Tag Archives: Writing Poetry

Writing to Explore Influence and Admiration, Part 1

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Sheila BenderMay 21, 2019

Writing a litany of praise for anyone to whom you owe gratitude for life lessons will work in interesting ways if you take on the seemingly unpraiseworthy as if it were praiseworthy. You will get interesting results that push your writing past easy sentimentality or blinding anger to the important waters of insight. Praising What … Continue reading →

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Listening to How a Poem Sounds Helps You Write Both Poems and Prose — Meaning is in the Sounds!

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Sheila BenderApril 4, 2019

[The following article in honor of National Poetry Month appeared in slightly different form in March of 2003.] John Keats created the term “negative capability,” the idea that a poem holds within it one thing as well as its opposite. For example, when we eulogize someone’s death, we also celebrate their life. When we ache … Continue reading →

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Writing Toward a Clearer, More Centered Self Involves Poetry But Don’t Be Afraid!

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Sheila BenderJanuary 17, 2019

Writing poetry, no matter what genre you usually work in, is truly an experience of re-creating a self. In writing poems from experience and from meditative and reflective moments, you become the maker of something that builds increased intimacy with your truest self. From this intimacy, you grow by creating a self that is more … Continue reading →

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In a Season of Lists, Write a Litany to Help Yourself Keep Writing

Posted on December 20, 2018 by Sheila BenderDecember 20, 2018

It is holiday time and amidst the tornado-like whirl of shopping, decorating, traveling, baking, cooking, and gathering with family, friends, colleagues and community, of offering help in shelters and churches, it may seem hard to write. And even harder still to write to discover what is at the bottom of our hearts and minds. The … Continue reading →

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Taking Inspiration from Allen Ginsberg’s Poems to Have My Say

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Sheila BenderNovember 9, 2018

Tuesday, as I waited for election returns, I thought of Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl,” written in 1955, so full of despair at what he had seen around him. I wondered what I would howl when I found out whether or not Democrats had gained a majority in the House of Representatives and, therefore, become able … Continue reading →

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Prose Poetry in a Smoky Time

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Sheila BenderAugust 24, 2018

I was sitting at my dining table this morning with a cup of coffee looking out over the still smoky and haze-ridden sky we had experienced on the Olympic Peninsula for a week because of fires in Eastern Washington and in British Columbia. Sometimes we couldn’t see the islands so close to our shores here … Continue reading →

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To Love the World and Let the World Love You: August Advice for Writing Poetry

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Sheila BenderAugust 16, 2018

August is the Gregorian calendar month named after the Roman Augustus Caesar, the man responsible for spreading the Roman Empire over the earth. He wrote about his great accomplishments, writings some think of as the typical age-old boastings of a politician. However, others wrote after his death that upon innumerable occasions he donated money to … Continue reading →

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To Follow Your Words, Not Your Keys, Home

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Cyndi LloydJuly 12, 2018

Years ago, a poet friend of mine, Jim Mitsui, ended a poem with an image of people “following their keys home.” That image has lingered with me as a lesson about what the writing life saves us from, which is the dullness of always expecting the expected, and what it requires of us, which is … Continue reading →

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“Driving Home” by Barbara Simmons, 2nd Place Tie Winner, Winter 2018 Contest

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Barbara SimmonsApril 19, 2018

Our fall/winter 2018 contest judge Kelli Agodon felt that two poems tied for 2nd place. We posted one last week, ?Grave Site Visit? by Nancy Levinson, and this week we are posting the second second-place winning poem, Barbara Simmons “Driving Home.” Kelli wrote this about her choice of Barbara?s poem: “Driving Home” is a lovely … Continue reading →

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“Grave Site Visit” by Nancy Smiler Levinson, 2018 Winter Contest Winner

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Nancy Smiler LevinsonApril 27, 2018

One of two writings tied for second place in our fall/winter 2018 writing contest is “Gravesite Visit,” a poem by Writing It Real member Nancy Levinson. Our guest judge Kelli Agondon described her choice this way: “Gravesite Visit” is a beautiful meditation on the healing powers of poetry and how poems (and writing) can help … Continue reading →

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For Writers, “Finders Keepers” Can Mean “Finders Re-arrangers”

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Sheila BenderFebruary 9, 2018

[This article appeared in slightly different form in 2014 — ed.] As writers, our ears are tuned for measuring the quality of the words we hear around us. Sometimes, our ears catch speech we think is pure poetry or could be if read that way. We find that with a little rearranging these words express more humor, more … Continue reading →

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To Explain How a Poem Grows

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Sheila BenderJanuary 11, 2018

This winter’s holiday school break, my grandson, now 15 and a half years old and equipped with his driver’s permit, took a two-week intensive driver’s education class. I certainly felt the passage of time as I remembered using an image of my son Seth receiving his driver’s license as I wrote a poem for him … Continue reading →

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Writing Poetry for a Clearer, More Centered Self

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Sheila BenderAugust 3, 2017

Writing poetry, no matter what genre you usually work in, is truly an experience of re-creating a self. In writing poems from experience and from meditative and reflective moments, we are the makers of something that helps us come to know ourselves and have increased intimacy with ourselves. From this intimacy comes the creation of … Continue reading →

