POETRY SCANSION PRACTICE WORKSHEET FREE

With a notebook in hand, venture out and make five sensory observations for each of your five senses.

If you feel your creative well is running dry, slow down and pay some extra attention to the world around you. Whatever metaphors or similies you find don’t have to be groundbreaking-they don’t even have to make sense! If you come back to your list another day, there’s a good chance you’ll find at least one of those thoughts inspirational. Start by thumbing through a book of poems, or heading outside where you can observe nature, people, and traffic. Whip out a notebook and just jot down some comparisons. If you’re feeling stuck, don’t worry about writing an entire poem at once. Let the words left help you form your next poem. Then use a marker, white out, or a pen to omit the words you don’t love. Use a pen to underline some of your favorite words in the block. This exercise starts with a block of text, which can come from anywhere-the newspaper, a magazine, a book, the back of a cereal box. You can take the fictional route and imagine being a participant or observer in the event, or a more literal one and imagine all the ways this historic event has affected (or not affected) your life. Then, pick one to use as a jumping off point. Choose a handful you find meaningful or interesting, even if you have to do a bit of research. Look up the year you were born on Wikipedia, and you’ll find a long list of events.

POETRY SCANSION PRACTICE WORKSHEET FREE

Whether you like to rhyme, write in free verse, or perform spoken word, it’s helpful to give yourself a little warm-up before you’re off to the races. Instead, get your mind moving and maybe shake a few ideas loose with one of these eight poetry exercises.

It’s not easy to dive into a blank page cold, and it can be frustrating to expect a full-fledged poem on your first try. Writing is a lot like running: it goes over better if you stretch first.

Poetry scansion practice worksheet