5 Poetry Mistakes that Beginner Writers Make

This video is an in-depth guide to poetry writing mistakes that I see made by beginner poets. With each mistake, I provide questions you can ask yourself so you can be proactive in the process of addressing each potential shortcoming.

You can quickly reference particular sections that are interesting and/or relevant to you via the chapters.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments on anything I touched on in the video. Thank you!

. . .
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:49 #1—No interpretive space
3:06 #2—No imagery (just feelings and abstract concepts)
5:31 Diction + Word exchange process
7:22 #3—Lacking cohesion
8:56 #4—Shameless cliché
10:07 Cultivating originality
12:03 #5—No purpose (being pretentious)
19:29 Conclusion (and words of encouragement)

. . .
Links:

[seymagurbuz]

please never remove this video from youtube. i'll keep returning to it to remind myself what makes a good poetry throughout my writing journey, lol :)

[allchyss]

ur setup is very cute. i just listened to some of your songs and ohmygod, they are so good!!

[michaelaesparza]

I'm taking a creative writing class for fun now and poetry is the current topic. I am having such a hard time (50 year old engineer, last writing class 1994) coming up with a good poem. This should help!

[dancingdruid]

Wow, super useful video - I'm going to have all my poetry students watch this. Plus, I love how down to earth you are!

[thace]

I think your criticisms of flaws in beginner work is on target and I hope to use them as guides in the important stage of revising a poem. (I have written poetry and had a number of pieces published.)

[Thisisjefftaylor]

This is one of the few writing tip videos I’ve watched on YouTube that actually provides worthwhile poetry writing tips. Thanks for making this video.

[Laughingwithtravii]

this was very interesting, fun, and educational, thank you! i wrote this years ago, its still the first draft really, but i thought itd be fun to apply the tips from this to this piece. im just a hobby writer, and i dont write much anymore, but ill always love writing, and the safety it allowed me to have.

when the idea of me started to take root
did you think about tilling the earth
removing the weeds
could you even fathom the amount of work
you would have to put into this garden

i started to sprout and everything was new
the sunshine the warmth
the rain
your blood sweat and tears all a culmination
to help me grow

you stood over me and i grew
and grew outside of your shadow
i became unruly and wild
i wasnt the garden you had planned
did that make me any less beautiful to you?

it must have
you left me to grow
alone
my roots sprawled to places i didn’t know existed
my limbs reached towards the sunlight
and here i remain, a completely different idea rooted
but never fully realized
because there’s always room for growth
you taught me that

so on first reread id prob change "and grew outside of your shadow" to "and grew outside your shadow" i think that flows a lil better. i think id remove "it must have" completely as well. its probably still one of my favorites ive ever written. it is very much a vent piece, and i think it captures multiple struggles youth may have with parents for whatever reason. to me, the point of this piece isnt so much the struggle, but how that struggle changes us, shows us we can be better, especially when you have examples of what not to do. anywho, thanks so much again for this vid. defo new sub. <3 and if you feel like it, feel free to criticize! (or use this as an example? idk)

i am unfortunately one of those writers who can rly only write about the 'bad stuff' i guess. every time i try to write something happy, it doesnt capture the feeling, its never ecstatic enough, and i am never satisfied. i think its a big reason i dont write as much anymore, bc im happier now. for me writing fulfilled a need to escape, to release. i VERY much agree on your spill about perspective, bc i think thats the thing creating this writers block so to speak. my perspective on my own writing needs to change, i can still write and it be impactful AND happy. it doesnt HAVE to be sad.

anywho, thank you. im sure i am not the only person reflecting, thinking, learning, etc, bc of this vid. thats really cool.

[ikelewis]

Really love this -- thanks so much for making it. It baffles me how hard it is to find technical, craft-based poetics stuff on here.

[weallliveintrees]

What an interesting, articulate and thoughtful essay. As a beginning poet of about a year, (or at least beginning to take the art form seriously), I have found much to reflect upon. Thank you.

[toddjacksonpoetry]

Point 3, Cohesion. This is the "kill your darlings" moment. I'm writing something now, and have this clever analogy hanging around in my head...but I just can't make it fit the whole poem. (sigh)

[melaniecossey]

Really wonderful thoughts and concepts to ponder.

[elainereynolds]

You've covered so many points and this is so well articulated, thank you very much

[miniyodadude]

This has been incredibly helpful, a lot of these concepts i knew, but its how they applied to my mistakes that really helped things click.

[LeticiaAlaniz]

I like all of your pointers. Thank you for this video. I'm watching this again out of the pure pleasure of learning.

[thesoundsofearth]

Thank you! I’ve been writing poetry since I was a child. I found one of my old poetry notebooks from when I was 12 years old and reading through there’s a lot of promising lyric quality and creativity but it’s so… cringe. Definitely due to these points! I only wrote first drafts until I took a poetry class in college and learned about the revision process. Just the notes on replacing adjectives with imagery leveled up my poetry immensely. I’m wanting to do a masters program in poetry to help refine my skills more!

[lukedmoss]

Thank you for sharing! This is great information, and you organized/articulated it quite well.

[Bargadiel]

I feel like many of these points are so universal to good writing and it's sad how many writers for major entertainment industries either fail to hit these basic marks, or are told not to due to corporate and management influence.

[vinzaux]

hi, i just wanted to tell you how amazing this video is, i can really see all the love that you put on your channel, poetry and music. you really inspire me to create something beautiful and truthful, and that's amazing, thank you!

[commoncontinuum]

The video is helpful, thank you! And the music sounds beautiful too.

[euggiemonad]

Watched this whole wonderful video from the point of view of a stand-up comic who makes some of these mistakes, who wants to sound authentic with a porpoise and a vision that others can relate to