Hi readers and writerly friends!

Today in Artsy Things, we’re going to explore writing poetry using artificial intelligence (AI).  I heard about this from an article a few years ago —I tried to find it, but so many others have come out discussing the same topic, I haven’t been able to. However, I have linked some particularly interesting articles at the end of this post for further reading. All other articles quoted in this post will be linked at the end as well.

Artificial intelligence

Before we can create poetry using artificial intelligence, we must first understand what the term means in definition as well as what it means for the future of humanity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world in ways no one can yet fully predict.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) of Oxford University Press defines artificial intelligence as:

“Noun. The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this. Abbreviated AI.” (OED 2008)

Artificial intelligence can also be described as the theory and development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, translation between languages, and other tasks that normally require human intelligence. Initially, AI included search engines, recommendation algorithms such as those used by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix, computer programs that could play games like chess with users. In the last decade, we have seen an emergence of AI applications that can complete a myriad of tasks that typically require human intelligence. These applications include understanding and responding to human speech (apps such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (such as Tesla), and even art making and poetry writing programs (such as the infamous Lensa app and Verse by Verse by Google).

In his article, “Can AI Write Authentic Poetry?” cognitive psychologist and poet Keith Holyoak explores whether artificial intelligence could ever achieve poetic authenticity. In the article, he makes the comparison of AI to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein:

“On the hazier side of the present horizon, there may come a tipping point at which AI surpasses the general intelligence of humans. (In various specific domains, notably mathematical calculation, the intersection point was passed decades ago.) Many people anticipate this technological moment, dubbed the Singularity, as a kind of Second Coming—though whether of a savior or of Yeats’s rough beast is less clear. Perhaps by constructing an artificial human, computer scientists will finally realize Mary Shelley’s vision.” (Holyoak 2022, par.6)

Despite the bleak predictions of how AI may one day replace all human activity, the reality is that this technology is simply not there yet. While AI can simulate human intelligence successfully in many tasks, it is still lacking in the poetry writing department and requires humans to be the editors and final decision makers in the outcome of a poem. Holyoak explains this current iteration of poetry AI being a system that “operates using a generate-then-select method” (Holyoak 2022, par.10).

In his article, Keith Holyoak ponders the validity of AI poetry, functionalism, the Hard Problem of consciousness, and the critical essence or subjective experience within poetry. I have linked his article at the end of this blog post, and I highly encourage you to read it if you’re even remotely interested in these topics.

Users can select up to three poets to serve as their muses. They will provide suggestions as you write. Photo by Payton Hayes.

So, what is Verse by Verse?

Verse by Verse, is a powerful poetry writing AI created by Google, that produces suggestions line-by-line inspired by famed classical poets such as Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The tool allows users to select up to three poets they want to mimic from a list of twenty-two classical poets.

Google’s about section on the Verse by Verse demo page says this of the software:

Verse by Verse is an experiment in human-AI collaboration for writing poetry. We have created a cadre of AI poets, trained on the poems of many of America's classical poets, to work alongside you in writing poetry.

Each poet will try to offer suggestions that they think would best continue a poem in the style of that given poet. As such, try working with different poets to see whose style best meshes with your own.

Explore what works best for you when composing the poem. You can try using the poets' suggestions (including editing them to better match your style!), or write your own inspired by what they suggest. (Google)

I conducted a little more research to gain a better understanding of how the AI operates and how best to use it for writing my own poetry. The article “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ can help you write poetry” by Aditya Saroha provides insight into how the muses provides suggestions based on classical poets. Saroha said, “Google explained that Verse by Verse's suggestions are not the original lines of verse the poets had written, but novel verses generated to sound like lines of verse the poets could have written. To build the tool, Google’s engineers trained models on a large collection of classic poetry. They fine-tuned the models on each individual poet’s body of work to try to capture their style of writing” (Saroha 2021, par.8-10). So, the poetry that the tool’s muses provide the user with were not actually lines crafted by classical poets, but rather inspired by their individual bodies of work.

In the article, “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ Lets You Imitate Writing Style Of Your Favourite Classical Poet” by Rudrani Gupta, provided quotes from one of Google’s software engineers, Dave Uthus where he explained how the AI was trained to write like classical poets. She said, “The suggestions of the new verses are possible because the tool has been ‘trained to have a general semantic understanding of what lines of the verse would best follow a previous line of verse,’ said engineer Dave Uthus. ‘Even if you write on topics not commonly seen in classic poetry, the system will try its best to make suggestions that are relevant,’ he added” (Gupta 2020, par.4). By training the AI in this fashion, the tool allows modern poets to write about modern topics, themes, and concepts, while imitating classical style and voice.

While this software can prove to be a useful writing too, it isn’t intended to replace talented poets. Saroha concludes his article by noting that the tool is meant to aid poets rather than replacing them. He said, “Through the tool, Google aims to ‘augment’ the creative process of composing a poem. Google said Verse by Verse is a creative helper, an inspiration and not a replacement” (Saroha 2021, par.11 ).

