Sometimes the shortest and sweetest of poems can be just as effective as a two-page long ballad. In accordance with our July focus of the Summer of Literature we’re having here at The Maker, we’re going back to basics to discuss how to write a haiku, celebrating poetry in all its many wonderful forms. Although it may hark back to your primary school days, stick with us — this is a fun, quick task for anyone who fancies a slight dabble in writing this summer. Grab your pen or open a crisp new Word document and follow along with me as we write a haiku.

Step One- Structure

• Haikus are 3 lines with a total 17 syllables
• The first line is 5 syllables, the second 7 and the third and final line is 5 again.
• Don’t worry about rhyming, pay more attention to how your words and lines flow together as one.

Step Two- Get Inspiration

• Traditionally Haikus are inspired by nature. Perhaps you want to take a walk outside? Or if all else fails, a Google image search can work wonders…
• That said, your Haiku can be about whatever you want– don’t confine yourself to tradition!
• Once you’ve settled on a subject go seek it out: either look at it, touch it, or experience it before coming back to write your Haiku.
• Think about the emotions you feel towards your subject, perhaps create a list of buzzwords you associate with it that you could include in your Haiku.
• I’m going to take my inspiration from this year’s Summer of Literature as it’s a fun abstract topic that I’d like to capture through words.

Step Three- Think About Punctuation

• Before going to write your Haiku think about how you might punctate it.
• Capitalisation or no-capitalisation?
• Even minor changes in full stops or commas can change the whole message. Plan out beforehand how you might use punctuation to influence the overall effect of your Haiku.
• Similarly, don’t feel bound by conventional grammar and word-order rules. Go full yoda-talk if you like! Haikus are about experimenting to capture a certain moment, feeling or object.
• I think I’ll keep a fairly regular punctation structure—we are a literary blog, after all, and must make a good impression.

Step Four- Get Writing

• Time to start writing. Try to recreate the essence of your subject within the form of the haiku.
• Don’t be scared to experiment, test out different ideas and see if they work or not. Move words around and edit as you please.
• You can delineate from tradition. Who says you must stick to the right number of syllables? If adding more or less to your Haiku makes its more effective, go for it!
• While I’m writing my Haiku, I always count the syllables out on my fingers or I get confused very quickly.

Although writing a Haiku may feel like a juvenile or restrictive task, it’s important to experiment with our poetic form, testing how our skills can be transposed into different formats. Here is the Haiku I just came up with on the Summer of Literature to help strike inspiration:

Summer comes to Launceston.

Literature spills through the town.

Poetry evokes joy.

Although maybe not the best Haiku, it’s a fun quick exercise. Even if you don’t have the time to submit an entry for our Summer of Literature, perhaps get your poetic juices flowing with this fun, easy task to add a bit of literature to your summer.

Written by Anna Craig, our Digital Development intern