December 2018

Still a “For Dummies” and have at least three books on the Kindle ready to read 🙂

August 2014

Ah, I am a fan of the “For Dummies” series and own a few of their books on my Kindle. When I googled “How to write a Haiku” this afternoon a search suggestion came up which was: “How to write a Haiku for dummies” so of course, I had to follow the “For Dummies” link. Well, I was a little disappointed at first as it explained a Tanka and not a Haiku, but it made me aware that there is a “Poetry For Dummies” book out and it is now on my Amazon wishlist. So, what is a Tanka? A Tanka is essentially a Haiku with two 7 syllable lines (a couplet) added. According to the “For Dummies” series, the tanka is older than the Haiku and focuses on the natural world (I thought the Haiku does that too?) and the poet’s emotions (I don’t think the Haiku does that especially). The Haiku focuses more on observation and the couplet more on reflection. Their suggestions are: ~ avoid end-rhyming lines ~ vary the rhythm in different lines ~ use enjambment ~ avoid ending too many lines with a one syllable line That sounds easy enough. Well, my writing of Haiku in the last few days has shown me that it isn’t that easy. You can put two images beside each other, creating a contrast, but to do that in an interesting way is another matter. Maybe that “Haiku moment” is really needed and you better get yourself into a meditative state when you write a Haiku. I also think that reading haiku might be a good idea because you subconsciously learn the ways of a Haiku or Tanka. Thinking about all this I rather stay with writing Haiku for now. Once I have learned a little more with that I try myself with Tanka’s.

resource: dummies.com