Posted by Helen on Sep 09, 2026 in Creativity, Writing, & the Arts
By Piper Moss
Piper teaches “How to Write and Revise Poetry: An Introductory Workshop” at Colorado Free University. Check out this article where they share ideas for getting yourself going.
There’s nothing more intimidating than a blank page. How in the world do you begin?
Your first mistake is often coming up with an idea. Which, I know, is counterintuitive—what are you supposed to write about if you don’t have an idea? Here are three ways to start writing before you have any thoughts in your head:
1) Automatic writing: sit down and write without for a predetermined amount of time about whatever comes to mind in the moment. Keep writing no matter what; if you can’t think of anything, write that you can’t think of anything. After comes the editing to wrangle what you’ve created into a poem or story or play etc. But at least you have some raw material, and, at least for me, that’s the most intimidating part of the process.
a) Variations on automatic writing include: doing it right after you wake up; doing it in emotionally intense moments; doing it in a crowded room. You’ll probably end up with different material from different contexts.
b) This is easiest if you do it every day.
c) It works best if you write by hand.
2) My favorite method is actually the opposite of automatic writing: start with a form, or a constraint. It’s something my professor Matthew Rohrer always taught me. Rather than deciding to write about something, decide to write in something. Any form will do: a haiku; a pop song; a random requirement like 8 words per line, or a set of randomly selected words you have to use. Once you choose the form, the content tends to follow. It’s why the sonnet was so popular for so many centuries—check out William Wordsworth’s Nuns Fret Not.
a) Having some decisions made for you frees up your brain to spend more energy on other things.
b) You’re no longer looking at a blank page; you’re looking at a silhouette. All you
have to do is fill out the details.
c) This is how you surprise yourself. I can set out to write a poem about a picturesque beach, and then write a poem about a picturesque beach, and end up completely bored by my own work. Allowing elements of randomness or constraint into your writing by choosing a form helps you grow and pushes you away from the safe, well-trod paths you’re used to. This is how you write something truly new to you, something you wouldn’t have written on your own.
3) Steal. Good writers borrow, great writers steal. And the truth is, if you don’t do it on purpose you’ll do it accidentally—so do it on purpose. Start your poem with a line you love; find someone who made up a weird constraint and use theirs. Make your reading into a writing prompt. By stealing intentionally, you’ll end up transforming what you’ve stolen instead of unconsciously parroting it.
Go write!