benefits of writing poetry

What are the benefits of writing poetry?

Poetry writing is an excellent practice for strengthening one’s writing skills. Through poetry writing, we gain command of language, cultivate a robust vocabulary, master literary devices, and learn to work in imagery. And that’s just a small sampling of how poetry improves basic writing skills.

However, poetry has other benefits that are meaningful on a more personal level.

Writing has long been hailed as a deeply therapeutic practice. In fact, all the arts have therapeutic benefits. But poetry imparts a broad range of emotional and intellectual benefits that are useful to personal growth, whether we’re working on self-improvement, emotional or psychological coping and healing, developing relationships, and even furthering our careers — including careers outside of the writing field.

And while all forms of writing, from journaling to storytelling, can be therapeutic, poetry writing offers some unique benefits.


Emotional and Intellectual Benefits of Writing Poetry

Whether you want to stimulate your intellect or foster emotional health and well-being, poetry writing has many benefits to offer:

  • Therapeutic: Poetry fosters emotional expression and healing through self-expression and exploration of one’s feelings. It provides a safe way to vent, examine, and understand our feelings.
  • Self-awareness: Through raw expression of our thoughts and feelings, poetry can help us become more attuned to what’s going on in our hearts and minds.
  • Creative thinking: With its emphasis on symbolism, metaphor, and imagery, poetry writing fosters and promotes creative thinking.
  • Connections: Many people write poetry privately, but when poems are shared, they can inspire, move, and honor other people, forging deeper interpersonal connections.
  • Catharsis: The act of creation — of making something out of nothing — is a cathartic experience.
  • Critical thinking: Through the expression of our thoughts and ideas, poetry pushes us to challenge ourselves intellectually.
  • Language and speaking: The practice of poetry strengthens language, writing, and speaking skills.
  • Developing perspective, empathy, and world views: Writing poetry often prompts us to look at the world from a variety of perspectives, which fosters empathy and expands one’s world view.
  • Cognitive function: Whether we’re searching for the perfect word, working out how to articulate a thought, or fine-tuning the rhythm and meter of a poem, the steps involved in crafting poetry strengthen our cognitive processes.

This is just a sampling of the benefits of writing poetry. Can you think of any other ways that poetry writing is beneficial to your emotional or intellectual well-being? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing poetry!

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