As I've said in the video above, this course will introduce you to poetry, why I think it’s great and how it can help you express big abstract emotions in concise, specific ways. We’ll start by talking about how everyone is creative, sometimes they just need a prompt to get their mind into the right gear to create. Then we’ll talk about some weird, fun technical things you can do with your writing to get yourself going. Next we’ll let you loose to run free across the page. Then we’ll look into some poems I think are beautiful and might be useful to you. We’ll finish by writing a poem of your very own. The theme of the whole workshop is Paradise. What does paradise mean? Is it a place? Is it a person? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? How can you write a poem about paradise?

During the course we'll be using language specific to poetry – I've written descriptions of the ideas I think might be new to you in the Glossary. You can visit the Glossary at any point by clicking on it at the bottom of the chapter list on the left of your screen. Otherwise, click the green complete and continue button at the top of the page to move onto the next chapter.