My friend Linda S writes poems to put in Christmas cards. The strange thing is that I consider this way beyond my capabilities, although I have written poems on all sorts of subjects. If you wrote a couple of poems every day for a year, by the time it gets to Christmas, you would have at least one couplet which you could use in the year's Christmas card.
What have I don for myself and you in December 2020?
In December 2020 I have revised my comic poetry blog. I added a picture to start every poem. That was my main objective.
ILLUSTRATIONS I had three choices.
1 Add any picture which fitted the theme. Use Wikipedia for out of copyright pictures.
2 Spend time hunting for a cartoon.
3 Take a photo from around the house. For example, for a suitcase to fit a poem on packing lists.
However, whilst adding the illustrations, I read through each poem, and decided to check the syllable count of the poems
REVISIONS
1 I added an extra verse to poems of two verses to make the classical form of three.
2 Except limericks. I am thinking about making limericks into groups of three with a link between the theme of the three.
3 I checked the posts which had fewer readers and made the title more catchy.
4 I moved the best lines to the end of each verse to make punchline effect.
MORALE
1 At first it was disheartening to see how many poems needed fixing. However, it was heartening to realise that I can see how much progress I have made in writing poetry and creating blogs over the past year.
PLAN
Now I am much better placed to write a ten commandments of writing poetry or a checklist for homework when I teach.
STORY MEMORY
I remember coaching a pupil to write a ballad for her homework. First we both looked up ballad in different dictionaries.
Then I asked her to find a theme. She was blank.
So I suggested she wrote down ten ideas. I suggested three or four. Books. Computers. Trees. Birds. Cooking. Zoos. She chose cooking and computing. I told her to look around the room and pick eight more words. Desk, Pen kettle and so on. She wrote ten.
As a teacher and home tutor I am not allowed to do her homework or course work. She had to make all the decisions.
She chose computer. I was surprised. Rather modern for a sonnet.
But it was her choice, her creation, her homework. And she had to write about something about which she felt enthusiastic.
The result she created was just so-so, in my opinion. But we had fulfilled the objective. Get the homework done. Her mother could not help. Her mother spoke English as a second language.
Before the lesson, neither the mother, not the pupil, nor I (!) knew or remembered the two classical forms of sonnets.
I had not realised how simple a sonnet was to write. Just three four-line verses, ending with a couplet.
Imagine my surprise and joy when the next week the mother thanked me because her daughter's poem was top of the class! The poem was entirely the girl's own creation. All credit for the poem went to her.
I had simply shown her the steps to take. Check the sonnet form. Choose a subject. Write a grid for the poem form on the page. Approve or revise the titel. Eliminate repeated words unless you are using them for effect. Clarify and add detail. Find alliteration. Check syllable count. Read aloud to check rhythm and readability.
An hour's effort to complete the draft with crossing out. Another hour routine to present it properly. She went home and rewrote it or typed it so the teacher could read it, adding her name and the date. So, I reckon an hour to write my first draft poem. Another hour to illustrate, add references, check spellings and typos.
But all credit for the teaching went to me. Before the lesson started, she didn't even know what a sonnet was.
What had I gained? from that lesson, I had earned money for the hour's lesson. I had learned to write a sonnet. I had a pupil who was happy to come to the lesson, because I solved her puzzle, her problem. The mother was satisfied with money well spent, homework done, and daughter an achiever.
And I had learned how to write a sonnet.
What have I gained from a year writing poetry, and three sessions of on and off days revising the poetry blog?
Now I must write a sonnet for New Year's Day 2021. I must also prepare a plan for the year. A poem a day. But I mustn't waste time. No need to waste time. I often write a poem whilst swimming or travelling to and from the pool. In the UK in the car there and back. In Singapore waiting for the lift.
What have you gained?
1 Amusement from reading poems.
2 Insight into how it is done.
3 The possibility of starting or improving your own poetry writing.
4 A plan or scheme to write to time, every day, or every morning,
5 A plan for a theme through the next year. Such as poems on the seasons or weather. Or the political news of the day. Events. People. Philosophy.
6 The chance to help others by helping your children or grandchildren, teaching pupils.
7 Help choosing a teacher to help your children write creatively for fun, or do homework.
8 A chance to find me or another (such as me) to help you complete tasks in good English or write creatively for fun.
9 Finally, an opportunity to use the suggested skills on proof-read, or edit a publication of poetry or prose.
10 Useful lists of resources.
Useful Websites
songwritingacademy.co.uk/international-songwriting-conference-2018/
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary
https://www.wiki-calendar.com/2021-calendar
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs
Books include Wedding Speeches and Toasts (Ward Lock/Cassell)
Quick Quotations (Lulu.com)
travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
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