Condensed Poetry Writing Exercises
Many modern poets argue that poetry is most effective when the language is condensed. That means eliminating extraneous or unnecessary words.
It sounds a lot easier than it is. We writers tend to rely heavily on verbiage, especially modifiers (adjective and adverbs) and articles (a, an, the) to add balance and rhythm to our writing, or to simply make it sound smarter, more descriptive, or flowery.
These poetry writing exercises help you look at your writing from a minimalist perspective. Simpify, and remember that less is more.
Poetry Writing Exercises
Language is the heart and soul of poetry. Writing exercises like these help you think beyond your subject matter and pay due diligence to language and word choice. You are encouraged to search for better words and to find the perfect words or phrases for the making of a poem.
Exercise 1: No Modifiers Allowed
Write a short poem (10-15 lines) in which there are no modifiers. You can start by simply writing a poem without worrying about these restrictions, or you can choose a poem that you’ve already writte. Go through your poem and cross out all adjectives and adverbs. Take note of how many strikethroughs there are. Next, revisit your verbs and nouns and see if you can’t replace them with alternative verbs and nouns that better reflect the image you were trying to convey when the modifiers were still in place.
Example: “The drooping tree” becomes “The willow”
Exercise 2: Eliminating Articles
Again, write a short poem or use a poem you’ve already written. This time, go through and cross out all articles (a, an, the, etc.) Notice how many times these parts of speech appear in your piece. Now read it back without the articles. Does it sound better? Do you think you need to put some of the articles back in place for it to make sense?
Example: “The old dresser sits in the corner” becomes “Old dresser sits in corner”
Exercise 3: No Excess
Now try the exercises again – either write a poem or use an existing one – and this time cross out both the modifiers and the articles. Again, make note of how many strikethroughs you have. Then, read the poem aloud and see how it sounds. Better? Worse? Try replacing adjective-noun and adver-verb combinations with nouns and verbs that are more descriptive (for example “runs quickly” becomes “sprinted”). Do you need to put some of your modifers and articles back into the piece? Were you able to find suitable and better replacements for the words you eliminated?
Example: “A bad dream haunts the young man” becomes “Nightmare haunts lad”
Afterwards
In working through these exercises, you will probably find that some modifiers and articles simply cannot be replaced. A chocolate chip cookie is not just a cookie and there is really no other way to say what it is clearly and effectively.
However, these poetry writing exercises will help you discover new ways to spice up your language by choosing words and phrases more carefully and putting more thought into how you use (or abuse) verbiage.
When you work on your next writing project, take the lessons you’ve learned with you and be more selective, more simple.
Do you find poetry writing exercises useful? If you give any of these a try, come back and share what you discovered by leaving a comment.
