POETRY JOURNALING WITH QUIN

POETRY JOURNALING WITH QUIN




INTRODUCTION



I am Quin Johnson, author of the Poetry In Expression Series, once available on Amazon. People have often in passing, inquired of tips and special secrets that they can implement in their own poetry to become more solid, expressive writers. This is that booklet! This journaling booklet will not only help you get inspired, but remain inspired, express yourself honestly, edit, and more. I will give you the tools to arrive at a place where your work is heartfelt and complete: the two most essential components to good poetry.






SUPPLIES



WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

--- this journal

--- a notebook for writing

--- your favorite pen

--- discipline

--- ~25 min. for each exercise

--- a quiet, pleasant area

--- an open mind





POETRY GENERALITIES


WHAT IS GOOD POETRY?:

In my humble opinion, good poetry is a heartfelt expression of an idea, feeling, mood, principle, or moral in an effective and meaningful way. I do not feel that poetry is better when it is urban, or more classic, melancholic, or political. Poetry is a platform and one should considerately reflect just what they want to say. You hold responsibility for what you say. What makes good poetry is poetry that communicates. All art communicates. With that, does it communicate what you are trying to say or give feeling of? As a vice, you may find you're projecting who you want to be, or pretend to be. This is not always wrong, but can often come off as false. Sometimes you want to portray a feeling of vagueness. This should be expresssed. Sometimes you want to convey a pointless idea or feeling; use a lack of wording, or haphazard wording in this situation. Write in a direct manner.

GRAMMAR/ STYLE:

ALL POETRY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PERFORMANCE POETRY TO BE OF MERIT. Performnce poetry tends to be the type of poetry that people do on stage. Often these are rants made into performance or monologue. ALL POETRY DOES NOT HAVE TO RHYME. Some of the best poems don't. ALL POETRY DOES NOT REQUIRE CAPITALIZATION. Though to begin, you may want to capitalize the beginning of each line for a cleaner, more standard look. Some poetry makes shapes or designs with the sentence structure. You do not have to use proper spelling; however, misspelling must be purposeful to the overall effect of your work. POETRY LENGTH DOES NOT MATTER. There are many great one- lined poems, and many great epic or longer poems. ALL POETRY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE NICE.

It is good to know the meaning of your own poetry. However, you do not have to. There need only be an expression there that is complete. You will know when and where it is complete.


CHAPTER ONE:
Your Poetry Style




YOUR POETRY STYLE

What Is Good Poetry To Me?:


You've heard my reflections on good poetry. What is good poetry to you? Be encouraged to use these notes as a tool for your poetry in later discovering who you are.

Highlight all that apply.


My Good Poetry is:

--- moody

--- romantic

--- political

--- gives an idea

--- gives a moral

--- has double- meanings

--- makes people want to change

--- can have any of these


My Good Poetry:


--- expresses my feelings

--- expresses my thoughts

--- makes someone fall in love with me

--- makes people think

--- makes me think

--- clears my head

--- gives a moral/ political stance

--- is any of these



My Good Poetry:


--- is inspiring

--- is inviting

--- is calm

--- is melancholic

--- is dramatic

--- is angry

--- is a rant

--- is cultural

--- is a story

--- is a question

--- leaves advice

--- any of these



When People Read My Poetry I Want:


--- to be respected

--- to be admired

--- to feel purged and to help someone

--- to make a difference

--- to make beautiful/ great expressions

--- to make a melancholic mood

--- to enjoy the poetry

--- to feel what I want them to feel/ think what I want them to think

--- could be any of these.




What Did You Choose?

These are not your only aims in all your writing, you will find. However, what you marked should be what you are aiming to do with your words. KEEP THAT IN MIND. These items marked are part of your current style. You may also through these exercises have
discovered some vices, and things that you want to steer clear of as objectives in your poetry. Likewise, consider this, do not do these.



