ten things

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How to make a poem

When it comes to writing a poem, there’s no definite formula or strategy, and plus I’m no expert. But I’ve discovered a method that has always worked for me, and so it might help you when you want to write a poem.

First, I write down a question. Any question. They often come to me when I look around the room in search of an idea. For example, I quickly jotted some sentences on my whiteboard. One of them was, “A closed window keeps out…”. I got that when I looked at my window and noticed the blinds were closed and I couldn’t see out. Another one was, “The books I haven’t read stare me down…”. I got that from looking at my bookshelves and noticing how many titles I’ve yet to read.

Next, I make a list, start with ten, and answer the question or finish the sentence. Here’s some examples from poems I’ve posted in the past:

If I but had wings…
1. I could escape for a while
2. I could see the world
3. I could go places
4. I could touch the clouds
5. I could forget troubles
6. I could fly with the birds
7. I could be different
8. I could be close to the sky
9. I could be free
10. I could live in a world different from the one I’m trapped in

You can see the resulting poem here.

Why do I write? (now this one is more than ten, but it’s the same concept of listing answers)
1. To help me understand something
2. To ask a philosophical question or give a philosophical answer
3. To express my opinion of something or share a thought
4. To artistically portray a true story or my feelings
5. To express what I cannot say verbally
6. It is an outlet for my imagination
7. When I think something would be enjoyed by others, I find it selfish not to share, so I write it down for others
8. To make beauty and nature understandable to others
9. To be like those I admire-C.S. Lewis, Emily Dickinson…
10. To create. To be a creator.
11. To give myself something to cherish and own
12. To know I am not alone (C.S. Lewis quote)
13. To escape pain and suffering. To distract myself
14. To grow and learn about the world and myself
15. To do what God has called me to do. To act in the gift that he has given me
16. To discover new things about myself
17. To make the Bible come to life. To make my ideas and thoughts into reality
18. To make my dreams a reality
19. To keep myself dreaming and thinking optimistically
20. To challenge myself. To try new things
21. To turn bad things into good
22. To make fairytales real for me
23. To make what is impossible possible
24. To prove myself
25. To make the sun shine on rainy days
26. To have control

You can see the resulting poem here.

After I make a list, I now have some content for a poem. With the very helpful use of Rhymezone (http://www.rhymezone.com/), I refer to this list and re-word the answers in poetic form.

I’ve started doing this now for my poems. I write down 5-6 questions, and then I make a list of answers. The Poem A Day I posted today was done this way. Here’s the list I wrote:

A photo captures…
1. Memories
2. Frozen moments in time
3. Thoughts and ideas
4. Art
5. A message
6. A story
7. Emotions and feelings
8. History
9. Happiness
10. Beauty

As you can see here, I incorporated these things and made a complete, rounded answer to the ultimate question; What does a photo capture? Here‘s the poem.

Poetry comes to everyone in different ways, and it means something different to each person. To me, poetry is a way to answer questions about life. What does poetry mean to you?

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10 Weird Things about Me

Whether you consider them weird or not, here’s 10 random things about myself that I personally think are out of the ordinary.

1. I do NOT like bacon. I may be the only human being around who does not like bacon. It just makes me queasy, maybe because of all the grease. Even the very smell of it gives me headaches.

2. Any sort of slurping, smacking, or smooching sound makes me cringe and sends shivers up my spine. I remember walking down the hallways in high school, passing a couple and hearing a kissing sound. Ugh! I could literally gag.

3. I click my nails. No, I don’t bite them (anymore, hallelujah), I click them. I flick my nails back and forth over each other, which makes a funny clicking sound. Don’t ask.

4. I don’t use condiments. I hate mustard, mayonnaise and relish. I may eat something with ketchup on occasion, but that would only be chicken nuggets or hotdogs. I don’t like the fact that there’s always already ketchup and mustard in a burger. At least I don’t really eat burgers, anyway.

5. I freak at the sight of bent books, pen marks in books, folded pages, creases, or anything, really. That’s why I don’t let others touch my books. I’ve slapped people’s hands away and tugged them out of their grasp before.

6. I love the smell of cucumber. I even have a hand lotion with cucumber scent.

7. I obsessively apply chapstick. When I’m at my desk I keep it right there and literally apply it about every 5 minutes. And I only use Burt’s Bees. I will not use anything else unless I’m desperate.

8. No matter where I’m writing, even when I’m writing in my personal journal that no one will ever read, if the word or letter looks ugly, I will erase and rewrite it, maybe several times, until it’s perfect (or almost, at least).

9. I’m scared of taking pills. Except pain killer (I’ve come to accept I need that). It has nothing to do with choking. I’m terrified of side effects and I don’t believe they’re good for me in the first place. I have been prescribed stuff in the past and never even bothered to go get them, because I’ll never take them. I just chicken out.

10. Now, I can’t be the only one who does this. I talk to myself in a British accent. I may recite some of my writing, be reading a book, or simply be talking to myself, but it always subconsciously ends up sounding British. It’s not even intentional sometimes. I’m sure there are plenty of psychological reasons and it’s too humorous to name them. And I’m not British, by the way. If I was then it would make sense, of course XP

Do any of these sound like you? If they do, then cool! I’m not alone 😉

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10 Things that make me happy

These are 10 things that don’t just make me happy, but put me in a happy high. They have special places in my heart.

1. Receiving flowers. Despite what others say, that flowers are overrated, I will never be bored of them. There’s no need to try to be creative. A bouquet is my kind of gift.

2. Drinking tea. I like to say tea is magical. The feeling it gives you is one of a kind.

3. Dancing at a wedding. That’s one of the special times I’ll become a different person and come out of my shell.

4. Cold weather. And if it snows, it’s not just a miracle in Austin, Texas, it’s like a dream come true for me.

5. Reading fiction and writing analytical essays about it. Yes, I love it. I don’t just love reading fiction, I love writing about it!

6. Writing poetry. Need I expand?

7. Pretzels. They are my chill snack. I eat them all day long.

8. Making crafts. It’s a special moment, when it’s just me and my desk and craft materials and music playing in the background. It’s like the world pauses, melts away, is forgotten while I sit and create. What’s even better: I forget my troubles for a time, and am completely immersed in the moment.

9. Reading. When it’s a really good book, like The Book Thief, I am very satisfied and pleased, and when it’s a sucky book I am very upset because I feel like I wasted precious time and energy.

10. Spending time with God. Now, this isn’t just said because it’s expected by either me or you, it truly is something that makes me happy. Actually, it’s what makes me the most happy. And when I come into those moments that I enter the utmost peace that I can ever feel, the affect is amazing.

What do you think of these ten things? What makes you happy?