write poems


Ideas for poems are everywhere! Think of yourself as a hunter of poems, and carry a notebook so you never let an idea get away. Some other things I recommend are: * Keep a folder of ideas - cut out pictures and stories from newspapers and magazines. * Make up a list of great titles and write a poem about each one. Some good titles to get you started: Falling Down In My Street Please Pass Me the ..... Wipeout A Brush with Death The Cow on the Moon If Books Weren't Made of Paper A (xxx) Lives in my Garden (you insert the animal or object) Who Cut Your Hair? * Find an old photo of people or a place you don't know anything about, and write a poem about it, using what you see in the photo. * Ask your mum or dad (or grandparent) to tell you about something they remember from their childhood, and write a poem where you change some of the details. * Turn on the TV and write down the first sentence you hear - write a poem starting with that sentence. * Imagine you are a machine of some kind and write a poem. * Close your eyes, open the dictionary randomly and point at the page. Write down the word your finger is resting on. Do this twice more. Write a poem using those three words. * Make yourself a Poetry Deck of Cards - start with ten words you really like, then ten nouns, ten good adjectives, ten emotions, three colours, six words picked randomly from the dictionary, three words that are a sound, three words that describe a taste or smell. Put each word on a separate card. You can add to this if you want more. Whenever you feel like writing a poem, choose three, four or five cards (without looking first) and use them in a poem. This will stretch your imagination!

Ideas for poems are everywhere! Think of yourself as a hunter of poems, and carry a notebook so you never let an idea get away. Some other things I recommend are:

* Keep a folder of ideas - cut out pictures and stories from newspapers and magazines.

* Make up a list of great titles and write a poem about each one. Some good titles to get you started:
Falling Down
In My Street
Please Pass Me the .....
Wipeout
A Brush with Death
The Cow on the Moon
If Books Weren't Made of Paper
A (xxx) Lives in my Garden (you insert the animal or object)
Who Cut Your Hair?

* Find an old photo of people or a place you don't know anything about, and write a poem about it, using what you see in the photo.

* Ask your mum or dad (or grandparent) to tell you about something they remember from their childhood, and write a poem where you change some of the details.

* Turn on the TV and write down the first sentence you hear - write a poem starting with that sentence.

* Imagine you are a machine of some kind and write a poem.

* Close your eyes, open the dictionary randomly and point at the page. Write down the word your finger is resting on. Do this twice more. Write a poem using those three words.

* Make yourself a Poetry Deck of Cards - start with ten words you really like, then ten nouns, ten good adjectives, ten emotions, three colours, six words picked randomly from the dictionary, three words that are a sound, three words that describe a taste or smell. Put each word on a separate card. You can add to this if you want more. Whenever you feel like writing a poem, choose three, four or five cards (without looking first) and use them in a poem. This will stretch your imagination!