Good poetry positively impacts one’s mind – especially if the reader is lonely or depressed. Poetry allows people to see all sorts of beautiful and strange things – thus, allowing them to break free of their creative boundaries and feel all sorts of emotions that they could possibly think of.
Poems are written in different lengths and use different forms and styles to express different ideas in innovative, unconventional, and yet reasonable ways.
If you think about it – poetry allows the poet to express their message and even tell their story with limited words and precise sentences.
When it comes to poetry, the size doesn’t necessarily matter – it could be as short as one stanza – or as long as epic poetry.
So, if you are considering writing poetry and are wondering about the essential signs that your poetry is good, you will want to look out for the following signs to ensure that your poetry is engaging for the readers.
Keep reading!
Your Poetry is Meaningful
There is no set magical secret for writing good poetry. Nonetheless, if we were to define good poetry, we were to start with the foremost characteristic for the poetry to have a deep and meaningful message that the readers feel is personal.
Meaningful poetry makes the readers brood over the deeper meanings of life, which they wouldn’t do otherwise. Meaningful poetry can also make the readers form a different perspective of life (or death) and make them feel a new range of emotions that might lead to an extraordinary experience.
The poem’s message can be about anything – despair, loss, hope – anything. But – good poetry is something that resonates with its readers. If your poem doesn’t have a clear and profound message, it is less likely to resonate with its readers.
The easiest way to ensure that your message resonates with your readers is by clarifying each line of your poetry and removing all kinds of obscurity.
If it comes off as if your poem could be interpreted in several ways, you will want to rewrite it or hire one of the best poetry book editors in the USA who will ensure that the interpretation is correct. You get the point – good poems carry deep and meaningful messages and require more than a surface understanding of what is being said.
Resonate with Emotions & Feelings
By using carefully crafted words and imagery, you can create a poem that will evoke a broader range of emotions in your readers. Your poem can capture all sorts of emotions, including love, happiness, sadness, resentment, and anger.
You get the point – a good poem induces strong emotions in the readers.
The question is how to craft poetry that can actually capture feelings.
The answer is as simple as that you will have to use language in a way to create vivid imagery in the reader’s mind. By using fewer words, the poetry should be able to convey deeper feelings and induce a powerful emotional response from the readers.
Good poetry also uses metaphors and imagery to narrate stories and connect the readers with the conveyed feelings.
You get the point – good poetry captures readers’ emotions because it connects with their hearts. The poet uses words and imagery that innately resonates with the readers – subsequently – stirring up desired feelings and emotions that readers will find hard to ignore.
Connect to the Reader’s Imagination
As a poet, you should write poetry in a way that the literary piece can engage and connect with the reader’s imagination. Your aim should be to make the readers see the words unfolding and transforming into a clear image they can see.
If the readers cannot see what you are describing, they are more likely to just read the words without getting any value from them. One of the best ways to engage your reader’s imagination is to integrate figurative language into your poetry.
For instance, if you want to describe a person as sad, you will want to use the word “blue” instead of sad.
Nonetheless, figurative language also includes the use of similes and personification – this way, your readers will be able to form vivid images in their minds. You will want to aim to write poetry that will give your reader’s imagination wings.
Ideally, your poetry should be able to transport the readers to another place – ideally – the place you describe in your poetry.
Your poetry should be able to paint pictures in the reader’s mind with words so that the readers can imagine the things they are reading as if they were watching a movie in their mind’s eye.
Good Poetry Conveys Powerful Stories
Poems tell a lot – you can narrate an entire story through poetry. Using the right words and imagery, you can use poetry to tell a vivid and compelling story so that the readers won’t help themselves but be drawn to the poetry.
A good poem makes the readers feel like they are sitting next to the poet narrating the story.
At this point, you might be thinking about how to incorporate an effective storytelling strategy in your poetry. Again, it all comes down to how you incorporate language to create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.
You will want to choose the right words so that the readers will be transported into the poem’s settings and make them feel as if they are an essential part of the story. Additionally, you will want to use metaphors, imagery, and other poetic devices to help the readers connect with the story’s events, characters, and plot.
The thing about good poetry is that it isn’t just a bunch of random words that are thrown together – it is a narrative that entwines all essential elements of a good story into one connected piece.
It doesn’t matter whether you are writing epic poetry – or – whether you are narrating your personal experience; your poem should be able to narrate a story in such a way that readers cannot help but feel drawn to it.
The Takeaway
If this is your first time writing poetry, you will want to avoid too many words as it will make it challenging for readers to understand the underlying message. Besides, if the readers are exposed to a long poem, they might lose interest or get occupied with details.
Nonetheless, you will want to edit your poem in detail after your first manuscript. What is even better is to hire a professional editor to make your poetry concise and readable.
