Table of Contents
Quick Answer
Use AI to study forms, generate alternate word choices, and critique meter — but write the emotional core yourself. AI is a thesaurus with context, not a poet.
- Start with a feeling you can't describe yet
- Let AI offer options; you make the cuts
- Never submit AI-generated poetry as your own
What You'll Need
- An emotional seed (memory, image, question)
- Assisters or Claude
- A form reference (sonnet, villanelle, free verse)
- Poetry Foundation for reading masters
- Patience — poetry is slow work
Step 1: Find Your Seed
Not "I want to write about love." Try: "My grandmother's hands the day she stopped recognizing me." Specific > abstract.
Step 2: Freewrite 10 Minutes
Pen and paper, no AI. Dump every image, sound, memory around the seed. Don't edit. This becomes your raw material.
Step 3: Pick a Form (or Reject One)
Prompt: "Explain the villanelle form with one classic example and its rules (meter, rhyme scheme, repetition pattern)." Decide if your material fits a constraint or wants free verse.
Step 4: Draft Line by Line
Write 4-8 lines yourself. Then prompt: "Here's my draft [paste]. Suggest 5 alternative last lines that keep the meter but sharpen the image." Pick one, modify, continue.
Step 5: Test the Meter
Prompt: "Scan my poem for metrical feet. Flag any lines that break the pattern." AI catches stumbles your ear missed.
Step 6: Hunt Clichés
Prompt: "List every cliché or overused image in my poem. Suggest fresher alternatives." Kill "heart aches" and "raging storm."
Step 7: Read Aloud Three Times
Once for meaning, once for sound, once for breath. Rewrite what stumbles.
Step 8: Submit or Keep Private
If submitting: Duotrope or Submittable for journals. Do NOT submit AI-generated content — most journals (Poetry, The Atlantic, Rattle) require disclosure and reject pure AI work.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using AI's first draft — it's always clichéd
- Skipping the freewrite (AI fills in the blank with generic imagery)
- Submitting AI poetry to journals without disclosure (career-ending in lit community)
- Ignoring form rules
- Forgetting the personal stakes
Top Tools
| Tool | Use Case | Free Tier | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisters | Collaboration | Yes | Alternatives + critique |
| Poetry Foundation | Reading masters | Yes | Form study |
| RhymeZone | Rhyme search | Yes | Sound patterns |
| Duotrope | Submissions | Trial | Journal tracking |
| Scrivener | Poem collections | Trial | Organization |
Conclusion
Poetry is the most human of forms. AI can help you sharpen a line, find a rhyme, scan a meter — but it can't feel your grandmother's hand. Use it as a tool, not a ghost.
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