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Contest Winner Linda Robertson’s Poems

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Linda M. Robertson and Sheila BenderMay 27, 2017

In our final week of posting contest entries from the fall/winter WIR writing contest, we have seven poems by Linda M. Robertson. Our contest judge Sharon Bryan wrote this about selecting these poems as winners: These poems speak in a voice that makes me want to listen to everything it says. They are so well-crafted that … Continue reading →

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Sheila Reads Her Poems for National Poetry Month

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Sheila BenderApril 6, 2017

For National Poetry Month, tonight I am reading from my own poetry at the link below. For me poetry is an everyday experience and so there aren’t any huge production values or perfect lighting in this video. Just me sharing my poems and talking to you about what I hope poetry accomplishes for humanity. You can … Continue reading →

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Writing the Eulogy

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Sheila BenderJanuary 12, 2017

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As my mother?s 90th birthday approaches, my husband and I have sorted through photographs from nine decades of her life. He is making a photo essay book to be given to her this Sunday and shared with guests at the party we are making. As we sorted, I reached into a manila envelope and to … Continue reading →

Toward Beginning A Year of Writing Poetry (Or Improving Your Prose Through Poetry)

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Sheila BenderJanuary 5, 2017

For January: Dreams and Repetitions In this month of the inauguration of a new president of our country, it seems particularly appropriate and important to study the orators of our great nation who called out for freedoms we enjoy. Reading the words of Dr. King, Thomas Jefferson and Barack Obama, we can experience the power … Continue reading →

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‘Tis the Season for Lists

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Sheila BenderDecember 1, 2016

[Note: I originally posted the following article in December, 2007. It’s holiday preparation time again and lists keep us sane. They can also keep us writing! Try the exercise I am suggesting based on writing lists poems. Try it more than once during this season of shopping lists, invitation lists and gift lists.] You might … Continue reading →

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A Short Study in Prose Poetry – Questions and Answers

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Sheila BenderOctober 2, 2016

What is a prose poem? “It is a piece of writing in prose having obvious poetic qualities, including intensity, compactness, prominent rhythms, and imagery.” — Chrome Browser Link. Why write it? “Baudelaire used prose poems to rebel against the straitjacket of classical French versification. He dreamed of creating ‘a poetic prose, musical without rhyme or … Continue reading →

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Haiku Poets Focus on What Matters Most: An Interview with Robert Epstein

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Robert Epstein and Sheila BenderApril 2, 2015

Robert Epstein has invested years in conceiving and writing books, among them a series of impressive haiku anthologies. This National Poetry Month, I am delighted to post an interview with him that gets to the heart of how haiku connects us to the sacred and demonstrates what we come to poetry for — to understand and to share … Continue reading →

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You Could Be Writing, Not Waiting to Write: Four Very Portable Short Forms

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Sheila BenderAugust 21, 2014

Before appointments, when a meeting hasn’t started, when a bus hasn’t come, when a friend is late, when you have finished something and still have time before the next thing in your day, when you arrive early to work — do you write or reflexively check your email or text a friend or leaf through … Continue reading →

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It Wraps Back on Itself: Writing the Roundel

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Sheila BenderAugust 13, 2014

This, my second week in Denmark visiting my daughter and her family, I continued with my idea of writing more poetry in form. I flipped through the book my younger grandson, who had used it in third grade, had given me, A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, and stopped on … Continue reading →

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Writing Dispatch from Denmark: Northern Jutland Pantoum

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Sheila BenderAugust 6, 2014

I am in Denmark for the month of August visiting my daughter and her family. She and her husband are here working, and the international school my grandsons attended is out for the summer. My job is being nanny, but it’s more like company, for the boys. An enthusiastic traveler, Emily makes sure weekends are full. On my first … Continue reading →

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Writing Your Way in the Back Door: The Painting as Entry

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Christine HempMay 28, 2014

Christine Hemp offers us her thinking about how we may find our prose and poetry’s true subjects followed by a writing exercise for practice and two sample poems. [This article and exercise were originally published in Now Write! Nonfiction: Memoir, Journalism and Creative Nonfiction Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers, from Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, edited by Sherry … Continue reading →

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Celebrating and Learning from Poets — Another Batch of Three

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Sheila BenderApril 29, 2014

This week I am posting poems by three more poets whose work I have been following. Each has offered words about the creation of the particular poem included. And, as before, you’ll find writing ideas from me based on each of the poems. Let these poems live inside of you for a bit after reading … Continue reading →

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Celebrating and Learning from Three More Wonderful Poets

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Sheila BenderApril 16, 2014

We present three poets, offering one of their poems along with words about its creation. My writing ideas are each based on one of the poems and are useful whether you are writing poetry or prose.

