Poem Style

[Zephyr]

When you're writing a poem, what sort of aspects do you pay more attention to while writing? And on the flip-side, which aspects do you ignore?

For example: how the text looks, the format of the text, rhyme, flow, length, alliteration etc.

-----------------------

When I write,
I focus on putting catchy and creative lines together first and foremost,
Then I'll go back and edit it for flow,
Then try to go back and make the lines around equal length.
Sometimes I'll mess around with the format to 'create' a picture,
Or interesting shape with how it lays out on the page.

I disregard rhyming because if you focus too much on making a rhyme, it can throw the entire thing out of balance, especially the flow; It can also easily make the message/story of the poem lost to the reader. In addition with me disregarding rhyme, it's highly overrated in my opinion. Anybody can put words at the end of lines that rhyme, but it's more of a talent to make a good poem without relying on rhyming to make it sound good.

[nick]

I dont pay any attention at all to how the text looks, in terms of fonts or alignment. I prefer left aligned text, its less distracting.

Beyond that it varies. Some of my poems rhyme, some dont. Some have been written with "hidden" messages in them or to a particular feature in their construction. Most have a fixed stanza shape with a metre or rhythm but some are free flow. I always read them over and over until I feel really happy with the flow.

[TigerLily]

Hmm, I don't really know tbh.
I just write, I don't think about it beforehand. Sometimes I edit it afterwards and fix up metre issues and such, but not always. Most of my poems start from a couple of lines I think up on the bus or while falling asleep and I build them up from there. Or sometimes I just write it straight out, if they're personal to me, and don't edit. I write my best really late/early at night.
Most are songs in my head, they all have tunes to me, but I can't play piano or guitar or anything so thats all they will ever be, which I sometimes think is a shame.
I'm not sure if I have a particularly style tbh.

[Triceratops]

The majority of the time, I use metaphors or personification to explain my own emotions. They're usually quite sinister or eerie too.

I like to create a nice rhythm, sometimes.
Each line has to have similar syllables, otherwise the poem just won't sound as good, in my opinion.

Poems do need some decent amount of thought put into them, otherwise they will rarely turn out as well as it could be.

Oh, a nice use of vocabulary is a must, otherwise I probably won't take as much of a liking towards it. I'm a huge fan of old-fashioned literature and all.

Sometimes, people can pull off the most unexpected pretty damn well. It just depends on what the particular stanza, or even a line, happens to contain.

[Aspiringanonymous]

Almost all of my poetry revolves around (and is inspired by) a metaphorical expression of sorts. If I had a 'writing style' which could be uniquely attributed to my work, that would probably be it.

Richness of vocabulary is crucial - I'm extremely picky about word usage in everything I write. Rhyme and other sound techniques is something I almost never pay attention to, in reading and writing, unless it's an exam question that requires me to. For me, it seems to detract from concentration on the actual content expressed through the words, which holds much more meaning than the study of how words were used for sound effect. But that's just my opinion.

As for the work in process - I just start writing when I feel comfortable with the extent of development of an idea, as that is when words seem to flow out most easily. If the images are still vague, I will wait until I am able to grasp it with greater clarity.

I prefer to have lines of similar length (generally no shorter than 10 syllables), and the same number of lines in most stanzas (the final one tends to be shorter). Just out of personal aesthetic preference.

[Jean Poutine]

I write in alexandrines or decasyllables, and I always rhyme.

I'm a very classical writer. Poetry without form isn't poetry.