Beat the Block: 6 Strategies to Come Up With Poem Topics
Don’t let writer’s block get you down.
As writers, most of us have a small fear in the back of our minds that we try to ignore daily: what happens when I run out of ideas? It can be paralyzing, the fear that our favorite medium for expressing ourselves may one day just run out. But the thing about creating is that writer’s block, or other creative blocks, are part of the creative process. We’re not robots–we cannot pump out ideas daily for our entire lives. But not being robots is what allows us to create in the first place.
So if you’re in a writing slump, and you’ve taken some time off to focus on yourself and replenish your creative energy but you’re still having a hard time coming back, I’m here to share some strategies that I use to come up with topics for my poems when things just aren’t coming naturally.
Start With Your Comfort Motifs
Whether it’s on purpose or not, most poets have a topic or two that they’re comfortable writing about–maybe it’s because it comes naturally to you, maybe it’s because it’s such a frequent lived experience for you. For me, this usually ends up being poetry about rain or the ocean, but for some it could be love poems, or grief poems, or feminist poems.
Whatever it may be, sometimes, even if you’d like to take your poetry in a different direction, it can be beneficial to whip up a poem on your comfort topic just to get some words out. The advice that most people receive when looking for ways to get out of writer’s block is to “just start.” But that can be too vague. I advise to just start with a comfort topic–as soon as the words are flowing, other ideas will come more easily to you. Writing is not just an art; it’s a mindset.
Write About Something Sitting In Front Of You
Now while this could mean that you write a poem about the antique floral vase sitting on the windowsill in front of you, it doesn’t always have to be so simple. It could be an object or person sitting in the room with you, but it could also be about today’s weather, or a song that came on the radio when you sat down to write. Some of my best poems have been born from things that were sitting right under my nose at the time–they double as welcome distractions from writer’s block and catalysts for poetic thoughts.
Write About The Thoughts At The Forefront Of Your Mind
Sometimes writer’s block comes as a result of a thought that’s plaguing you that you just can’t get rid of. Instead of turning it over in your mind a thousand more times, write it down. Make a poem out of it. Not only could writing about it bring you some relief, but getting it on paper and out of your head could also unblock your mind and allow your creative energies to flow back in. Brooding is part of the poetic lifestyle; even if it’s a poem you never share, just get it out of the way.
Write About A Hot-Button Topic In The Media
There are three big reasons why writing poems about current events in the media can be beneficial:
There is lots of information available about current events, including specific details, opinions of authority figures on the topic, and perspectives from those affected, all of which can make for some compassionate poetry
Writing about hot-button media topics can help you identify your own feelings about the topic and the world, and can help you identify potential new comfort topics or a whole new niche that you haven’t previously explored before but could be really great at
You have the potential to find new readers through the exploration of new topics
Write From A Perspective That Is The Opposite Of Yours
Sometimes we get an itch to write about something but we hold ourselves back because we feel like we don’t have enough lived experience or knowledge about a topic to write about it. But it’s okay to do research, even for poetry. It’s also okay to write from a perspective that isn’t yours–in fact, it’s a great strategy for expanding your worldview and understanding a topic more fully.
While we’re often advised to “write what you know” or write about something you believe in, over-saturating those topics can lead to burnout. It’s a fun exercise to write about something we know nothing about or don’t believe in at all. It not only makes us more well-rounded writers but it can also produce incredible pieces of writing that you never would’ve written otherwise. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective.
Read More Poetry
This one is fairly self-explanatory. While I’m a major enthusiast of monthly poetry prompt lists from my favorite Instagram poets (I particularly enjoy @lsterlingpoetry on Instagram for this), sometimes none of them resonate with me. And that’s okay! That’s when I start scrolling other poets’ work on social media or crack open my favorite poetry collections (I enjoy Sam Pink’s 99 Poems to Cure Whatever's Wrong With You or Create The Problem's You Need, Laura Reed’s But She Is Also Jane and if you’re looking for a TikTok spoken-word rec, @powerhouseofthecell writes absolutely beautiful love poems that aren’t cringey and she has two books out!)
Sometimes the words will just come to you, but sometimes you’ll like the idea of a topic someone else has written about and you’ll have to just sit with it for a while. It’s important to remember that just because words don’t magically come to you every day doesn’t mean you’re a bad poet or not meant to write poetry; writing is hard work, no matter the medium.