From PROBLEM to POEM in 7 steps
the Why, Where, When, What, Who, How & Wow of writing poetry
Ai Ni and Ronaldo made this book to help poor people in Haiti, to build a school and teach them the art of a happy life.
A warning upfront from the editor:...
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Poetical devices
Are like spices;
Tough tools,
Tender taste.
In a world of shouting
The whisper draws the attention.
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Every writer makes hor readers a promise: "I will inform you and entertain you. I don't know your taste, and it's impossible to write something everyone likes, but I'll do everything I can to write something I like, and I hope you'll like it too."
When the student tells the teacher: "I've done everything I can, and this is the result.", a proper teacher answers: "Let me show you some new tricks, techniques, talents and toys. You can try them out and see for yourself if your result improves."
A skilled teacher doesn't judge or punish, but inspires and invites to learn, encourages making mistakes, stimulates to write like shit and laugh about it. Excellent teachers make it fun to learn new skills. "The greatest teacher failure is.", said Master Yoda, the greatest teacher in the universe. Drill-sergeants dictate rules and check if their soldiers followed the orders; they know NOTHING about art or creativity.
Therefore, we provide here a list of rules and order you to use them in your writing. The lesson is: taste the effect. Find out if you like stylistic devices, or if they annoy you and put the spotlight on the wrong details.
Figures of speech have a reason. Many of them are like candidates before election day, drawing the attention to themselves and/or to what they say. Tools like rhyme and rhythm help us remember the exact words. Like punctuation marks, stylistic devices can add music to a written text, by changing the speed, cooling the heat, running feet, wanna meet, and cheat... Figures of speech can turn words into images, create emotions, prepare the audience for the upcoming surprise, or pump up the suspense to a point where it's impossible to close the book.
You won't know what you can do with your toolbox (26 letters, 10 numbers and a handful of punctuation marks) until you've played with everything.