CHAPTER TWO:
Subject Matter


SUBJECT MATTER: BRAINSTORMING AND FINDING INFORMATION


Brainstorming is the process of gathering information to assist you in completing a literary work. Inspiration is the spark that prompts you in the first beginnings of your work. Sometimes inspiration can take you through to the end of your work, and sometimes not. However, you will find, when you lose sight of interest or ideas to carry you through, you can go back to the former pages of inspiration and focus.


Brainstorming:

In Your Notebook, complete the following exercises by at least one prompt a day.


--- List 20 things that make you angry

--- List 20 things that make you sad

--- List 20 things that make you happy

--- List 20 things that make you feel romantic/ sexual

--- List 20 things that make you feel excited

--- List 20 things that you find amazing

--- List 20 things that make you feel relaxed

--- List 20 things that move fast

--- List 20 things that never change

--- List 20 things that you miss

--- List 20 people who make you feel passionate,
celebrity or not.

--- List your top 20 experiences


This is the ultimate list. Once you complete the exercises, you will forever have a launching pad to begin to spark inspiration, to take you to the first step.


What is the first step? The first step is understanding your poem's central appeal. It is typically one of the following:


--- the subject

--- the mood

--- the idea

--- the objective

--- the double meaning


You must have the central appeal in your head as you write. Is the subject more important than the mood? Is the idea or moral perspective the central appeal? You are encouraged to have more than one central appeal, but you must decide where your priorities lie.



CHAPTER THREE: Environment



ENVIRONMENT
Getting Ready:


When you write, choose a time when you feel neutral. If you already know your subject matter is anger, choose a time when you feel angry. If your subject matter is romantic, light some candles, spray some cologne, sit under the stars. You can often set the mood to the tone you are trying to create. If this cannot be done, choose a neutral time when you don't feel too excited or low. Have at least 25 minutes to begin the writing process. Have a calming or comfortable place to write. I personally prefer to use a computer or tablet to work. The old fashioned pen and paper suffices as well. Relax. Have fun.



CHAPTER FOUR: Freeverse



FREEVERSE


As an exercise in Freeverse, write out 40 lines in the form of a poem of your current thoughts without giving regard to punctuation, spelling, grammar, or a lot of creativity.

To end it, here you have your current thoughts. You can keep it as a poem, as is. You can also edit it by changing some wording and punctuation, to suit what you truly want to communicate. Another option is to change it completely so that it comes to a feeling or idea of clarity.

Implement grammar and punctuation before publishing anywhere. You may want to get an experienced person to do this for you.



FREEVERSE II.


The next exercise is to choose from your list of brainstorming/ inspirations on the former pages something to freeverse about. Remember free verse is pen to paper, your thoughts, whatever they are, no editing until the end. 40 lines! Go!


FREEVERSE APPLICATION


Freeverse can be used as a therapeutic measure of opening up your latent feelings and thoughts, aside from the purpose of poetry.

It can be used to get you on focus, or off focus. It is also most definitely a great jumping off point into any kind of writing. It is the base type of all styles of poetry writing.


Freeverse can be used:

--- for poetry

--- for personal healing

--- for daily journaling

--- in a psychiatric/ psychological setting




CHAPTER FIVE:
Writing Styles & Editing



WRITING STYLES & EDITING


There are many styles of writing. There are many proper terms. For the sake of easy understanding and easy reference I have simplified and altered the proper terms describing poetry styles. Again, THESE ARE NOT PROPER TERMS; however, by description, the style of poetry you are trying to write is communicated simply to the average person of poetry. If you are interested in proper terminology, Google search for "list of poetry styles."





Writing Styles:

--- Freeverse

--- Performance Poetry

--- Romantic

--- Moody/ Melancholic

--- Moral

--- Political

--- Memorial

--- Rhyming

--- Happy/ Calming

--- Inspirational

--- Double Meaning

--- Layering



For all intents and purposes, we will build a checklist of basic attributes that each poem you ever do must have:


--- Does it have uniformity in your featured writing style?

--- Are your word phrases/ chunks meaningful and clear?

--- Do you use proper punctuation and grammar?

--- Did you cite or quote where needed?

--- Does it have a title?

--- Do you feel comfortable with the content?