Google’s Verse by Verse, an AI poetry-writing tool. Photo by Payton Hayes.

I first tried using Verse by Verse in 2020

I was first introduced to Verse by Verse in 2020 and I tried it just to see how effective it could be. At the time, I was really getting into my own religious deconstruction and exploring overt sexuality and expression. As a result, my writing at the time certainly reflected my interests and spiritual journey. I typed in words such as holy, prayer, pleasure, love, lust, sex, worship, devotion, god, and church. The poets I selected as my muses were Whitman, Emerson, and Poe and as I wrote each verse on the left, they provided me with inspiration from the column on the right.

I do not have the original poem the AI created when I first did this exercise in 2020 however, from that, I ended up with the following poem:

PRAYER

"Oh God," she says, hands clasped together, fingers entwined, knees bent.

He doesn't answer; he does.

he answers with earnest, continued, devoted worship

head bowed, eyes closed, his mind devoid of all else but this

—this soul-shaking, earth-shattering pleasure, this blessed communion between man and woman,

the Holy Spirit an undoubted voyeur through the candlelight,

this holy practice wherein they do some of their finest praying. (Hayes 2020)

Revisiting Verse by Verse in 2022

To show you how this AI writes poetry and how it’s suggestions can be effective for your own poetry writing, I decided to give it another go in 2022. Below is a gallery of screenshots from the tool as I entered each verse/line at a time. As you can see, my muses Emerson, Poe, and Whitman all provided me with interesting and unique suggestions to include in my poem.

I used words and phrases that came to mind, without rhyme or reason. I typed out ten verses and my chosen muses produced three lines each to help inspire my poem. Below are the twenty-seven lines from each poet in the right column (totaling eighty-one lines among my muses).

Ralph Waldo Emerson Muse

Tides of the hands of the bold,

Tides of the North wind, and to woods

Tides of the hands of the snow;

Hearing a weary weary voice at happy eve,

Hearing a happy poet recount

Hearing a weary poet high

Whilst upper wits, and for their memory ave

Dwarfed for thy harp to willing hand;

Victor over war’s enchanted lid

Spreading their scent through a ian gold;

House in for the blood of their delight,

Bright with homage to their well-known delight!

Wield these young honey wine for their delight:

Escort and beauty for their sick delight:

Their shining beauty to each youthful lamp  

Knew that their roar and pulse of kindred air:

Wield these first tones that shine through speak;

Bright with homage to their well-known delight!

Soothes with their shining sorrow;

Mixed with sand by other true delight.

Scent with thy summer horn.

Spreading their scent through fancy and desire;

Stream through thy friendship to the upper air,--

Beer and cup from every cottage beams–

Freedom and beauty for a delicate beams.

Strewed the wide wave with their enchanted maids;

Mixed with sand by other true liberty.

Walt Whitman Muse

Entering my feet over the prairies,

Wherein each stands or sweeps in the though,

Entering my feet upon the prairies

Splashing the waves with a yellow light,

Splashing the waves over the beach at night,

Splashing the river with a mystic midnight light,

Gave up the mighty and diverse hand

Rose the old drunkard, with a long side,

Making the young land tremble for the soul;

Wherein I feel so certain and happy,

Wherein all women pass from the world,

Encircled by a servant at hand;

Encircled by a servant at hand;

Making a song of a open air;

E’er lashes and clothes without wealth.

Thunder on stride on stride on lean words:

Rich greenish drift and the measureless light;

Wherein I understand each breath and the age;

Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand.

Mighty and perfect pour through the night.

Perfume the white arms of the summer night

Rich with ample forms and barbarian words,

Rich and perfect play for other globes!

Light the world with a mystic motion;

Encircled by a world in other bay;

Encircled by a perfect float in the air;

Encircled by a perfect float in the air:

Edgar Allen Poe Muse

Which fall’st into this world like rain

When in an happy Runic rhyme,

Wherein my youth and dreams and words,

Light as the lavas of summer air

Drowning a wild feeling with the sound

Tempting and dreaming in this passionate light

Filled with deep thoughts of thee.

Brought a silver, silken rest.

Brought a silver silken veil of light,

Beside the dames that gilded each bright noon,

Filled with light of life and light!

Brought down the world to me with their delight;

Put my own solace to a golden light,

Brought a silvery silken veil of light,

Hold about my fingers with their delight,

Divulge this secrets of that lovely isle!

To breathe those voice of thine. The lovely light

Nor ask the riches of the summer air;

To breathe those kisses of the summer air.

Sorrow with its own light eye.

Filled with light of many eyes.

A fountain of light. No living light

Hold about my fingers with their delight

Hold about my fingers as a crown.

Brought on a throne in their elysian air;

To breathe those kisses of the jewelled air;

To breathe those voice of thine.The lovely light

So, the muses definitely wrote…something. It’s not necessarily poetry —yet.

