If you’re interested in poetry or happen to be a poet yourself like Cloiesha Wilson, then you’re probably looking for new ways to hone in on your craft and improve your writing.
Cloiesha Wilson is currently a mentor for young women within her community and has been a poet for the past decade. She’s passionate about sharing the artform of poetry with others and is eager to enlighten the world with her tips and tricks about becoming a better writer.
Wilson’s love of poetry started from the age of ten and has grown to become a craft that she works on daily and shares with the people she mentors. Her favourite poem, “And Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou inspired her to remain resilient and strong even during difficult times.
Here are Cloiesha Wilson’s top five tips for aspiring poets.
- Comfortability
Cloiesha Wilson says that beginner writers need comfortability if they want to write great poetry. She says that you need to be in a comfortable space in order to set the tone for your work.
It’s important to find the writing environment that works best for you. Some writers prefer to write in silence and others may prefer music or the ambient sounds of a cafe. It depends on how you work best.
Other factors to consider is which setting you like to write in. Do you prefer to work at home alone, or with somebody else in the room? Truly considering these factors and learning which environments you feel most comfortable writing in is the first stage to being an effective writer.
- Write More
This one may sound obvious, but many people aren’t aware of the huge improvements they can make in their writing by simply practicing. By writing more, you can overcome feelings of insecurity or doubt that you may have in your writing.
According to Cloiesha Wilson, people who do not have innate writing talent often tend to give up too early. The truth is that if you keep pushing, you can overcome many of the common hurdles faced by beginner writers. Write more and keep refining your practice.
Another tip Wilson has is to become more accustomed to writing. You don’t have to focus on writing long, complex sentences. Simply incorporating more writing into your lifestyle is the best way to get started. Write grocery lists, song lyrics, journal entries and more. Just write, write, write!
- Set a Reading Goal
Cloiesha Wilson says that all writers should read as widely as possible, and this is especially true for aspiring poets. She says reading has a huge impact on a writer because it influences their writing style. The authors you read will have a tremendous impact on your tone and the writer you will eventually become. It’s important to let the writers you appreciate guide you to become the writer you wish to be.
Wilson says aspiring poets should read many of the great writers such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, John Milton, T.S. Eliot, William Blake, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Kipling and Poe.
For other forms of writing, she recommends Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, WEB Dubois, James Baldwin, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.
- Don’t Give Up
This is one of the most important pieces of advice Cloiesha Wilson has for aspiring poets. It’s important to never give up on your love of poetry even if you don’t appreciate your own work in the initial stages. Even if you wrote 30 poems that you felt were horrible, there may be one line in each of those poems that you can combine and make a masterpiece out of.
Wilson goes on to say that writing doesn’t come easily. It takes practice and time. Many writers focus on being in competition with the next writer and this is not the best approach. The competition should be with ourselves and we should be striving to improve our own skills every day.
- Learn Literary Devices
Cloiesha Wilson says that all writers should look into literary devices. Most poets and great writers use some form of literary devices. Even if it’s just metaphors and similes, literary devices go a long way to help improve your writing. They make you more expressive and articulate, and every writer can benefit from incorporating literary devices into their work.
To learn more about Cloiesha Wilson, you can visit her personal website at CloieshaWilson.com