--- Does it feel complete?


After theses things are done, you should clean up your poetry through editing, or as best as you can. You may need help. The finished product should convey your complete feelings or thoughts. DO NOT OVERWORK YOURSELF ON EDITING. Poetry is typically lyrical and a more freestyle form of writing.



CHAPTER SIX:
Performance Poetry



PERFORMANCE POETRY


What makes great Performance Poetry is a good rant, monologue, or story being told. Let's go back to our former list to gather ideas. You may want to take 20 of the things that make you angry or sad and put it in a rant, or just stick with one and expound. Performance Poetry usually lasts 3-5 minutes. Therefore your writing must be long and tell a lot in the story. It's best if it doesn't rhyme, though rhyming in sections or in couplets here and there are best. Don't forget to use your poetry completion checklist.



PERFORMANCE POETRY APPLICATIONS


These are stories and rants, and; therefore, some benefits of this style are:

--- rehabilitation

--- persuasion

--- regaling/ entertaining

--- wading in the waters of theater

--- because of its new popularity; recognition




CHAPTER SEVEN:
Romantic Poetry



ROMANTIC POETRY


There's nothing more classical than Romantic Poetry, so treat this avenue with the greatest of care. The biggest concerns you will have with this style are:


--- what you want to say

--- what you don't want to say

--- what you want to suggest

--- how emotional you want to reveal yourself as

--- to what extent you'll allow lewdness

--- your audience


There is no rhyme or reason. These are just your feelings and thoughts. However some tips are:


--- use similes

--- use metaphors

--- if you have a thought or feeling,
dig deeper, tell why or when

--- describe the person or idea

--- your appeal in the poem should be clearly in your head









ROMANTIC POETRY APPLICATIONS,
THE BENEFITS:


--- expressing yourself personally

--- to know your true/ deepest feelings

--- to find out if you are in love/ lust.

--- to woo a lover

--- for weddings or holidays

--- for sale

--- to share





CHAPTER EIGHT:
Moody/ Melancholic Poetry



MOODY/ MELANCHOLIC POETRY


For this avenue of poetry, the main objective is to convey a frequency/ lull of the mood expressed in the poem. What's best is to center on your feelings and wallow. Wallow like never before. Every sentence should be wallowing, in either bliss or despair or something else. Feel free to use other components from your previous lists.


Tips:

--- wallow

--- freeverse once, then freeverse a second time to
even deeper thoughts and feelings

--- use alliteration to convey constancy

--- use similies

--- use metaphors

--- try not to rhyme

--- just convey your feelings


MOOD/ MELANCHOLIC POETRY
APPLICATION:



--- to rehabilitate

--- to understand latent feelings

--- to convey to others your feelings


--- to write good poetry

--- to remember your lowest/ highest points or emotions






CHAPTER NINE:
Moral Poetry




MORAL POETRY



Moral Poetry in this regard, is poetry with a lesson to be taught. A poem like this should never be approached as a sermon, or what people call being too "preachy." No one likes to be told what to do, or what to believe. Therefore, you must present the moral, or the appeal to the moral in other ways. Some of those ways may include:


--- presenting a scene

--- presenting a circumstance or life
without the moral

--- approach the poem as a reporter reporting,
but leaving out statistics



I do not recommend writing an abundance of this type of poem in one book. This would again be because people will feel "preached to." This may be what you are going for inspirationally; however, I challenge you to be creative in how you set up each poem for your success.


BENEFITS OF MORAL POETRY:


--- perpetuating good in the earth

--- showing your ethical stance

--- being sympathetic to others' plights

--- being inspirational

--- it's direct

--- it has purpose and focus

--- it can be extended to be a part of
a political idea/ writing

--- it can be used in a church sermon

--- it can be often edited minimally to be a
performance piece


Something to be noted is that some poetry has morality in it, but wouldn't be considered rightly Moral Poetry. There must be a clear moral road that is most explicitly presented.



