Write Your First Chapbook: A Beginning Poet’s Guide

Join me in exploring poetry, what one poet called “the natural history of the human heart.” Together we will dynamically create and shape poems, and delve deep into the nuts and bolts of poetic craft: prose poems, free verse, lyrical, metrical, etc. You’ll come away with a wealth of poetic knowledge–and with your first completed chapbook.

We’ll explore such poetic dynamics as form, line breaks, musicality, and tension, as well as techniques for storying your poetry for greater narrative force. We’ll likewise investigate how to write both titles and endings, and how to craft them for maximum impact.

Together, we’ll focus on exploring your unique poetic voice, developing new skills for writing poetry, and expanding your self- expression through the poetic form. You’ll discover how to break down any perceived writing barriers or  blocks, and engage with poetry that is accessible and grounded, not elite or esoteric.

A unique feature of this course is the compilation of a chapbook comprising revised versions of the poems you’ll complete through the workshopping process and close reading during peer review. Here we’ll support you in taking the next steps toward revision then polishing your chapbook into a completed draft. You will leave this course with a chapbook collection of your own poems to share confidently and proudly with others. 

Who This Course is For

This course is for those seeking to express themselves and engage in the poetic form. It is for people who want to be poets, perhaps just starting out, who never had formal instruction in poetry, people who want to learn and grow and develop and expand their poetry skill set. 

Zoom Schedule 

We will meet via Zoom on Tuesdays from 7-9 PM Eastern. 

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals 

In this course, you will learn to:

• Investigate poetic forms, genres, and approaches to verse writing.
• Reflect on poetry as a practice that demands artistic focus and fully integrates the intellectual and emotional life of the poet.  
• Support each other in taking next steps toward revision and/or polishing a foundational chapbook draft, working poem by poem.
• Share and engage in techniques for storying one’s poetry for greater narrative force and maximum impact.
• Develop a plan of action for confidently sharing your writing with others. 
• Have fun with poetry.

Writing Goals

In this course, you will:

• Write and submit new poems each week. 
• Craft poetry that integrates and reflects your own lived experience and cognitive life.
• Learn revision techniques.
• Create a chapbook of your original poems. 
• Explore artistic practice through the craft of poetry.  
• Develop an individual poetry practice that feeds your artistic impulses. 

Weekly Syllabus

Week One: Identity

We will get to know each other by sharing our writing, and practicing the feedback protocol. Each student will identify a set of poems, ideas, or works in progress that might be used as the beginning text(s) for a mini-chapbook. We will also briefly explore the writer’s process, and myth-busting common stereotypes about poetry.  

Assignment: Submit 1-3 poems that you are working on or have completed. If you do not  have either  of these, describe, in 100 words or less,  what themes, images, and concepts you are eager to explore in your poetry and creative writing. Themes you are interested in writing about in poetic form.

Week Two: Free Verse & Editing

We will address free verse features and values, then edit poems in small groups. As a class, we will identify some editorial perspectives we might bring to our own work prior to submitting it for publication. 

We will also discuss how submission for publication works, submission guidelines, and the role of editors in the publishing.

Assignment: Craft and submit 1 finished poem and 1 poem that is unfinished/in need of editing. Be prepared to share and discuss in class. 

Week Three: Golden Shovel, Imagery, and the Power of Punctuation

We will examine how imagery, line breaks, stanzas, and punctuation  enhance or detract from the impact of the poems. We will also engage in small group discussion about the concept of authorship when engaging in improvised shared-poetry forms.  

Assignment: Applying the principles/guidelines/controversies of and found poetry, craft and submit one Golden Shovel poem and one  poem of any format.

Week Four: Lineated Poetry vs Prose Poetry

We will examine how metaphor and simile change the use of language in a poem and enhance or detract from its impact. We will also engage in small group writing workshopping of our lineated and prose  poems.

Assignment: Applying the principles/guidelines of lineate  and found poetry, craft and submit one lineated poem and one prose poem.

Week Five: Found Poems and Ekphrastic Poems

We will examine how beginnings and endings enhance or detract from the impact of the poem. We will also engage in small group writing workshopping of  our ekphrastic and found poems.

Assignment: Applying the principles/guidelines of ekphrastic  and found poetry, craft and submit one ekphrastic poem and one found poem.

Week Six: Organizing Your Chapbook Draft

In this class we will edit collectively our chapbook drafts—with an eye on themes, flow, imagining your reader, and cohesion. We will also present a rationale for the working title.

Assignment: Submit 10-15 poem mini-chapbook draft, with working title and correct pagination. Be ready to discuss and workshop the manuscript in class.

Why Take a Poetry Chapbook Course with Writers.com?

• We welcome writers of all backgrounds and experience levels, and we are here for one reason: to support you on your writing journey.
• Small groups keep our online writing courses lively and intimate.
• Work through your weekly lectures, course materials, and writing assignments at your own pace.
• Share and discuss your work with fellow writers in a supportive course environment.
• Award-winning instructor Richard Hedderman will offer you direct, personal feedback and suggestions on every assignment you submit.

$445.00 Original price was: $445.00.$380.00Current price is: $380.00.Enroll Now