1Be brave.

Don't go halfway on telling this person how you feel - be prepared to

let yourself be vulnerable. Always tell the truth, for your poem will be more g
enuine if you don't hold back.
Ad

Write a Love Poem Step 02.jpg
2Brainstorm. As fast as you can, write out how you feel about this person, what
happened the first time you saw him or her, when you fell in love, how you feel
about the future, and whatever else comes to mind. Don't stop to analyze or crit
ique what you've written - just keep going. Write out a page or two, so you have
plenty of material to use in your poem.
Use parts of your relationship to structure the poem. If you're struggling to co
me up with a format or ideas, try this. Section a piece of paper into three part
s: How We Met, How I Know I Love You, and What I Want for Us in the Future. Fill
in as much as you can about these topics. Later on, use them to structure your
poem - that is, the first part will be about how you met, and so on.
Write a Love Poem Step 03.jpg
3Pull out the ideas you like. Look over your brainstorming and identify any phra
ses, words or thoughts that stand out to you. Collect these on a separate page,
and put them in an order that makes sense. Play with your fragments by combining
them into sentences and joining up similar thoughts, until you have a coherent
prose paragraph.
Write a Love Poem Step 04.jpg
4Make your writing stronger. Now that you have a draft to work with, try a few o
f these tweaks to make your words seem more urgent and vivid:
Remove adverbs. Adverbs ("very" and words that end in "-ly") weaken your writing
, because they're shortcuts that jam verbs (action words) and adjectives (descri
ptors) together. Instead of saying "You're very pretty" try "You're gorgeous;" i
nstead of "I really love you," try "I adore you." And so on.
Avoid "purple prose". Prose turns metaphorically purple when it's too flowery or
sentimental. (For a good literary example, see Edgar Allen Poe's love poems.) S
ome people love purple prose; others find it off-putting and a sure sign of bad
writing and phony emotions. You can avoid it by not stringing too many adjective
s together (for instance, don't harp on your beloved's "beautiful, pearly, brill
iant smile" - instead, note her "radiant smile"), and resist the urge to make al
l of your words bigger with the help of a thesaurus. Remember the old adage: "Do
n't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent one will do."
Steer clear of clich. A clich is a phrase that's overused, even though it might de
scribe something in a way that makes sense. Some examples are "I love you more t
han life itself" or "I fell head over heels for him." If your paragraph contains
a phrase that you've heard a lot of other people use, try to reword it in a gen
uine way.
Use sensory descriptors. Make your writing more immediate by including sensory d
etail that will make the reader feel like he or she is experiencing the event ag
ain. For example, instead of saying "Your hair smelled amazing," say "Your hair
smelled like citrus and vanilla."
Write a Love Poem Step 05.jpg
5Choose a metaphor (optional). If you feel up to it, you can try to find a compe
lling metaphor for how you feel about this person. A metaphor can help you expre
ss your feelings in a unique and fresh way, and make your love poem extra indivi
dualized. For examples, see Shakespeare's sonnets or some of Emily Dickinson's p
oetry.
Write a Love Poem Step 06.jpg
6Read your work aloud. As you do that, try these things:
Listen for anything that sounds "off" and make a note of it. Come back later and
rework it so that you're satisfied.
Notice where you naturally pause as you read. Every time you pause for longer th
an a half-second, make a small note between the words (such as a star or tick ma
rk).
Write a Love Poem Step 07.jpg
7Rewrite the paragraph, placing line breaks wherever you paused. Every time you
made a mark for pausing, move to a new line. Your poem might not rhyme, but reme
mber that not all poems must rhyme - in fact, non-rhyming poems can sometimes be
more moving.
Write a Love Poem Step 08.jpg
8Keep editing the poem until you're satisfied. You can edit your poem endlessly
if you want to, but you'll have to stop at some point if you want to give it to
the person you love. Keep working with it until you're satisfied that it express
es your true feelings.
Write a Love Poem Step 09.jpg
9Refine the presentation (optional). For an extra romantic touch, type out the p
oem in a nice font, or use your best handwriting to put it on a quality piece of
paper. Tie it with a ribbon or put it in a special envelope, or even have it fr
amed. Paying a little extra attention to presentation turns your poem into a tre
asured memento.