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How to write Haiku for the English language

Haiku can be a way to express your self in a concise, but elegant manner. And while the rules for writing haiku in Japanese are clear, there is no clear consensus for any other language.

This means that I'm write and everyone else is wrong. ;)

Things You'll Need

  • Pen, Pencil, Crayon, Ink Brush (Your choice)
  • Paper (Any quality will do, what you want is your choice)
  • Imagination
  • A decent command of the English language
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Instructions

    • 1

      A topic. What are you going to write about? Since haiku is such a short form, you may consider staying away from the more abstract concepts. At least until you have more experience. Consider writing about a topic that most people will recognize.

    • 2

      Now comes the hard part. The writing of your poem. In Japanese, the convention of having 5,7,5 syllables in each line is a hard and fast rule. But, since English can have different syllable length, this can be more difficult to accomplish.

    • 3

      Cutting your haiku (no, not literally). Consider using the cutting technique in your haiku to give the two portions of your poem a limited form of independence. To make this cutting in English, either the first or the second line ends normally with a colon, long dash or ellipsis.

Poetry

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