How to Get Ideas for Poetry Writing

Do you want to write a poem but you can't think of anything to write about? Staring at the blank screen of the blank page is not a fun way to fill in your time. It can feel like a total waste of time.

Unfortunately, that blank screen or page can happen all too often. There are better times, glorious times that are quite different, the ideas are buzzing and the words are flowing. It happens all too rarely though.

One idea to try when nothing seems to be prompting a poem to appear, is to look at the newspaper. Headlines can be intriguing and can be enough - you don't even have to read the article, and in fact it's less limiting if you have no idea what the story is about.

A good idea is to have a box where you cut out interesting things and put them in the box. You could also write down bits of overheard conversations, silly or intriguing things people say to you. Write down anything that seems interesting and put it in your box. Then, when no ideas are coming, just take a couple of ideas from the box and see what happens.

Of course, this won't make a poem happen immediately, but if you play around with the idea, something may pop up and away you go. This might be a poem, it might be a short story or an idea for an article.

You can find inspiration from just sitting outside and watching what nature is up to. You might see domestic disputes amongst the sparrows, or some territorial issues being sorted out by other birds too. There is something magical about birds and watching them go about their every day activities can be absorbing.

If you write down bits and pieces of the ideas that come to you as you watch, you could have a new poem brewing. You need to start writing down the thought scraps flitting around in your head. Not writing ideas down is a big waste of poetic and creative talents. So many great ideas arrive, only to disappear when we finally get around to working on them. Always make time to capture the ideas.

You might get lots of great ideas but never write them down. You can't fill a poetry collection with the fantastic poems you never wrote! Always keep pen and paper handy, and always write things down.