Happy Saturday! It's been a while since I've touched on writing techniques and things to feed the creative beast.
Recently I thought it would be a good idea to go back to where it all started for me, through listening to spoken word videos on YouTube. I saved a playlist of my favorites, which you can listen to HERE if you're interested, and realized how helpful this resource is.
Let's talk about how spoken poetry can aid your creative process. I will reference specific videos and analyze the techniques that can be taken away from them.
"I'm Thinking About You" by Mike Taylor.
If you are a poet or an avid reader of poetry, you understand how hard it is to come up with an original topic. Poetry is often based on feelings, and where else should we pull from if not our experiences and relationships with other people? I believe this poem is a prime example of how structure and cadence can shape a poem, even when the words.
Mike Taylor's poem is simple, they're telling the girl he likes how much they think of her. Seems simple, right? But the way they read this poem is captivating and fun. This is entirely because of the rhythm of their breath, and the way they pause for dramatic effect. This can be translated onto paper through line breaks, and the way phrases are broken into stanzas. The cadence and structure can fundamentally change how a reader reads a poem, even if the topic is something we have heard before.
Play around with the structure of your poem. Think about where the reader's eyes will go to next, and use it to your advantage.
"Angry Black Woman" by Porsha Olayiwola
Take an idea that can be controversial and reinforce it. I believe too many people have only seen the beautiful side of poetry. Ones about sunsets, falling in love, and other cliches. Don't get me wrong, I also write these poems, but sometimes we need to dig deeper. We as humans tend to avoid bringing out the darker sides of our psyche, so sometimes, it is easier to bring out the darker sides of society. Bring emotion into your poetry! Experiment with emphasis!
Porsha goes into a stereotype they can relate to, which only boosts the point. What I love about this poem is the way it is read. There is an emphasis on certain words, and the tone of voice is angry. It almost plays into the stereotype, making fun of those who believe it. The way Porsha reads can't be completely translated onto paper, but using emphasis in your poetry helps to get your voice across.
For your next poem, use emphasis to drive home your point and give your written voice power.
"Copse" by Theresa Davis
I was taught to play with perspective when learning how to write poetry. This often came through personification, by seeing through the eyes of something else. This poem is the poem I go back to when I think about perspective.
We personify things to make them more human, but something I don't see too often is seeing an event through the eyes of something else. Theresa does this beautifully. They talk about a tree, how it was cut down and made into the floorboards of a house where a man was killed. The perspective is what brings the poem together by bringing a greater impact. I cannot express enough how powerful this poem becomes once the viewer/reader can relate to these two stories.
If you're writing your next poem on a personal event, think about writing it from a different perspective, and use it to strengthen your poem.
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