How To Write A Cinquain

In the world of poetry, there are several different types of poems.  I personally like to write in verse, or rhymed poems.  Then there is also free verse, which is a highly stylized poem that has no rhyming words, but lots of imagery and descriptions.

Then there are all the styles of poems.  One of these styles is known as a Cinquain.  The cinquain is a very simple style of poetry, based on syllables instead of stanzas.  Cinquains are made up of 5 lines of verse.  It will look something like this:

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

The thing about cinquains is that they can be based on any topic or theme.  They can be totally silly:

Pork Chops
Each night at six
Father demanded them
Just once I wished we could have
Fish sticks

Or they can be completely serious:

Soldiers
Freedom fighters
Sent to lands far from home
Protecting the lives of millions
Bravely

Cinquains can have a nature theme to them:

It’s cold
The winter storm
Creeps in without a sound
Laying down a blanket of snow
Frigid

Or they can have a love theme to them:

For you
The one I love
I’ve never known just how
To tell you of my true feelings
For you

They can even have an artsty feel to them:

Moments
Like living art
Each person around you
An actor in an unknown film
Captured

The cinquain is one of the easiest poems you can write, and they can be written by anyone.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a creative writer, or just looking to release a few pent up emotions.  The cinquain is a great way to let your emotions flow.

Prevent Writer’s Block With Word Association

Over coming writer’s block can be harder at times than others, and even rummaging through other venues may not work.  That’s when working with word association can help.

Word association is one of the easiest ways of coming up with ideas that I’ve ever personally used.  In a nutshell, it goes like this.  Write down any word that comes to mind.  Doesn’t matter what, just write it down.  Now, write down 3 or 4 different ideas that come to mind from that first word.  Keep going from one idea to the next until you see an idea begin to form.

Another idea I created for myself is a little thing I call N.A.V.A.  These stand for Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb.  I just write down one of each, not thinking about how they go together or anything like that.  Then, I work at trying to find a way to link them to each other.  For example, my page would look like this:

N=Basketball
A=Globular
V=Crash
A=Sensationally

Now, I’d try and get each of those words to coincide with each other in a story or an article.  For instance, I could write a story about a basketball player in a car crash.  Or I can write about the sensation exploits of professional basketball players.  There are several ideas that can be obtained from just these four words.

Mind you, these are only a couple of ideas to help you get over your writer’s block.  One of the best ideas, though, is to create your own ways of overcoming this obstacle.  If you can create your own ways of beating writer’s block, there will always be something to talk about.

Get Paid To Write At Bukisa

I found a new site where you can write for money.  The site is called Bukisa, and it seems pretty good so far.  It’s a lot like Helium, as you get paid based on the number of views to your work.  However, through this site, your earnings are also based on the site’s rating index.  For example, if the site’s index is at 4 and you’re content receives 1,000 unique views, you receive $4.

There are a lot of different topics to choose from, as well as different publication choices, such as text articles or videos.  Text articles must be at least 250 words in length, but no more than 1500 words.  Videos should be no more than 100mb in size.  If you’d rather add an audio clip or a slide show presentation, these options are also available.

Due to the fact that this site is still rather new, there are still some bugs that need to be worked out here and there.  For the most part, however, I’m pretty happy with this place.  I have read some negative press about Bukisa, like you have to give up your rights to your work once published on the site.  According to the site’s CTO, Simon Gelfand, this simply is not true.  Everything you post on the site remains your property.

Minimum payout is set at $10, and is paid through PayPal.  Payments are sent within 30 days of whatever month you reach payout level.  Basically, it means that if you reach payout on the 14th of December, you’ll get paid by the end of January.  Site revenues are made through a wide array of venues, including text ads, banner ads, and email marketing, just to name a few.

I can’t say whether this site is going to last or not, but from what I’ve seen so far, I’m pretty excited.  I’ve published 2 different articles on the site and have already had quite a few views.  As time goes by and I add new content, I’ll be able to tell if this site is worth the time or not.  For now, I’m happy with everything I’ve seen.