Study the sonnet form. A sonnet must have 14 lines made up of three stanzas with four lines each and a two-line conclusion. Sonnets must also rhyme. Two of the most popular rhyming forms are the Petrachan form (ABBA/ABBA /CDE/CDE) and the Shakespearean (ABABCDCDEFEFG). In these forms the corresponding letters rhyme. Volta is an imperative part of a sonnet. It sets the mood, in which the first eight lines describe a problem, and the last six solve the issue. The last piece of the sonnet form is the iambic pentameter, a rhythm with 10 syllables per line and every other syllable is stressed. For example, a Shakespeare line: "To love that well which thou must leave ere long." The more important words are stressed and are placed every other word.
Create a form for a sonnet by marking off four sections on paper or in a word processing document. The first three stanzas will need four lines and end with a two-line conclusion phrase.
Choose your subject. Your sonnet should focus on the man you love, not on an idea, such as religion or generalized love. The narrower the topic, the easier it is to begin.
Write the first stanza, which presents your idea. Comparison is an effective starting point. For example, Shakespeare wrote in Sonnet 18, "Shall I compare you to a Summer's day?" for his first line. He then discussed qualms with that comparison in the second line: "Thou art more lovely and more temperate." The next two lines in the stanza will expand the idea presented in the first sentence.
Write the second stanza. The second stanza explores the original idea. Use elements from the first stanza and elaborate on the original idea. The stanzas should not be separate, but intertwined. For example, in that same Shakespeare sonnet, he expands the idea of his love as being more than the summer day, but also lovelier than the sun. He transformed the main idea using similar analogies.
Write the third stanza. The third stanza refers to metaphors used in the first and second stanzas, but uses different analogies. The section will answer any questions posed in the first two sections or resolve any tension.
Conclude the sonnet with two final lines. These lines rhyme and are statements of fact. For example, in John Milton's poem "On Time," a sonnet about the frustration with time, he concludes in his last two lines: "Attired with stars, we shall for ever sit, Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee, O Time!" Here he has concluded that even with all the troubles time brings, humans will eventually win.
Read the finished poem aloud and listen to the rhythm. The sonnet needs to flow, and the lines need to complement one another.