ForumsArt, Music, and WritingAny tips on writing haikus?

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Roger721
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Roger721
1,100 posts
Nomad

Why, hello there people who enjoy writing and reading haikus!

I personally like haikus. It's interesting to see that many things can be expressed in a small amount of words.

I'd like to actually write some. But I don't know how. Could any of you help me?

First of all, I'd like to know what defines a haiku. It's the number of syllabes?

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

  • 11 Replies
killersup10
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killersup10
2,739 posts
Blacksmith

A haiku is a poem that is made in a platform of 5-7-5.There are 5 syllables in the first line,7 in the second line,and 5 in the last line.Small words are usually not used in haikus because of the precious space that they take up.Little words would be considered "in,the" and such.write haikus.Or any type of poetry at all is about expressing your feelings,and or how you feel.

murasaki9
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murasaki9
1,390 posts
Blacksmith

Hey, Roger,

If you really like Haikus and are interested in a place to post them, you can go to my haiku thread ' Haiku Land' and post to your hearts content.
Or,
You can go to the Haiku Contest thread which is in the AMW section at the top of the page.

Happy Haiku'ing!

flip_pride
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flip_pride
21 posts
Nomad

Important tips for writing haikus are to:
1. Always have good word choice!!!
2. Write to describe something you love or find important
3. And just enjoy writing them.

I also find it easy if you start by thinking of just normal descriptions and work them down into haikus hope this helps!

Roger721
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Roger721
1,100 posts
Nomad

O hai everyone.

First of all, thanks for the replies.

killersup10 says:

A haiku is a poem that is made in a platform of 5-7-5.There are 5 syllables in the first line,7 in the second line,and 5 in the last line.Small words are usually not used in haikus because of the precious space that they take up.Little words would be considered "in,the" and such.write haikus.Or any type of poetry at all is about expressing your feelings,and or how you feel.


Hm... thanks for this info on the syllables. I wasn't sure of the actual displacement. And this tip on the "small words" is good. Thanks.

murasaki9 says:

If you really like Haikus and are interested in a place to post them, you can go to my haiku thread ' Haiku Land' and post to your hearts content.


Oh, thank you! I'd like to have a thread to post some. But I think I'll take a look first so I can have examples of some. I won't post my first attempts as they would be rather... bad. :P

murasaki9 also says:

You can go to the Haiku Contest thread which is in the AMW section at the top of the page


Ah, yeah, that'd be awesome. But I'll get some practice first. :P

Happy Haiku'ing!


Thanks!

flip_pride says:

Important tips for writing haikus are to:
1. Always have good word choice!!!
2. Write to describe something you love or find important
3. And just enjoy writing them.


Oh, thanks for those. I'll start looking for something to write about. And I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy writing them :3

I also find it easy if you start by thinking of just normal descriptions and work them down into haikus


Hm... nice idea, actually.

hope this helps!


It did, thank you!
_______________________

Hm... now... any theme suggestions? Or more stuff I should avoid doing while writing haikus?

Thanks so far, everyone.
Roger721
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Roger721
1,100 posts
Nomad

Sorry for DP, but I started to wonder now...

How can I actually determine the number of syllables in a word?

I ask that because, as a brazilian person, my first language is Portuguese, a language who has many syllable counting and separation rules - which include counting "syllable" as sections with a single vowel, that may be actually rare in some words in english [other rules include never separing "nh" (sounds like the spanish "ñ&quot in two different syllables or always separing "rr" (used as "r"'s in "rat&quot or "ss" (similar to "c&quot, but that's some other story].

How to know how to count syllables in english?

lozerfac3
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lozerfac3
978 posts
Farmer

Hooouhhhh That's difficult to describe. PLAaaahh.

EmperorPalpatine
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EmperorPalpatine
9,444 posts
Jester

How can I actually determine the number of syllables in a word?

You could type they words in on Dictionary.com or a similar site. It will seperate the syllables in the pronunciation (ex: dik-shuh-ner-ee = 4 syllables).
Roger721
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Roger721
1,100 posts
Nomad

Oh, sorry for not answering earlier.

You could type they words in on Dictionary.com or a similar site. It will seperate the syllables in the pronunciation (ex: dik-shuh-ner-ee = 4 syllables).


Oh, that's a cool suggestion. I tested it out and it does separate the syllables. This makes it a whole lot easier.

Hm... now I have the tips to start writing haikus. But I don't have ideas for themes of them...

Any suggestions?

Thanks so far, y'all.
vinster132
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vinster132
5,881 posts
Jester

Hm... now I have the tips to start writing haikus. But I don't have ideas for themes of them...

You can write about your life, feelings, what you like, what you dislike, or just make something random like ice cream.
GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,620 posts
Herald

Hm... now I have the tips to start writing haikus. But I don't have ideas for themes of them...

Any suggestions?

Browse through the haiku and poetry contests. You're sure to find a lot of good themes.
Faunbard
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Faunbard
650 posts
Nomad

Browse through the haiku and poetry contests. You're sure to find a lot of good themes.


One good idea is to go into the Haiku contest thread and go through each contest theme and write a haiku after each topic. This will increase your profiency in creating haikus, and will ultimately make you a better poet and a better writer.
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