Creative Writing

I’ve always liked writing poetry, but was told from early on that rhyming poetry was a sure sign of being an amateur. That nearly killed the poet inside me. I was devastated to say the least. But, I kept on writing my poems and learning about the craft.

That’s when I found a different poetry style that I actually felt comfortable writing. Personally, I’m not that good at free verse. I feel like I’m stumbling over the words, because there is no rhyme or reason to them, no pun intended.

This style is called a Cinquain, and it’s incredibly easy to do. There is a basic structure to the Cinquain, that goes as follows:

Line 1=2 syllables
Line 2=4 syllables
Line 3=6 syllables
Line 4=8 syllables
Line 5=2 syllables

The Cinquain can be written with any theme or topic you choose. Whatever your personal style may be, you can write a Cinquain. For instance, your Cinquain can be silly:

Monkey
Sitting so still
Waiting for the right time
Entertaining the laughing crowd
For change

Or, you can write a Cinquain that is totally serious:

Sorrow
Cries in the night
Another child is lost
Seduced by a chemical love
Of drugs

Your Cinquain can be about life in general or things in nature:

Thunder
Shaking the sky
Warning of things to come
Echoing through the darkened night
Rolling

Or your Cinquain can be all about love:

True Love
One that will last
Like the stars in the sky
Forever between lovers hearts
As one

It can even have a more artistic feel to it:

Stories
Tales of life
Worded works of great art
Characters that seem more than real
Timeless

In a nutshell, Cinquains are a way for any writer to express themselves, no matter what they have to say. It’s an easy form of poetry, and flows very nice. This is one of my favorite forms of poetry today.

When I first started writing online, I was writing poetry. Now mind you, my poetry is rhyming verse. I’ve been writing in this style since I was in junior high school, and absolutely loved it. I’ve got hundreds of notebooks and binders filled with my poems, but when I tried to find a place for them online, I was quickly told that rhyming poetry is a sure sign of being an amateur. I was devistated.

I tried writing free verse after that, but found out immediately that I sucked at it. So, I thought my days as a poet were over. That’s when it came to me. Rhyming poetry would be a great way to break into the greeting card market. I’ve always been one of those people who stood in the greeting card isle for hours reading all the cards. So, I started submitting my prose to every greeting card company I could find an address for. I also found out that the greeting card industry is filled with a lot of tough competition.

I was just about ready to give up when it came to me to do my own greeting cards. The cool thing is that anyone can do this. Doesn’t matter whether you want to do e-cards or if you’re looking to create actual greeting cards. All it takes is a few creative lines and some ingenuity.

The first thing you want to think about is who you’re creating the cards for. Are they going to be birthday cards, sympathy cards, or just a little something to say hi? The best part about this is that you can make greeting cards for ANY occasion. I’ve even seen some that say Congratulations on your Divorce.

If you can put together a few poetic lines, you can make your own greeting cards. You can go so far as to put together a webpage and sell them online. If you can make cards that are just off the wall enough, you’ll have people knocking down your virtual door to get to them. As far as the card design, that’s totally up to you. You can go with a good printer and some free clip-art pieces. Or, you can glue little pieces of fabric or whatever and create “hand-made” cards. It’s amazing what people will look for online.

If you’re one of the people out there who have a knack for writing rhyming poetry, but aren’t sure what to do with it, try creating your own greeting cards. Who says rhyming poetry is amateurish. Greeting card companies are making millions of dollars every year because of it. Who knows, you could be the next Hallmark on the block.