Memoir workshops are ideal for introducing the beautiful art of poetry writing. Many of my students have not yet experienced the joys of writing free verse.

This blog post illustrates how I teach this workshop.

Free verse is not just another vehicle to tell your story. It’s so much more than that. No worries about rules, syllable count, length of the lines, rhyming, correct forms, and grammar.

Unbound, celebrate and relish in the infinite possibilities designed to express yourself and invigorate your writing.

Instructor Marilyn’s Three Rules of Writing

Newbies learning to write poetry or any other literary form or genre, should consider my three

rules for writing your first draft.

Before the poem is completed, you may feel compelled to edit every word and line. This is often counterproductive.

First Draft:

1. Do not edit your poetry.
2. Do not judge your work.
3. Do not share your poetry with nonwriters. Can you think of any reasons why?

Gathering Your Treasures

Decisions, decisions. Whatever stage of life you are living in now, or from years past, there are so many memories to choose from. How are you going to narrow down all the joyous experiences, challenges, losses, and knowledge you have amassed into your first free verse poem? A timeline of your life stages will trigger a memory bank full of ideas.

Have a pen and paper handy. While entering work into a Word file seems time-effective, writing

longhand may feel less mechanical to allow your thoughts, feelings, and emotions flow freely.

It is unnecessary to include every year from the day you were born, through the primary grades, college, young adulthood, dating, partnering, and marriage to the present time.

Unless a monumental, emotionally jarring, moment of clarity, inspiration, and revelations have occurred in your life, skip that year. Overcoming adversity, your successes, and lifestyle changes are the hallmarks of memoir writing. Rather than planning every aspect of your poem, spontaneity may trigger moments in time, an event, or a connection to family heirlooms and mementos.

Sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, and take in a few deep breaths. Choose the most significant year in your timeline, and hopefully, a snapshot of a compelling memory will appear in your mind’s eye.

I am referencing examples from my free verse poem, “The Space Between Us.” To benefit fully from this blog, please read my poem in its entirety. “The Space Between Us” is located at the end of this post.

Steps to Mining Your Poem

1. Timeline. “The Space Between Us.” Elementary school. 1960. Your Poem. Year.
2. Location. Name the city, town, state, or country, where your memory occurred. “The Space Between Us.” Queens, New York. The location was the backyard of my childhood     home. Your Poem. City and state.
3. Layout. Draw a simple map of your setting. “The Space Between Us.” My drawing includes the unlocked gate, vegetable garden my father grew, a bare oak tree, the cement payment, and a fence overlooking the houses below. Your Poem. Include the interiors and exteriors of your childhood house, (garden, terrace, patio, basement, and kitchen), your grandparents’ farm, cabin, or vacation destinations. Schools, colleges, the first house you bought and raised kids, state parks and camp grounds, oceans, lakes, sleep-away camps, are other possibilities. You may not need all these elements but you will have them handy if and when you want to include them in a collection of poems.

4. Inanimate Objects (Family Heirlooms and Mementos).

“The Space Between Us.” I visualized my mom’s easel, paint box, wide and thin oil painting brushes, her artist’s pallet dotted with color, paint tubes, and thick splotches of red, rust, green, and orange color. Water, turpentine, and linseed oil filled rusty, aluminum soup cans stained with dried and crusted paint cleaned these tools. Your Poem: Envision the bedroom, dining, and living room furniture. Duty attics and basements often Hope Chests and trucks full of tangible items: Dad’s or grandad’s pocket watch, wedding dresses, handmade quilts, baby blankets, hand written letters, bibles, photo albums, and family recipes. Even if you don’t have them handy, try to imagination yourself revisiting these objects.

5. Sensory and Visual Imagery. Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, and Tactile modalities.

“The Space Between Us” by Marilyn June Janson M.S. Ed.

Sight: Autumn leaves falling from boney branches. Henna curls fluttering like angel wings.

Touch: A light breeze cools heat-soaked skin. Wool sweater scratches.

Hearing: A Downy Woodpecker tap, tap, taps. Roller skates scrape.

Smell: Bitter, acrid turpentine poisons the space between us.

Taste: Linseed oil tastes like almond butter.

Bonus: Add a Foreshadowing element. Plant hints of an event that will occur in your poem.

Why does this work? What will it compel your readers’ to do?

Foreshadowing: Henna dyed curls move like angel wings. She lifts her instrument to the sky.

Reaching, reaching.

Your Poem. Can you feel of the lacey pattern of a wedding veil under your fingertips? Or the weight of dad’s money clip? The garlicy and oniony scent of grandmother’s homemade spaghetti sauce? Do you hear the crack and snap of a nighttime campfire, see the yellow and blue sparks wafting up to the velveteen sky, dotted with blinking stars? And the sugary taste of hot, fire-roasted marshmallows?

6. Emotional Words and Images. You want your audience to feel your passion, excitement, sadness, and all those warm and fuzzy moments. Without evoking an emotional response, your memory poem may not resonate with your readers.

“The Space Between Us” by Marilyn June Janson M.S. Ed.

Reaching, reaching, reaching
Bitter, acrid turpentine poisons the space between us
Wheels burn
Sounds of life end
I will remember her this way
Bones shatter
Lonely branches
Golden embers seethe
Drift to lonely branches

Your Emotional Words, Images, and Phrases

Dig deep, avoid clichés, and common words.

When my students describe a feeling using a cliché or overly used word, I ask, “How angry, sad, or happy were you?”

Be unique. What word and phrase choices sets your poem apart from all the others?

Here are a few examples: Anger – Rage, Sad ­– Heartbroken, Happy – Joyous

Conclusion. This free form of a memory poetry is actually a collection of images, emotions, and a setting, and location. Memories can be recorded and written is many different formats. Some authors publish them in hard copy, eBook, audio, or on Memoir, and personal websites.

“The Space Between Us” by Marilyn June Janson M.S. Ed.

In the backyard of my childhood home
Autumn leaves fall from boney branches
The sun creeps down
Lower and lower
Roller skates scrape
Round and round on stony concrete
Wool sweater scratches
Warms as dampness chills
A Downy Woodpecker tap, tap, taps
Halt
Wheels burn
Sulphur sparks
Eyes shift
Deep breaths
Linseed oil tastes like almond butter
Bitter, acrid turpentine poisons the space between us
Watching her
Henna curls fluttering like angel wings
Face hidden
A steady hand grips an oil painter’s brush
She lifts her instrument to the sky
Sounds of life end
I will remember her this way
Reaching, reaching, reaching
A reason
An escape
A prayer
Brush falls from translucent fingertips
Skin melts
Bones shatter
Golden embers seethe
Drift to lonely branches
And die
Darkness

Do you have something say about poetry? An essay on being a poet, tips for poets, or poetry you love? TrishHopkinson.com is now accepting pitches for guest blog posts.

Contact me here if you are interested!

Marilyn June Janson M.S. Ed. teaches Creative Writing and Publishing Workshops for the Maricopa County Special Interest Program in Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona. She is a published author of two children’s chapter books and a suspense novel. Her poetry, short stories, and personal essays appear in publications worldwide. Contact Ms. Janson @ www.janwrite.com.