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Learning about setting in a story

Learn how to get your ideas from your head and into your poem.

Anyone can write poetry. You can write poetry about whatever you feel like, in whatever way you want, for whatever reason you choose.

In this article you will find out:

  • How to write a poem
  • How to use similes, metaphors and personification
  • Different styles of poetry, like haikus and free verse

This resource is suitable for creative writing for P2, P3, P4, P5, P6 and P7 (First and Second Level Curriculum for Excellence).

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Video - Story structure

Watch this video to help you with writing poetry.

Learn how to get your ideas from your head and into your poem.

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Where to start

Poetry is a form of writing designed to make you feel different emotions, as you read it out loud or to yourself. Where do you start?

Choose a subject

  • Start with the subject. All poems need to be about something.
  • You can write poetry about anything you like. For example, you could write a poem about your friends, your favourite food or an animal.
  • The famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns wrote about a mouse, a daisy and a haggis.
  • The important thing in poetry is the language you use to describe your subject.
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Imagery

Imagery is descriptive language that helps the reader paint a picture in their mind.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, , Similes A simile compares things using the words 'like' or 'as'. For example: 'she was as strong as an ox.' Jackie Kay uses similes in her poem 鈥淏ush Fire鈥 saying a fire was "As red as a fox, your lips, a cherry".

Similes

To create vivid descriptions about what you鈥檙e writing about use similes - comparing things using 鈥渓ike鈥 and 鈥渁s鈥.

Jackie Kay uses similes in her poem 鈥淏ush Fire鈥

That fire, they said, was red as red
As red as a fox, your lips, a cherry;

William Wordsworth also used similes skilfully, to create imagery in the head of the reader.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o鈥檈r vales and hills鈥

Metaphors

William Wordsworth also used metaphors comparing two things which aren鈥檛 alike but have something in common.

When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Personification

Wordsworth also used personification, which is describing an object as if it were alive.

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

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Different types of poetry

Once you have a and some great images, you need to fit them into your poem. There are lots of different structures to use with their own , , and length.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, , Haiku A haiku is a short poem that is three lines long. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, then the last line has five syllables. A syllable is part of a word that usually contains a single vowel sound.

Haiku

If you would like to write a short poem, you could try a Japanese haiku. Haikus are made up of three lines and each line has a specific number of . The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables and then the last line has five syllables.

An old silent pond,
A frog jumps into the pond,
Splash! Silence again.

Free verse

Free verse is poetry that does not or have a regular .

Bacon sizzling on Sunday mornings
Hot buttered toast
Crunch, crunch, crunch

Free verse lets you do anything you want with the words, the , the structure, and even the punctuation.

Limerick

Limericks follow a pattern. In a limerick the first, second and fifth lines have the same rhythm and rhyme. The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other too.

There was a young boy from Peru
With something important to do
So he found a quiet space
To get some headspace
And wrote poetry while on the loo

Remember

  • The important thing to remember is that anyone can write a poem.
  • You can write poetry about whatever you feel like, in whatever way you want, for whatever reason you choose.
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Key words about setting

  • 鈥 Something that creates strong feelings or a clear image in your mind. For example: 'The dream was so vivid, I thought I was enjoying an ice cream in the sunshine.'
  • 鈥 Descriptive language like similes and metaphors. Sentences with imagery help the reader paint a picture in their mind.
  • 鈥 Having a lot of skill in an area. For example: 'Skilfully, the boy headed the ball from the side line into the goal.'
  • 鈥 A regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound. For example: 'The rhythm of his heartbeat was slow and steady, like the ticking of a clock.'
  • 鈥 A syllable is part of a word that usually contains a single vowel sound. For example, the word 'dog' has 1 syllable and the word 'elephant' has 3 syllables.
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Test your knowledge

Try this short true or false quiz about writing a poem.

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Challenge

Write a free verse poem

and paint word pictures that make stories and poems more vivid with colourful descriptions.

Complete the sentences below to create your own free verse poem:

The mist lay over the ground like
My hands and feet were as cold as
Dark trees grew out of the mist like
My heart was beating as fast as
Not a sound could be heard in the silence.

After you have written your poem, you can鈥

  • draw a picture to illustrate your poem
  • continue the poem starting with the word 'Suddenly'
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There's more to learn about writing poetry

Writing Haikus. video

Brian Conaghan explains how haikus work and challenges you to write your own! (成人快手 Authors Live)

Writing Haikus

What are free verse poems? revision-guide

Free verse poems don't follow the rules. Find out more.

What are free verse poems?

What is a limerick? revision-guide

The first, second and fifth lines of a limerick rhyme. Find out more.

What is a limerick?

Authors Live Extra. list

Get more from your reading and find inspiration for your own writing with exclusive interviews and tips from our Authors Live events.

Authors Live Extra
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