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Brainstorm. Choose your topic and let your imagination run wild. To get started,
many artists freestyle for a bit and write down every thought, idea, and emotion that
comes to mind. Use this as your inspiration.
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Create a hook. The basic layout for a rap is intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus,
verse, bridge, chorus, outro. Many rappers start writing the hook (chorus) first. The hook
captures the theme of the rap, and conveys its message to the audience. Rappers and
lyricists in general start with this because the chorus is what people remember and take
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from a rap. It sets the rhythm and flow, and inspires what is said throughout the rap.
Write lyrics. Use the brainstorming you did along with your chorus as a guide for
what you are writing about and to build onto your ideas. Keep in mind that you have to
maintain a rhythm since rap is music as well as poetry, and both follow a beat. Some
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Organize. Once you have an idea of what you want to say, organize your ideas.
Break them up into verses while you keep in mind the layout for most basic raps:
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Memorize. Being able to recite your words from memory allows you to keep the
flow and rhythm of it. So practice, practice, practice! Read and reread your piece until
youre sick of it. Play around with the tempo to see what sounds better with your style.
Don't be discouraged if you trip up on your words.
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Rap and share. With the rhythm down and the words engraved into your
memory, youre ready to rap. Record yourself rapping in front of a crowd or even alone
in your room and share it on the site along with the lyrics! Let your voice be heard, and
get going on your next masterpiece.
8. Try to fit into a particular scene you want to write about. For example, if you want
to write about nature, try to visit a park or a small forest nearby. The natural
scenery may inspire a few lines, even if they're not perfect.
9. Think of the words you use as building blocks of different sizes and shapes.
Some words will fit together perfectly, and some won't. You want to keep working
at your poem until you have built a strong structure of words.
10. Use only those words that are necessary, and those that enhance the meaning of
the poem. Choose your words carefully. The differences between similar
sounding words or synonyms can lead to interesting word play.
11. A computer spreadsheet such as OpenOffice.org Calc, is very efficient for
rearranging words and checking rhythm through columns' alignment. Put one
syllable in each cell. You can transfer the text to a word processor for fancier
printing when you're done.
Use concrete imagery and vivid descriptions. Most poetry appeals to the senses
(yes, plural) in some way, in order to help the reader become more fully immersed in the
text. Here are some things to consider when you're constructing descriptions.
12. Love, hate, happiness: these are all abstract concepts. Many (perhaps all) poems
are, deep down, about emotions and other abstractions. Nevertheless, it's hard to
build a strong poem using only abstractions it's just not interesting. The key,
then, is to replace or enhance abstractions with concrete images, things that you
can appreciate with your senses: a rose, a shark, or a crackling fire, for example.
The concept of the objective correlative may be useful. An objective correlative is
an object, several objects, or a series of events (all concrete things) that evoke
the emotion or idea of the poem.
13. Really powerful poetry not only uses concrete images; it also describes them
vividly. Show your readers and listeners what you're talking about help them to
experience the imagery of the poem. Put in some "sensory" handles. These are
words that describe the things that you hear, see, taste, touch, and smell, so that
the reader can identify with their own experience.
14. Give some examples rather than purely mental/intellectual descriptions. As a silly
example, consider "He made a loud sound", versus "He made a loud sound like a
hippo eating 100 stale pecan pies with metal teeth."
Use poetic devices to enhance your poem's beauty and meaning. The most well
known poetic device is rhyme. Rhyme can add suspense to your lines, enhance your
meaning, or make the poem more cohesive. It can also make it prettier. Don't overuse
rhyme. It's a crime.
If you are opting for the rhyming route, there are three basic types to choose
from: the couplet, tercet, and ballad stanza.
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work.