At the moment I’m on my quest to improve myself, especially academic skills such as writing poetry and prose, reading out loud and general knowledge. Improving my poetic abilities is the next milestone: I’ve just bought The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry. It is a great introduction to poetry and a recap of the skills we should have taken notice of in GCSE English.
All those boring (not because of the teaching) drawn-out English lessons have made creative writing an anathema of most boys: growing up was difficult enough without having to endure hours of forced recital.
Now I’ve stopped studying English in the classroom, I am more interested than ever before. Good writing skills impacts employment, university applications and about any type of technical profession.
Anyway, for those interested, here is a summary of Stephen Fry’s three rules for poetry:
- You can never read a poem too slowly, but you can certainly read one too fast
- Never worry about ‘meaning’ when you are reading poems, either those I include in the book, or those you choose to read for yourself
- Buy a notebook, exercise book or jotter pad and lots of pencils
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