Poetry Archives | The Writer's Cookbook

12. Dialogue vs Description: Which is More Important?

by Kristina Adams | Mar 4, 2021 | Creativity, Fiction, Podcast, Poetry, Scriptwriting | 0 |

Powered by RedCircle Kristina: Hello and welcome to The Writer’s Cookbook podcast. With me is spring onion growing extraordinary Ellie Betts. Ellie: And she has killed every plant she’s owned. It’s Kristina...

Creating Atmosphere in Writing: The Ultimate Guide

by Sarah Hindmarsh | Mar 24, 2020 | Fiction, Poetry, Writing | 3 |

One thing many writers struggle with is creating the right atmosphere for their book, story, poem...

What is Free Verse Poetry (and How do You Write it)?

by Ellie Betts | Oct 15, 2019 | Poetry, Writing | 4 |

Free verse. Have you heard of it? I mean, I am sure that you have. But the term floats around all over the place, what does it really mean? If you ever wanted to know more about free verse poetry, you’ve come to the right...

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Writing

by Kristina Adams | Aug 31, 2018 | Copy, Creativity, Fiction, Poetry, Writing | 1 |

Crafting clear, simple sentences that connect with your readers sounds simple.

But it’s really, really not.

Many academic institutions teach you the exact opposite of how to write in this way.

That means that when you’re blogging, you want to write a commercial book, or even when you’re a poet, it can be very difficult to convey your ideas clearly and sharply.

In fact, writing clearly and expressing your ideas in a simple way is one of the most difficult challenges you’ll face, particularly when you first start out.

How to Analyse a Poem

by Kristina Adams | Apr 12, 2018 | Poetry, Reading | 0 |

The beauty of poetry is that it’s open to interpretation. Yes, some images can only mean one thing, but the best poems mean something different to everyone. That’s not because they’re poorly written, but because we project our own experiences onto what we read.

Poets must make deliberate decisions about every aspect of their poem. Things like a poem’s structure, its title, and even its use of punctuation are deliberate decisions made by the poet to reinforce—or sometimes contradict—the overarching theme or message of the poem.

In this post, we’re going to look at some of the areas you can analyse when reading a poem.

How to Give a Great Poetry Reading

by Kristina Adams | Feb 1, 2018 | Poetry, Reading, Social Media and Marketing | 4 |

Poetry readings differ from other kinds of public speaking events for many reasons.

Firstly, they’re more of a musical performance than a fiction or nonfiction reading.

Secondly, you need to embody the character of your poem. In fiction, you can get away (a little) with reading in a fairly normal voice. But if you don’t put passion and pizazz into your poetry, you’ll lose your audience, and fast.

Many poems are written to be read aloud.

So, as a poet, you need to embrace this.

Even if you hate being on stage more than anything else, you can learn to love reading your poetry aloud.

And the more you read your work in front of people, the easier it gets.

Promise.

Get your free Essential Writing Ingredients ebook!

by Kristina Adams | Oct 22, 2017 | Creativity, Fiction, Poetry, Scriptwriting | 0 |

Last week, I had an idea. Since then, it’s been pretty much all I’ve been able to...

7 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking

by Kristina Adams | Jun 10, 2015 | Poetry, Social Media and Marketing | 0 |

Public speaking has long been an important part of getting your writing out there. Charles Dickens spent years touring and performing his work. Public speaking doesn’t come easily to everyone, though. Some of us enjoy it,...

VIDEO: Restless Minds at Dagda Publishing’s Speak Your Mind #2

by Kristina Adams | Jan 5, 2015 | My Poetry, Poetry, Videos | 0 |

A few weeks’ ago now I performed at Dagda Publishing’s Speak Your Mind #2 event. Some of the poems that I read were recorded, and here they are.

VIDEO: Restless Minds at Jazz & Poetry

by Kristina Adams | Dec 22, 2014 | My Poetry, Poetry, Videos | 0 |

To promote and sell copies of Restless Minds, myself and a couple of other poets performed at local event Jazz & Poetry in November. Here I read out my poem from Restless Minds ‘Portrait of my Nan as an Armchair’, as well as two of my other poems: ‘Hypoglycaemia’ and ‘Domestic Bliss’.

Every Poetic Form You’ll Ever Need

by Kristina Adams | Oct 13, 2014 | Poetry, Reading | 15 |

There are so many different forms of poetry that it’s hard to keep up. This is by no means a complete list — there are always going to be some that get missed — but I have tried to include as many as I could, and will update it as necessary.

This isn’t an in-depth list. You can click on the links under each for more detailed explanations and examples. I find the best way to learn about a new form is to read as much about it as possible, then attempt to write one as close to the rules as possible. What works for you may be different.

Lowercase letters represent repeated lines.

The Reason Poetry is Being Taught All Wrong

by Kristina Adams | Sep 26, 2014 | Poetry, Reading | 0 |

I have asked so many people why they hate poetry, and it’s because they see it as something ethereal, something impossible to understand. They were forced to study highbrow poetry at school, and never introduced to younger...