How to Write a Love Poem!

Who I am to teach you?

I am the author of unique poetry book Variable Dusk and work as a "personal poet" for personalised poetry site Romeo's Magic! I'm here to spread the MAGIC of poetry! Drawing from years of experience, I will give you tips and tricks, and provide unique help and advice on writing poetry for your loved ones!

Poetry: it's NOT boring and you CAN do it!

No matter who you are, where you're from, what you do... you can write a poem, and, it can be AMAZING. Do you have to have a degree in literature? No. And to be honest, I think it's actually best if you don't! I say this because most poems you study in school or read in books... they're actually rather BORING, aren't they? What's important, (the feeling), is lost within the verbosity - the words that only someone with a degree in literature could understand! Which brings me onto my first tip for writing a love poem: -

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Some people enjoy reading poetry with a dictionary by their side, deciphering how the poet intended the words to piece together and what feelings they blah blah BLAH...

If you are writing a love poem for someone special, I'm guessing you'll want them to gasp, to sigh, to well up and to cry, to hold you to thank you; to be left with a warm and loving feeling... you're not going to want to shatter their experience by writing something they don't even get! So KEEP IT SIMPLE. If, in your poem, you would like to mention that your special someone has a beautiful smile, say: "you have a beautiful smile". Saying "your brilliant white molars create an intoxicating display of wonder" DESTROYS that message completely. So, keep 'simple' in mind, and we're ready to brainstorm the content of our poem.

DRAFT KEY POINTS

If someone has inspired you so much that you want to write them a love poem, then they're obviously very special indeed! And may I say, congratulations on your decision to take action and treat this person to such a romantic display of your affection! Anyway, this person will have most likely captured your heart/mind because of certain traits of theirs - something that sets them apart from other people. Jot these things down. In a love poem, compliments are essential. Have you shared any memorable moments with this person that would bring a smile to their face should their memory be jogged? Mentioning these will personalise the poem so jot these down too. What about things you would like to do with them? Anything that comes to mind when you think about this person... jot them down! We'll pick and choose the best bits while we're writing the poem. Some examples: -

I love the coconut scent of her hair.
The time we went sailing in the Bahamas - we laughed so much!
She has the most amazing blue eyes.
I'd like to take her shopping in New York.
She has a weird taste in shoes!

Drafting key points should come natural, so you should end up with quite a few compliments/memorable moments to include. However, if you're struggling, you'll have plenty of time to add more while you're writing, which brings us to:

BEFORE YOU START

I could spend hours typing all sorts of information on poetic devices and how to use them etc, but I'm not going to, because we really are going to keep it simple. The intent of this Hub is not to turn you into a master poet. It is to offer a quick and easy solution to write a good, honest and heartfelt love poem.

Therefore, the only two things we'll work with while writing today are simile (a relative of metaphor) and rhyme.

A simile is when you say that something is like another thing, e.g. "your voice is like an Angel's song" or "your heart is like an open book". They allow you to enhance the comments you previously drafted, adding a bit more depth to your words and exaggerate your compliments.

Rhyme can add suspense to your lines, enhance your meaning or make the poem more cohesive. It can also make your poem prettier. Personally I LOVE to rhyme and at times, I even think in it! But for those who need a little assistance, Rhymer is a free online rhyming dictionary which is easy to use and will make writing your love poem a piece of cake. Now though, before you start to rhyme, you'll need to have a rhyming pattern. Feel free to choose your own, but the one I have chosen to work with today is in my opinion, the easiest and most effective:

- B - B - Rhyme every other line only, starting with line two.

- There once was a pig,
B (I don't know his name).
- The pig was quite large,
B The farmer's to blame.

A word about FLOW

Listening to love songs while writing really helps the feelings flow! Speaking of which, while writing your poem, it is important to consider the FLOW of your sentences! When you read your poem aloud, you should feel comfortable doing so, and it should sound smooth. Without getting too much into metrics here, we should try to ensure the sentences in our poem are of similar length, and they give the same up and down sounds when reading them. Some examples:-

A bad flow:

I'm writing this Hub so people will learn how to write.
I'm writing so people will be educated somehow by this Hub tonight.