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Celebrate National Poetry Month by Writing Poems! Yes, Even If You Think You Can’t!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Sheila BenderApril 3, 2014

National Poetry Month started yesterday. This week’s article is an oldie but goodie, originally published in 2007 and updated for 2014. In Port Townsend, the daffodils have been up several weeks. As usual out here, it looks like we’ll get rain this next week and certainly lots during the month of April, but I remind … Continue reading →

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The Strangest of Theatres: A Poet Writes Across Borders

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Susan RichMarch 18, 2014

Three accomplished writers have as editors acquired a collection of essays in The Strangest of Theatres: Poets Writing Across Borders in which poets explore the way their journeys to foreign lands helped them add to literature’s great conversation. Susan Rich, one editor of the three, whose newest poetry collection Cloud Pharmacy is just out from … Continue reading →

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Beth Spencer’s Third Place Winning Poem “The Shipwreck Coast”

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Beth SpencerFebruary 20, 2014

In choosing Beth Spencer’s poem, “The Shipwreck Coast,” as the fall/winter Writing It Real contest third place winner, guest judge Molly Tinsley wrote: “Yes, poetry is memoir–at least in the case of this intriguing narrative poem. I loved the resolutely unpoetic, sardonic voice.  Again, the emotional control over deeply painful material impressed me. We have all … Continue reading →

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If You Write Prose, You Can Write Poetry

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Sheila Bender and Kathy LockwoodSeptember 18, 2013

A few years ago, Kathy Lockwood, one of my distance learning students, was having trouble writing poems because she was moving. She had to clean out and reduce her belongings, pack things up and move on, though she and her husband weren’t exactly sure where his work would be taking them. When she called for help, … Continue reading →

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Keeping Journals Can Help Writers by Inviting Scrappiness

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Sheila BenderJuly 31, 2013

In an essay William Matthews wrote as a contribution to my anthology The Writer’s Journal: 40 Writers and Their JournaIs, later reprinted in Keeping a Journal You Love, the late poet suggested that a journal “en­courages scrappiness. Things needn’t be finished, just stored, the way one might ‘store’ a five-dollar bill in a trou­ser pocket in the closet … Continue reading →

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In May I Rush to Use Sensory Details

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Sheila BenderSeptember 12, 2013

As adults, we are so used to summarizing and editorializing. We have learned that abstractions are considered “smart” in writing and having opinions makes us sound even smarter. That’s what our teachers wanted from us on papers and on essay tests. But creative writing, whether that is in poetry, fiction, personal essay or in longer … Continue reading →

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Change It Up: Trying New Forms Encourages the Writing Mind

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Sheila BenderMay 4, 2013

“Grandma, do you know what limericks are? I wrote one today. Do you want to hear it?” my 11-year-old grandson Toby asked after telling me about a guest poet’s visit to his fifth grade classroom. Of course, I wanted to hear it. Toby recited: In the Sounds of the Night In the sounds of the … Continue reading →

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On Writing and Publishing Poetic Memoir, An Interview

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Nancy Smiler Levinson and Sheila BenderApril 17, 2013

Nancy Smiler Levinson set herself the goal of writing about what she was living through during her husband’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The result was a powerful, filled with love, and ultimately affirming memoir, all in free verse, Moments of Dawn: a poetic memoir of love & family, affliction & admiration.  A professional writer for decades, Nancy … Continue reading →

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Facilitate Poetry’s Ulterior Purpose

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Sheila BenderApril 10, 2013

April is National Poetry Month. That means nationwide, the month of April is filled with even larger numbers of poetry related events than other months of the year. Hopefully, reading about them in your local newspapers and on websites will encourage you to attend, and listening to poets will spark your interest in participating in … Continue reading →

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He’s Over Sixty and He’s a Rapper! Interview with Robert Komishane

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Robert Komishane and Sheila BenderApril 4, 2013

Robert Komishane is a Port Townsend, WA poet who turned in middle age to rap and hiphop for inspiration when he wanted to switch from writing free verse to writing in form. Four and a half year’s later, he’s still having fun and gaining attention for his efforts. I interviewed Robert via email to learn … Continue reading →

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Expect It In The Casino by Diane C. Drury, Our Third Place Winner

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Diane DruryDecember 18, 2012

The recent Writing It Real contest provided the opportunity for people to write about the world around them, send in a draft, receive my responses for help in revising, and then re-enter a revision for our final judge, Betsy Howell. In selecting Diane Drury’s poem “Expect It in the Casino,” Betsy wrote: Not all memoir … Continue reading →

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Boating to Breakfast: Evolution of Mary Langer Thompson’s First-Place Winning Poem

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mary ThompsonDecember 18, 2012

In our spring/summer Writing It Real contest, writers and poets sent in writing inspired by the world around them. That’s a broad topic as we might be looking at the world close up and intimately or from afar. In selecting winners in our spring/summer Writing It Real contest, final judge Betsy Howell wrote of Mary … Continue reading →

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Images Are What Pop for Readers, Not Telling: Exercises to Increase Your Expertise

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Sheila BenderApril 11, 2012

Most of us find it hard sometimes to believe that the specifics of what we see, taste, touch, smell and hear relate our inner perceptions and feelings (or those of our characters) without explanation. We may be writing with specifics and then, without realizing it, begin to explain and annotate, argue and attempt to persuade … Continue reading →

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