Poetry FAQ: A Young Poet's Guide To Poetry and Poetry Writing

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QUESTION:
I just want to write my own poems. Why should I bother studying other people's poetry?

If you're just writing for yourself, then of course you should do what you'd like.

Learning more about how other people write poetry can help, however, if:

You're hoping that people other than your friends will want to read your poetry.

You want to sell your chapbooks to people other than your friends and family.

You want to get published in a well-read journal or magazine.

You want to enhance your own enjoyment of poetry.

Some related links:

Here are some tips on how to enjoy poetry by Robert G. Shubinski.

I especially enjoyed this post from kuro5hin about enjoying poetry. An excerpt: "I think, like many things we learn about in school, we have lost the sense that we can obtain pleasure from something that admittedly requires some effort to understand. More people I know derive pleasure from calculus than from poetry. People today have to be introduced to poetry because it is no longer part of our daily experience."