CHAPTER TEN:
Political Poetry


POLITICAL POETRY



Political poetry is a cross between Moral Poetry and a Political Speech. Political Poetry differs from a political speech in that it is more abstract and it contains more emotional/ sensory content. Some approaches:


--- don't outright tell someone what to believe, usually

--- there should be abstract and colorful ways of describing
the politics or political matter, or life without the politics

--- there should be a tone of authority, usually

--- HAVE CORRECT POLITICAL FACTS

--- CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCES

--- JUST A SUGGESTION, YOU SHOULD BE RESPECTFUL


ADVANTAGES/ BENEFITS OF
POLITICAL POETRY


--- perpetuating goodness in the world

--- expressing yourself politically

--- it can be extended to be a political speech, or Performance Poetry





CHAPTER ELEVEN:
MEMORIAL POETRY



MEMORIAL POETRY


Memorial Poetry is a sentiment that recalls or remembers an event or person. These usually write themselves. It takes one spark, a memory, and people tend to be able to rant or freeverse quite easily because of that memory. I feel that these poems are done best starting with freeverse, in order to get the truest feelings to the surface to be handled like a lump of clay. This can be done by:


--- giving a memory of an event or scene

--- giving descriptiveness of a person

--- placing a person in the position of the things that
they would do if still here

--- what you want that person/ event to know



BENEFITS OF MEMORIAL POETRY


--- it leaves last words and closure to a sensitive issue

--- often you can write several memorials, or a journal
of memorials, and that's what makes your heart cleanse;
giving your last words

--- the memory is a window for others to see the person/ event through your eyes

--- the poem is an heirloom

--- NO CONSIDERATE MEMORIAL POEM IS WRONG. This is the most serious matter of the heart. Your honest
feelings are valid.







CHAPTER TWELVE:
RHYMING POETRY



RHYMING POETRY

This is by far, the most popular form of poetry. It is arguably the most fun as well. It is a style but IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO GOOD POETRY. There are many pitfalls in writing Rhyming Poetry. Let us purge you of the worst. In Rhyming Poetry:


--- if it sounds like a children's storybook, and it's not, it is of bad taste.

--- the rhymes should keep pattern

--- what you are saying is more important than the rhyming.

--- if you have no similies, metaphors, or descriptives, but you
have rhyming, it's probably of bad taste.

--- if your rhyming sounds forced to you, it probably is.

--- rhyming dictionaries and thesauri are not totally cheating.

--- if it sounds silly, and it's not supposed to be, then it probably is.

--- this is the ESSENTIAL time to adhere to writing down your every thought. you may be in the
middle of a rhyme and lose one of your great ideas.

--- generally speaking, you should definitely increase your vocabulary. a wide vocabulary gives you more words to
rhyme off of, and an easier way of saying exactly what you want to say.

There is no magic to writing rhyming poetry. It just takes your time and patience. I am an overall advocate of using a thesaurus for any style, but rhyming dictionaries are borderline cheating. Rhyming on your own is a great discipline to learn.



--- if your rhyming is sounding like a nursery rhyme, rhyme to bigger more intricate words

--- a hallmark of good Rhyming Poetry is flow and smoothness.

--- if you have a part in your poem that "sticks out," fix it.


ADVANTAGES TO
RHYMING POETRY


--- rhyming is treated like a superpower

--- you have melodic, more classical style poetry in your midst

--- you are displaying patience and regard for the craft of poetry writing

--- you are more in tuned to your rhythmic side, as well as things with life's more rhythmic qualities

--- you can extend your gifts to a song, or rap song




CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
HAPPY/ CALMING POETRY



HAPPY/ CALMING POETRY

This is poetry usually about nature, or descriptives on some happy subject. It's usually just descriptive or happy, and not particularly inspirational. The main difference is that Inspirational Poetry usually talks about life or spiritual matters directly, while Happy Poetry is happy because it discusses a happy subject. However, Happy Poetry can also be considered Inspirational Poetry. Some tips:


--- keep it happy!

--- descriptives, similies, and metaphors are a must!

--- when you become a pro at writing these, try different approaches to your descriptives. don't always describe a
feeling. don't always talk about events. add variety. challenge yourself.



