Three Haiku Techniques

Here is this weeks writing prompt. It is our first "poetry" prompt. All of my students at school will vouch that the quickest way to a good grade from me is to write lots of poetry in their blogs. I can't say that is true, but what I can say is true is "Great writers don't always make for good poets; but good poets always make for great writers!" So try out this prompt. It's pretty easy, and (I think) pretty fun.

The prompts are not required, but they are helpful if you want to develop your skills as a writer. What I would love to see, though, is more commenting on each other's blogs. It's not as much fun if your work really hard on a writing piece and Ben or I are the only ones to leave a comment. So take a few minutes and read what your blogmates are writing, and leave a comment that is nice and supportive of his or her efforts as a writer.

 

Writing Haiku

    Imagine if at every meal you were blindfolded before you started eating.  Without being able to "see" what you are about to eat might make you more hesitant (to say the least) whenever reach for your first mouthful of food. As humans we are sensory creatures, and we like using our senses. Being able to see, touch, taste, feel, and hear gives us a multi-dimensional way to experience and understand the world around us. A good writer uses techniques that helps his or her readers heighten those senses when reading their writing pieces. Helping your readers to "see" in their own minds what you are creating in your mind is an essential tool of the writer.  Once your readers can see what you are writing, then you can add your thoughts to help further tell and expand the story. 

    Using images and actions to create a vivid and visual experience for your reader is a powerful method for engaging and keeping your audience interested in what you are writing--and that has to be the primary goal of all writers. The most effective images and actions are created using specific nouns and verbs (and very rarely adjectives--unless they are needed and specific). I like teaching haiku as a way to practice this basic skill of writing because haiku not only use images and actions, they also add in a thoughtful element into each poem.

     The term haiku is derived from the word "Hai" which means "insightful,"  and the term "Ku," which means "fun." (Or something very close to that.) Haiku are poems of 20 syllables or less constructed in three lines using an images, actions, and a cutting element (usually a punctuation mark that sets up the twist)  that separates the  haiku into two sections.  This might not be the definition you know, but it is the one we will use for the haiky we create this year.  It is not a bad idea to stay close to the traditional 5-7-5 syllable scheme, but it is certainly not the end all be all of "effective haiku."   Only a pedant is going to sit there and count syllables on you.  A good haiku has neither too little or too much, and it just feels like a haiku when you read it or hear it. It makes you want to say, "Ahhhhh ku..."

     Here are my three Haiku Techniques that are time honored traditional ways to approach the writing of haiku--and it will help you with any other kind of writing, too!

Technique # 1: Image and action + cool twist: See the description below

 

In her nest of grass
The robin sleeps all day;
It must be Sunday.
     ~fitz

Technique # 2: Image on Image + Cool Twist or Thought: Juxtapose images + actions that helps us see those images in a new and interesting way:

    This is  where you use "prepositions" to place two images in relation to each other, and then you add an action that adds some kind of cool twist--as in my poem above, or this final haiku that might also go with the scene from chapter ten.
               

Outside the bombed cottage
the old soldier smiles
and flips the pancakes.
     -fitz

    Technique #3: Big to small, and small to big: This is not only a haily technique, but it is an effective way to approach any kind of writing. It goes along with one of my favorite sayings: "Give me a stone and I'll show you the universe.  Show me the universe and I'll give you a stone." The point is that whenever you are writing about a large and/or broad subject, it is important to break it down or narrow it down to something your reader can relate to an a more specific level; likewise, if your topic or subject already feels narrow, then it is important to relate your subjuct to something larger and more universal.

All that's left
of the long winter--
a mitten in the daffodils
~fitz

Here is a way to practice technique #1:

    First create a series of images and actions and make the first two lines of a "potential" haiku.

    •    Nature, and especially the seasons, is the best raw material for haiku.  Go outside and watch nature.  (Yes, move away from your computer and grab a notebook and a pencil!) Find a place where you can just sit and observe what is happening around you. Whenever you "see" something happening, write down that image and action using only nouns and verbs--and occasionally a necessary adjective, and rarely an adverb! The most common sights often make for the best haiku.

For example:   

• In her nest of grass
  The robin sleeps all day

• A single earthworm 
  Inches across the wet pavement

• Three painted monarchs
  Dance around a single flower

• Lightening flashes
  And distant rumbling

Next, take those images and actions and create a haiku by adding a short thought, question, or statement. In traditional haiku this is called the "cutting."  The cutting adds a "twist" into the poem and lets your reader experience the image and action in a new (and often profound--and sometimes funny) way.  A good way to set off this cutting is by adding a semi-colon, double dash or colon at the end of the first section. I generally use a semi-colon in place of a comma and conjunction (so, yet, and, or, nor, for, but).  I use a colon to introduce a statement or a list.  I use the double dash when I want to add a cool thought or sudden insight to complete the haiku.  Try to keep this line between four and seven syllables.

In her nest of grass
The robin sleeps all day;
It must be Sunday.
~fitz

A single earthworm 
Inches across the wet pavement:
Stop the speeding car?
~fitz

Three painted monarchs
Dance around a single flower--
Sweet waiting nectar!
~fitz

Lightening flashes
And vague distant rumbling:
Somebody's getting wet.
~fitz

    These may not be the greatest haiku in the world, but I hope you get the basic idea of what I want you to try to do.  The important part of this exercise is to practice creating images and actions using nouns and verbs and essential adjectives. By adding the cutting I want you to see that even the most common of experiences can have profound and unique meaning.

 

Here is a way to practice technique #2:

First you need to create juxtaposed images--especially if the images are "out of place"--that are usually connected with a prepositional phrase. 

For example:

• The rubber ball
  in the new snow

• A dark puddle
  on the dry street

• On a withered branch
  the black crow

Now add an action of some sort  to the beginning or the end that helps add a new dimension and twist to the images and so create a haiku:

The rubber ball
in the new snow
will soon be lost
~fitz

When will the kids find
the dark puddle
on this dry street?
~fitz

On his long grey branch
the black crow
waits all day.
~fitz

 

Here is a way to practice technique #3:

The technique of expanding or narrowing is effective in all types of writing. To use this technique to create haiku you simply need to start with either a big or a small image.

For example:

• The last oak leaf [small]

• The moon in the night sky [big]

Now expand upon or narrow down the image:

 

Yesterday's winds:
strong enough to carry away
the last oak leaf.
~fitz

The moon in the night sky
walks with me
down this wet road.
~fitz

 NOTE: Haiku never have a title, but you should note the author's name just below the haiku. Haiku work especially well when paired with a black and white photo.