Reasons to Write Poetry

Poetry is becoming a popular medium for writers to express themselves, connect with readers, & possibly find literary success. From Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman to Maya Angelou and others, poetry has existed since mankind could transcribe their thoughts. Since middle school, I’ve personally found poetry to be one of my favorite reads and ways of writing. Last year, I published my debut poetry book Naked Paradox. The poems are a self-exploration of myself, my childhood, mental health, traumas, and desires. You can learn more about it here.

Poetry is healing

As I said before with my own poetry book, writing poetry can be self-reflective. Just like journaling, poetry can allow us to process and express our mind and emotions. Whether re-evaluating our childhood from a different lens or acknowledging our current emotional state, poetry offers healing.

As this article from verywellmind.com says about healing, “Emotional healing is the process of acknowledging, allowing, accepting, integrating, and processing painful life experiences and strong emotions. It may involve empathy, self-regulation, self-compassion, self-acceptance, mindfulness, and integration.” I truly believe from personal experience that writing poems about ourselves, our lives, our world or anything swarming our conscious can be quite cathartic.

Poetry challenges your creativity

Screenplays, novels, and short stories are identified based on niche standards for those mediums—and poems are no different. Whether free verse, rhyme scheme, haiku, and more, poems have certain patterns that classify the work as poetry.

With these specifications comes a challenge to expand your creativity as a writer. Using metaphors, synonyms, rhymes and other literary devices, creates flexibility and restraint for you to craft a poem. This balancing act expands your capability to express yourself in a compelling but poetic way. *pun intended*

Poetry is easily promotable

Lately, I’ve applied to some poetry contests in which I could possibly be chosen to be published and paid for my poem. As I said at the beginning of this post, poetry is becoming a popular medium for writers. From poem contests to greeting card submissions to Instagram posts, writing and sharing your poetry with others is a chance to promote yourself as a writer.

There are various creative ways to market your poems (and overall writing) on social media. Instagram is more picture and video oriented so reading your poems or making simple but pretty poem posts could be ways to advertise yourself. Researching ways to promote yourself and your poetry is always that best way to decide what’s beneficial to your circumstance.

I encourage you to give poetry a try.