ADVANTAGES TO
HAPPY/ CALMING POETRY


--- it helps you/ others to stay positive

--- it helps you see the silver linings

--- it is in fact inspirational, you can make a lot of people very happy
with these

--- they can be the beginnings to memorials or other types of poetry




CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
INSPIRATIONAL POETRY



INSPIRATIONAL POETRY


This type of poetry is usually upbeat and positive in nature. It gives the reader a reason to carry on, a sense of purpose, hope, confidence, or infuses a plethora of other positive virtues. It's basically perspective. Inspirational poetry offers a new perspective. This genre can cross into other styles as well. Some tips:


--- your message should be clear

--- don't turn from inspirational to melancholic

--- don't be aggressive using "you" too much and verbally pointing your finger at people. Admonishment should be
light as a feather, usually

--- the basic thing to remember when you look over your work: does it inspire? what does it inspire me to do?


ADVANNTAGES TO
INSPIRATIONAL POETRY



--- they keep you and your audiences positive and motivated

--- good for church and work settings

--- great for most settings

--- you can reach a lot of people

--- it's one of the more popular styles of poetry

--- it can lead to great short story or fiction sketches
-
--- you begin to formulate protagonists, motivations, etc.

--- you can find your passions


CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DOUBLE- MEANING: POETRY



DOUBLE MEANING POETRY


Ahhh... The coveted Double- Meaning Poetry style. THIS IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO GOOD POETRY WRITING. However, it is an effect that everyone loves. A double meaning in poetry is when a word, verse, or poem holds two meanings. The first meaning is always what is explicitly said, the second meaning is implicitly said, or implied. The first meaning is always what is going on, and the second meaning is usually a subject, idea, universal truth, or beginning of a conversation.


--- the easiest way to do this is through a story of metaphor

--- it is best when your second meaning has true meaning, or is something important. don't have someone encrypting
your poetry to find your meaning is that "socks always get lost in the wash." this is bad taste. your second meaning
should be a deeper meaning.

--- the parallel can't be too hard or easy to come by. this is the art.

--- this will require a lot of editing and creative and critical thinking.

--- ask others to read your work. ask them what they think the double meaning is. listen carefully.

--- this is usually not a problem, but don't try to make too many hidden themes or force double meanings in your
poetry, this can be confusing.


ADVANTAGES TO
DOUBLE- MEANING POETRY


--- you look like a poetry expert.

--- you surprise yourself and get a lot of self- satisfaction.

--- if your double meaning is acquired upon through freeverse, latent ideas and feelings are presented. this means
there will be depth in your poem.

--- the people who will catch your double meaning are fewer, so you gain a "cult following."

--- sometimes people need a double meaning to see things in a different way.




CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
ONE- LINE POETRY


ONE- LINE POETRY


One- Line Poetry is one meaningful sentence. It must be grammatical, length does not matter. It is one sentence of inspiration, virtue, substance, or something thought- provoking.


--- it must be one sentence

--- it must be grammatical

--- it is best if it is thought- provoking or humorous.

--- it is a "drop the mic"

--- it is a pithy statement that could only be forcefully conveyed
in one sentence




ADVANTAGES TO
ONE- LINE POETRY


--- the effect is powerful

--- you think on a different level

--- sometimes you can convey a truth through one sentence that you
can't convey any other way.

--- it's easy to memorize/ possibly easy to write






CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
STYLE CROSSING IN YOUR
POETRY


STYLE CROSSING IN YOUR POETRY


This is when a melancholic piece is also inspirational, and a memorial, for example. Your romantic piece may also be a performance piece. This happens often. I don't feel that people should specifically go about trying to cross, your work generally does this for itself. If; however, you need to write one poem for two occassions, try to follow the tips in both genre styles. Often with a little work they will cross.



FINAL NOTES


--- BE ENCOURAGED

--- HAVE FUN

--- THINK & WRITE

--- SHARE








Thank you for being open to reading this instructional. I wish you all prosperity in all your writing and sharing endeavors.

--- Quin