Unfinished Poems? 5 Ways To Use One Liner Poems
“I haven’t seen you out lately… Have you been writing?”
“Oh yeah, I been writing a lot”
(Please don’t ask me what I been writing… Please don’t ask me what I been writing...)
“That’s great, you gonna sign up for the open mic? Would love to hear your new stuff!”
“Well… I haven’t actually finished anything… It’s just a bunch of pieces that don’t really go together.”
Oh the shame! The frustration!
I know you don’t want anyone to know you haven’t been able to finish a poem in a while.
It’s like there’s this unspoken stigma about having snippets of poetry opposed to polished pieces that makes us feel inadequate and embarrassed.
Talk about fuel for imposter syndrome!
Well, I ain’t falling for it and neither should you.
How is beating yourself up for not being able to finish those lines popping into your head gonna help?
I know when the words came to you, it brought a rush of excitement, the tingle in your toes that inspiration causes, so why make yourself feel shitty and sulk afterwards?
The truth is there’s tons of creative things you can do with those one line poems…
And some can even get you money.
That’s right, you heard me…
Cash money, dolla dolla bills ya’ll.
But first, we got to rewire your brain about the stigma of unfinished poems.
Short Poems Can Pack A Punch
Sometimes the shorter the poem the harder it hits.
I’ve read one line or two line poems that captivated me longer than reading a full page poem.
It’s because our brains want to fill in the missing information, it leads the reader to imagine and create what’s left out. The things we fill in tend to be our own personal experiences. Not only that…
Shorter poems tend to be more assertive which makes them feel passionate and powerful.
Not Every Stanza Is Meant To Be Expanded
If you sit down to write and after the first few lines you can’t figure out how to continue or finish it off, welcome to the club.
It happens to all of us.
One of the greatest challenges as poets is how to tell if a poem is finished.
But sometimes, a poem isn’t meant to be finished at all…
How do you know?
Well, that depends on why you can’t finish it.
If you have an idea for the entirety of the piece then that poem might just need some time and re-working.
If the poem is about something heavy from your past that you haven’t worked through, again it may just need some attention and time to sort it out.
But!
If the inspiration completely fizzles out, or you don’t even know where you’re going with it (what the point of the poem is) then it might just be beautiful language that’s come to you via the muse.
That my friend, is a blessing, not a curse.
Poets often think in poetry.
That’s why these one liners happen.
Sometimes the muse has said all it needs to say in one line or a short stanza.
It may just be an invoking of an emotion, atmosphere or thought.
So what do you do with the pieces?
Here are 5 ways to utilize those pieces of poetry.
1: MIXED MEDIA POETRY:
Have you ever seen a recycled piece of furniture with modge podged collages on it?
They’re strikingly beautiful and can be a cheap and easy way to brighten up your home.
Taking some of the poetry snippets and pasting them onto a piece of art for your home is a great way to honor the poetry and put them to use.
If you find yourself really enjoying this craft, start selling them!
2: THE ONE LINE PROJECT:
Lately I have been exploring layers. Layers in art, poetry and even music. I find it fascinating how one layer adds to the next to create a whole piece.
The same can be applied to your one line poems.
Have you ever played the telephone game?
It’s where people stand in a line and the person on the end whispers a sentence to the person standing next to them, who then passes it on to the next and so on. By the end, the sentence has changed, sometimes drastically from the original.
You can do that with your one line poem on transparent paper, like a flip-book.
Not only is this visually appeasing, it might lead you to a completed poem by the end!
The way to do this is simple: Re-write the first line in a different way and keep rewriting it until you’ve got about 10 different lines.
If you want to make it even more fun, invite your friends to re-write the line, and then you have a cool collaboration piece!
Or…
You can take the one line by itself and turn that into a flip-book.
3: THE OPPOSITES GAME
Let's say you’ve got a bunch of short poems about love that haven’t been finished…
You can take those and write the opposite (anger, resentment, etc.) across from them.
This is another project that is visually pleasing and I guarantee you that you’ll get even more inspiration doing it!
This also makes a great self published micro chapbook or zine to sell.
4. EXPLORE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
If you have a bunch of short poems in English that you don’t know what to do with, take those lines and translate them into other languages.
This is like the one line project idea, except you’re rewriting the lines in another language.
Not only does this bridge cultures, it’s also a great poetry project where you can include discoveries on how the meaning of the line changes when said in a different language.
Some cultures have different meanings for “I love you” that are beautiful.
When you explore how to say things in a language other than your own, you’re expanding your creativity and your toolbox for expression.
People will love this and you can develop these into an idea for a grant. You could get money to fund your project and invite people of different cultures to participate.
5: POETRY ON INSTAGRAM
Instagram poems are hugely popular.
Taking those snippets and turning them into poem pictures for Instagram posts are a great way to utilize those lines.
Instagram poets can build a following fast because most people scrolling won’t stop to read a full poem.
Make sure you use Instagram poetry hashtags along with your posts to get in front of your audience!
Top Hashtags for Poetry:
#poetry #love #poetrycommunity #poem #writersofinstagram #poet #poems #quotes #writer #poetsofinstagram #art #writing #lovequotes #quote #wordporn #thoughts #writersofig #quoteoftheday #life #writerscommunity #words #inspirationalquotes #shayari #poets #spokenwordcommunity #wordsofwisdom #urdupoetry #like #poetsofig #bhfyp
PRO TIP: You want to select hashtags that are under a million views, the sweet spot is 100,000 - 500,000. You’ll be more likely to get seen that way. When hashtags have a bigger following, your post gets lost in the feed.
Take it a step further: make money poet!
Now that you got a collection of beautiful one line poems imposed on photos for Instagram, turn around and put them on Etsy to sell!
How to sell poetry on Etsy
You can do this 2 ways:
1: Offer the digital copy for download on Etsy for a small fee.
2: Print them out and frame them to ship to your customer for a higher price point.
You can also put them on sites like society 6, which will apply the graphics to all sorts of cool stuff like pillow cases, iphone covers and more!
That’s how poets make money off those one liners!
Want more ways to utilize poems?
Contact me for a creative coaching session and I can help you turn your “scraps” into a profitable project!
I’ve helped many poets with grant ideas and even create new revenue streams for their business. If you’re feeling lost and frustrated, don’t panic, I’ll help you form a solid action plan!
Setting up an appointment is easy: Just email me by clicking the button below and I’ll set up our first consultation session to help you move forward into a place of potential.
