How Poetry Can Help You

Four years ago I started to write an essay about taking my son to college. I tried several approaches, but I was blocked. After a couple of weeks I sat down to write the essay again and a poem appeared on the page. I've been writing poetry ever since. Some of my poems have been published by websites and magazines. This week my first book, Two Car Garage, is being published by CHB Media, a Florida publishing company. The book is now available on both Amazon.com and bn.com for only $9.99. What I learned writing the poems that went into the book can help you create whatever form of content you want to create. The three most important lessions were: 1. Practice -- I was proud of my first poem, but the poems I'm writing now after four years of practice are much better. Whatever you want to do -- paint portraits, write movies, create television shows, etc. -- you will improve if you practice. If you do nothing else, keep working on your craft. 2. Get support -- I did some research and learned that a lot of writers joined writers groups to get creative support and honest critiques of their work. It didn't take a lot of internet searching to find several writers groups in my home town. Find the people in your home town that are doing what you want to do. The support is priceless. 3. Learn from the best. I also read poetry -- both the classics and the best work that's being done today. I attended poetry readings by professional poets. I went to poetry and writing workshops to learn how to improve. I may not have been able to meet Robert Frost and ask him how to write a poem, but I can buy his complete poems and learn from them. So if you want to write novels, read great novels. If you want to direct films, watch and analyze the work of the great directors. If you want to paint pictures, make sure you see the work of the great masters in person. I started from writing my first poem to my first book in a little over three years. You may take less time to realize your dream, or you may take more time. The only sure thing is that, if you don't try, you're guaranteed not to suceed.