How to write a poem about your family history?
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How to write a poem about your family history?
Writing about your family history doesn’t have to be all clinical details and simple family trees. One of the most unique ways you can preserve your family history, share family memories and even explore the stories in old family photographs is through creative writing. More specifically, creative poetry. Poetry is an artistic literary expression that allows you to share your thoughts, feelings, and even the details of family history with your friends, family and even the world. The following is a simple guide on how to write a poem about your family history.
Types of Poems for Your Family History
First, you’ll need to consider the type of poem you want to base on your family history. There are a nearly endless amount of poetry types, but the following are some common types that are frequently used for writing about people and families.
Haikus
Traditional haikus are about nature, but that doesn't mean you can't play around with the style. A haiku is a stylistic, simple poem with a stanza consisting of three lines. The first line should have 5 syllables, the second should have 7 syllables, and the third should have 5 syllables.
Acrostic Poems
An acrostic poem is a poem that spells out a word or name using the first letter of each line; the poem itself is meant to describe the person or thing being spelled with the first letter of each line. This type of poetry works very well if you are writing about specific people in your family, such as people in old family photographs.
Free Verse
Free verse poetry is, as the name suggests, not bound by particular rules or style. You can do whatever you’d like with a free verse poem, so have fun with it!
Tips for Writing Family History Poetry
The following are some simple tips you can follow when you’re writing poems about your family history.
Tip: Write a few drafts of each poem
Poems don’t have to be “final” the second you finish them. You can write one, two or even more drafts of each poem until you’re happy with the final work. Drafts are especially important when you want to improve your writing.
Tip: Have your poems bound professionally
If you want your poetry to be displayed and preserved for future generations, consider using a book binding service to have the poems bound professionally. It is not every expensive to get this service in today’s print-on-demand age, so you can even have multiple copies bound for other people in your family.
Tip: Be creative
Poetry is all about creative expression, so don’t limit yourself to clinical details. Get creative with your poetry, especially if you’re writing about history that you were personally a part of; the more details and feelings you know, the better you will be able to express that history in a poem.
Remember, there’s more than one way to preserve family history—writing poetry is a creative way to keep family memories alive for the future.
To learn how to create a scrapbook on family history click here.
To make art out of Granny’s words of wisdom click here
To learn how to write a family recipe click here