my poetry writing process

Summary of the Video (Poetry Writing Process)

The creator explains how they get themselves back into writing and shares their poetry workflow in four main stages: brainstorming, drafting (writing longhand), typing + layout/line-break decisions, and editing/finalizing. They emphasize a belief that their best writing comes from “truth”—often experiences or topics that have been “eating away” at them. They also suggest that fictionalizing can feel more “surface-level” because it lacks firsthand nuance.

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Artistic Techniques, Concepts, and Creative Process

1) Brainstorming / Idea Capture

• They don’t start with a fixed plan.
• Quick-capture inspiration: when a “nice sounding line” appears during the day, they write it in the Notes app.
• They acknowledge that captured lines can become incoherent later (especially dream fragments), but they keep them because they fear forgetting.
• They value ideas driven by something they’ve been dealing with internally:
  • Topics that are “nagging” or “eating away” tend to produce their strongest work.

2) Source of “Truth” in Writing

• Their strongest poems/stories reflect things they’ve actually experienced, since real experience adds subtle details beyond stereotypes.
• Not every piece is autobiographical, but they say the work they personally like most tends to feel grounded in lived nuance.
• Their goal is “bare-bones / bone-deep truth”—complete truth rather than partial truth.

3) Drafting Style: Longhand Pencil + Reworking While Drafting

• They prefer writing longhand on paper.
• They use pencil instead of pen:
  • Pencil allows changes and reduces fear of making a “set in stone” mistake.
  • They dislike erasing, but do heavy crossing out and rewriting.
• They often draft without perfect final structure:
  • They may consider line breaks early, but frequently write up to a word-length that fits each line.
  • They cross out lines, insert text above/below, and fill space as they go.

4) Transfer to Computer + Line-Break Revision

• After drafting on paper, they type the poem into a Word document.
• Early typing keeps the paper’s line lengths as the line breaks.
• Once the poem feels finished, they do “real” line-breaking on the computer.

Line-break technique (performance-focused)

• Their line breaks are intentional and stylistic.
• Professors have noticed their method as “weird.”
• When reading aloud, they try to emphasize the first word of a line.
• To do this, they sometimes end a line on a preposition/article and begin the next line with the emphasized word.

5) Punctuation and Capitalization Choices

• They sometimes use all lowercase for personal aesthetic (influenced by Tumblr/YouTube style).
• For poetry/prose, they generally prefer normal capitalization, with some exceptions.

6) Editing / Finalizing Philosophy

• They strongly dislike editing and are reluctant to change finished work.
• Their mindset:
  • Once a line feels exactly right “in their heart,” it’s hard to be convinced otherwise.
  • They can accept feedback only if it includes alternative wording they agree sounds better.
• They edit during drafting rather than doing heavy revisions after.
• While writing, they obsess over individual lines, which they believe reduces the need for later revision.

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Clear Step-by-Step Process (As Presented)

1. Brainstorm

   • Capture sudden lines during the day in a phone Notes app.
   • Let internal “nagging” topics guide ideas.

2. Draft on paper (longhand, pencil)

   • Write freely with crossing out and inserting.
   • Often fill each paper line with as many words as fit.
   • Consider line breaks loosely at first, not perfectly.

3. Type to a Word document

   • Enter the poem using the pencil draft’s line layout as a temporary structure.
   • Keep the initial line breaks while typing.

4. Finalize line breaks

   • Adjust line breaks intentionally once the poem is largely complete.
   • Use line breaks to emphasize the first word when read aloud.

5. Light / limited post-editing

   • Avoid major changes after finishing unless specific alternate wording is proposed.

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Creators / Contributors Featured

• The main creator of the video (no other specific people are credited or named in the subtitles).

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