Poems come in all shapes and sizes. Some rhyme, some have stanzas, and some have no structure at all. The ways poets craft these creative pieces of writing completely differ. I chose to interview four of (in my opinion) Whyville's best current poets.
I asked these questions:
Kittieme: How do you choose a poem's topic?
Xpoetx: I don't actually choose a topic. . . When I'm sitting at my computer, I just type whatever I feel and somehow, it always turns in to a poem.
Anionett: It depends, sometimes I'll just get a random thought and say "Hey, that would make a good poem!" and sometimes I base it off of my situations in real life.
Iynne: Sometimes I'll be naming Michael Jackson pictures sand choose w ords out of the names of them and write a poem on it.
Mylo9810: I usually don't mentally choose it - - the words just come from my heart, and it's usually about what I'm feeling at the moment of writing it.
Kittieme: Do you write in stanzas? If so, how do you choose how many lines are in each one?
Xpoetx: I write in stanzas most of the time, but they usually aren't equal. It just depends on the poem and if I choose to have a pattern for the rhyme.
Anionett: I usually do, but it usually just depends on what I think would sound best for the poem.
Iynne: Sometimes I do. Some of the times I just put them there naturally and other times I put them when I want the reader to take a breath, and then there are those times when I want to stop rhyming to the same word sound.
Mylo9810: I may or may not write in stanzas because I'm not the poet to be focused on the structure of things. I just write. If it's the rare occasion where I am actually thinking about forming my poems correctly and not with tears, I'll probably write in organized stanzas that will have four or five lines because it feels right. I'll add or subtract the number of lines depending on . . . say, the beat or flow of the poem and the general length of each line.
Kittieme: Do you like rhyming in your poems? Why or why not
Xpoetx: I don't usually rhyme anymore, although I think it gives poetry a much more steady flow. I used to always do an ABAB type of pattern, but I don't usually even make my stanzas equal now. I guess rhyming just ain't my style.
Anionett: Generally, yes, just because I think it makes it flow better. But sometimes the rhyming sounds too stiff, so I just take it out and let the poem go however it wants to.
Iynne: Haha . . . I used to like rhyming a lot, because non-rhyming poems sounded ugly to me, but that was when poetry really wasn't my thing. I prefer to rhyme a few words in a poem, just to keep the flow moving.
Mylo9810: Actually, I do like at least trying to rhyme in my poetry, but it usually doesn't happen because I'm a horrible rhymer. When it rhymes I feel like it's more of a song, and like most people, I love music!
Kittieme: Do you have any advice for newer poets out there?
Xpoetx: Ya. Before I found the Whyville Times, I'd never written a poem before. I really wanted to become a Whyville Poet though, and the only way I could write a decent poem was to read other ones and see how they put all their words together. Eventually, I learned how to place words and how to set up the stanzas and create something someone would be willing to read. Just taking the time to try writing poetry gives you time to improve and sprout in to something marvelous.
Anionett: Don't be discouraged if no one likes your writing at first. Just keep trying, practice makes perfect.
Iynne: Free the cowz.
Mylo9810: Write from the heart.
Thank you so much to Anionett, Iynne, Mylo9810, and Xpoetx. You four are truly amazing poets with promising futures!
