you read aloud. You can use either, both, or neither. Meaning comes first.
Dad’s laughing at something dumb, Rusty’s asleep on my leg that’s now numb, Isaac’s playing games, how did you guess, Mom just woke up and her hair is a mess.
Notice how this works: “Guess” and “mess” make an easy rhyme. The everyday actions still sound natural; the rhyme supports the scene.
Read the sample poems →Try it yourself: Turn your details into a draft
Use your own details to write a few lines. Try a rhyme or a repeated sound if it helps; keeping your meaning matters more.
04Try a form
A form gives your words a shape. Try free verse with flexible line lengths, a four-line rhyming poem, or a three-line poem. A common English classroom haiku pattern uses 5, 7, and 5 syllables; traditional haiku also draws on nature and a vivid moment.
Through my God, I stand and fight, Not barely winning, conquering alright. Through my God, I’m more than a conqueror, Through my God, I’m a lot stronger. Not death nor life nor angels nor rulers, Not powers nor present nor future, Not height nor depth nor anything in creation, Can separate us from God’s love and salvation.
Notice how this works: This eight-line poem uses repeated beginnings and rhyming or similar-sounding endings. Its shape supports its message. Try a short rhyming poem, free verse, or another form that fits your own draft.
Read the sample poems →Try it yourself: Give your draft a form
Keep working on the same draft. Choose a shape, then adjust your words and line breaks to suit it.
05Revise your poem
Revision means looking again. Read aloud, listen for awkward spots, remove filler, and choose words that carry the feeling. Keep the parts that sound like you.
I hear your wisdom in PopPop’s voice, I still hear you in the loudest noise. I still smell scents that remind me of you, The empty seat at Christmas was a sad kind of new.
Notice how this works: The “empty seat at Christmas” gives missing someone a clear image. Look for the image that holds the most meaning in your own poem.
Read the sample poems →Try it yourself: Revise and keep your poem
Read your poem aloud. Make a few thoughtful changes, give it a title if you like, then keep your finished version.
More words to grow with.
Discover more poems in Consider the Lilies.