Follow these tips for finding your voice and creating a poem that stands out from the crowd

Poems have the ability to move and inspire us like little else. As writers, they allow us the freedom to explore topics with creativity and purpose, and as readers they can offer anything from comfort to confrontation. Language, form, and structure all come together to create something with meaning, and when every aspect works in harmony, it’s a truly remarkable thing.

Something that is in equal measures daunting and empowering is the fact that there are very few rules when it comes to writing contemporary poetry. You can play with structure as you please, you can bend the rules of grammar to create a unique voice, and you can explore striking and unusual images that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

So, when you’ve thrown away the rulebook, how can you tell whether what you’re writing is working? We’ve put together a simple, four-step guide to writing remarkable poems.

1. Find your voice

What you’ll notice when you read a lot of poems is that, over time, you come to recognise a poet’s voice. There may be a certain cadence to the writing, they may be drawn to certain images, or perhaps they write in a regional accent.

Finding your voice doesn’t necessarily mean writing how you speak – although it absolutely can do, and this can be a brilliant and impactful way of writing your poems. It could be about finding a way of writing that feels natural to you, or a tone that feels right – be that questioning, angry, humous, or soothing. The more you write, the more your voice will emerge, and you’ll begin to spot patterns and hallmarks in your work.

2. Create a tour, not a labyrinth

Some of the fun of reading a poem is getting to the end, sitting back, and really considering what you’ve just read. Finding the meaning, and understanding the poet’s intent, is part of the reading experience, and needing to mull it over for a bit is not a bad thing.

However, if the meaning of your poem is so obscured beneath shadowy hints and misdirections that your average reader can’t figure it out, you’ll have a problem on your hands. Imagine your poem as a tour of your topic. Rather than creating a labyrinth, full of cryptic twists and turns, you should guide your reader from start to finish. You don’t need to point everything out for them, but you want them to invite them to join you on this journey rather than pushing them into a maze.

3. Say something worth saying

This tip is less about topic (you don’t necessarily need to take on mankind’s biggest questions in order for your poem to be worthwhile), and more about perspective and intent. Consider why this poem needs to be written. It may be that you’re writing on a topic that is underexposed. It could be that you want to change the narrative on something. Maybe you do have the answers to life’s biggest questions. Or perhaps you need to get something off your chest and, for you, writing is a therapeutic practice.

Consider this point at every stage of writing, and once you’ve established your ‘why’, keep it in mind as you write the poem, and when you return to it for revisions.

4. Be bold

By virtue of writing in a way that is authentic to you, you will be taking the first steps to creating a remarkable poem – something that no one else would be able to do the same way that you do. Lean into this, embrace it, be proud of it, and be bold.

Whatever you want to say, say it with force and conviction. Say the things you wish others would, or that you wish they knew about. Say the things that will inspire, inpassion, and delight your reader.

Don’t be afraid to take risks with your writing – be that in the topic you chose or how you go about exploring it – the page is precisely the right place to experiment and try something new. When you put your heart into your writing, you’ll create something worth reading. Be brave and be bold. You may surprise yourself with what unfolds in ink.

The best writers are great readers. Head to happiful.com/poetry-prize to read Happiful’s 2024 winning and shortlisted poems, as well as exclusive Q&As with the poets behind them.

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