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Reviews
How to Write a Poem: Based on the Billy Collins Poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Tania Runyan
toniclark's review
4.0
I read lots of books of this type — pretty much all I can get my hands on. I'm rating it 4 stars, taking into consideration its aims and audience. It's not reallly for the experienced poet — but it's full of good tips, reminders, examples, and prompts and includes a review of Peter Murphy's revision suggestions (Murphy's Revision Style Sheet). It gave me a lot of ideas for new poems of my own and I'll use some of the prompts in teaching and online workshopping.
ssimpson92's review
5.0
A conversation the author had with a workshop attendee about writing free verse poetry:
“What are the rules?” he asked.
“There are none,” I said. “It’s free.”
“So it’s just random, then?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then how do you do it?”
“I don’t know. But it takes a long, long time.”
If you've ever felt like this when trying to learn how to write poetry, do not despair. Since then Runyan has clearly figured out how to help beginners become better writers of poetry. This is one of the best “how to” book for free verse poetry I’ve read, not at all academic and packed with practical advice.
“What are the rules?” he asked.
“There are none,” I said. “It’s free.”
“So it’s just random, then?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then how do you do it?”
“I don’t know. But it takes a long, long time.”
If you've ever felt like this when trying to learn how to write poetry, do not despair. Since then Runyan has clearly figured out how to help beginners become better writers of poetry. This is one of the best “how to” book for free verse poetry I’ve read, not at all academic and packed with practical advice.
fartandsoul's review
4.0
Read this for the second time as the first craft book for my senior thesis. It's been a couple years since I read it for my intro to creative writing class, and it was really fun to see how I've incorporated Runyan's techniques into my writing process. Although this book is geared towards beginners, it's good to return to it and be reminded of the basics, and I would definitely recommend it for poets just starting out!
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