A good flow:

I'm writing this Hub so you learn how to write;
I'm writing so you can write poems tonight.

Reading these out loud will let you see that it feels more natural when you've got a good flow. SO, now that you're in the 'simple' mood, you've drafted a list of compliments etc, selected a rhyming pattern and you're feeling the smooth flow... let's write the first line!

WRITE THE POEM

LINE 1: How about starting with your special someone's name and telling them you have something to say? Easy! (And BRILLIANT).

Michaela, I just want to let you know what I think/
Michaela, I need you to know how I feel.

LINE 2: Now, that's impressive... how on Earth will you follow such an amazing line? By telling them WHY you have something to say!

My life has been touched by the things you do!/
I just can't believe how you're making me feel!

LINE 3: Next, throw in a compliment! This is easy! YOU HAVE A LIST! From my examples above:

Your beautiful eyes are the bluest I've seen/
The coconut scent of your hair is divine.

Notice how I used my 'draft compliments' from above, but just worded them differently to help with the flow. There really are a MILLION different ways to write the same thing!

LINE 4: Now end the first verse with another compliment... they'll love you for it! Remember to rhyme the end word of this line with the end word of the second line. So, the completed verse:

Michaela, I just want to let you know what I think,
I just can't believe how you're making me feel!
Your beautiful eyes are the bluest I've seen;
Your even more cute, than a baby seal!

Will you look at that! A whole verse made up of their name, you saying you want to say something, explaining why, and complimenting them, twice. It really is that easy! But trust me; just as the simplest magic trick can get the biggest reactions, so can the simplest poem! After all... poetry is MAGIC! Now, let's continue...

LINE 5: I'm going to start this next verse with something my special someone will remember experiencing. You can do the same!

We sailed the Bahamas; how special was that?/
That night in Havana, I'll never forget.

LINE 6: Now, just as before... explain more!

That day as we sailed, I could tell "you're the one"/
We laughed 'til we cried and we danced through the night.

LINE 7: COMPLIMENT THEM!

You're really amazing! I love your warm heart/
Michaela, you're gorgeous and sexy and fun!

LINE 8: And again! Make their head swell! (Remember to rhyme the end word!) How's about using a simile for this line? Here's my completed verse:

That night in Havana, I'll never forget
We laughed 'til we cried and we danced through the night,
You're really amazing! I love your warm heart!
Your love's like an aeroplane; I'm on the flight!

So far, so good. I must admit though, I have several commissions I must get through so I've been typing this quite fast! The examples above would definitely benefit from a little revision, but, you know what? WHO CARES if the metre is slightly out? WHO CARES if some lines sound a little bit daft? What matters the most is that the words are honest, heartfelt and strike a chord with the person who is reading it. Think about it... if you give your loved one a poem and they pull out a dictionary and start correcting your every typo, you know something just isn't quite right! What's MOST LIKELY to happen is that they'll fall head over heels for the fact you've even bothered to present them with a poem, never mind taken the time to add all the little details that make it personal to them and complimented them till their head can no longer fit through the door! Personally, it's my job to edit until my customers are happy, but believe me, the fact that you've even entertained the thought of giving a poem... your special someone will be SO happy.

ANYWAY!

Write another verse or two using the tips I have give you, (three or four verses is ample), and sign it with a nice few words, i.e. "I love you, David x" or "I love you with all of my heart, David xx" etc.

And if all else fails?

I have designed a free love poem generator that works absolute wonders! I'm VERY proud of it and would like to share it with you. It will provide you with an AMAZING love poem, I can assure you, but please... only use it if you really have no joy with writing your own! (You will find a link on personalised poetry site Romeo's Magic, listed below!)