From those lines, I narrowed them down to my favorites in the following lines:

Wield these young honey wine for their delight:

Their shining beauty to each youthful lamp  

Splashing the river with a mystic midnight light,

Wherein I feel so certain and happy,

Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand.

Light the world with a mystic motion;

Tempting and dreaming in this passionate light

Brought a silver silken veil of light,

Put my own solace to a golden light,

Brought a silvery silken veil of light,

Hold about my fingers with their delight,

To breathe those kisses of the summer air.

Here, you could put these lines back into the AI to see what you get. I decided to rework them myself to make them less abstract. The lines crossed out above, I ended up using below. I kept my first verse, “feminine beauty dressed in light” and used that as the first line for the poem.

Feminine being dressed in light

To breathe those kisses of the summer air

Held about her fingers my delight

Washed softly away my every care

Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand

Wherein I feel so happy and certain

Her shining beauty imprinted in the sand

She is most deserving of devotion

You don’t have to use all of the lines the muses provided you with. As you can see, I have only used a handful here. This poem isn’t complete, but you get the idea. I’m going to set these lines aside for use with another poem later.  The suggestions from the muses in the tool may not have been completely sensible or eloquent, but its a great starting point for poets who may be stuck. It’s also a great way to practice mimicking your favorite classical poet’s writing style if you’d like. Although AI cannot yet write poetry that is indistinguishable from human poetry, it can certainly serve as a useful tool in your own poetry practice.

The next time you find yourself stuck on a line, try using AI to help you finish out your poem! If you try this, leave your work in the comments below! What was your favorite line the muses came up with? Let me know below!

Thank you for reading this blog post and if you’re interested in reading more about AI poetry or delving deeper into the sources I mentioned above, check out the bibliography and further reading sections below! Additionally, if you’d like to read similar posts, check out the related topics section. Lastly, if you want to read more posts from me, check out my recent blog posts.

Bibliography:

1. Saroha, Aditya. “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ can help you write poetry.” The Hindu, November, 28, 2021. (Paragraphs 8 and10-11).

2. Google, “Verse By Verse” Google AI: Semantic Experiences. (AI Writing Tool and About Section).

3. Holyoak, Keith . “Can AI Write Authentic Poetry?” The MIT Press Reader, December 7, 2022. (Paragraphs 6 and 10).

4. Oxford English Dictionary, third ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), s.v. “artificial intelligence, n.”

5. Danilyuk, Pavel. (@pavel-danilyuk), “Robot Holding a Red Flower.” Unsplash photo," May 28, 2021. (Thumbnail photo).

6. Gupta, Rudrani. “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ Lets You Imitate Writing Style Of Your Favourite Classical Poet.” She The People. November 26, 2020. (Paragraph 4).

Further reading:

• Barkat, Sara. “Can a machine write better than you?—5 Best (and worst) AI Poem generators.” Tweetspeakpoetry post, September 27, 2022.

• Cummings, Lance . “How I Use Artificial Intelligence as a Conversation Partner to Write Poetry.” Medium article, September 9, 2022.

• Hart, Matthew. “Google’s New AI Helps You Write Poetry Like Poe.” Nerdist article, November 24, 2020.

• Kendall, Kirsty. “Can AI Write Poetry? — Look at the Examples to Decide.” Medium article, May 4, 2022.

• Lance Cummings, “Why Tomorrow’s Poets Will Use Artificial Intelligence.” Medium article, July 1, 2022.

• Rockmore, Dan. “What Happens When Machines Learn To Write Poetry.” The New Yorker article, January 7, 2020.
  

Related topics:

• 20 Poetry Projects Writing Exercise by Jim Simmerman

• Writing Exercises from Jeff Tweedy's Book, How To Write One Song

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends! 

Welcome back to the blog and if you’re new, thanks for stopping by! 

Today, I’ll be showing you how to write a poem or song from a bunch of common words. By unlocking our subconscious and letting go of predictability and perfection, we can create unique and interesting lyrics. 

“Why words? Because I believe all words have their own music and along with that music, I believe words contain worlds of words and meanings that are more often than not, locked beneath the surface.Poetry is what happens when words are opened up and those worlds within are made visible, and the music behind the words is heard.” (Tweedy 2020, 65)

I first heard this concept from Logan from vib3.machine on TikTok who explained using Jeff Tweedy’s ladder method from his book How To Write One Song. It’s called the Ladder Method because of the way you write out the words and link them together on paper. 

Keep the words simple

I’m not talking about expanding your vocabulary. I mean, that’s always a nice thing to do in the name of self-improvement, but fancy, multisyllabic words aren’t going to make a lyric better.They’re very often the thing that breaks the spell being cast by the melody being cast when I listen to music….In fact, I would say that most of my favorite songwriters consciously stick to common, simple, and precise language, but they don’t use it in a common and simple way within a song or melody. (Tweedy 2020, 68-9)

He gives John Prime as an example of someone who uses concise, simple, language effectively, that he “didn’t use a log of big words or flowery language and when he did, he always stayed true to the song and what needed to be said over any desire to make himself sound smart or poetic.” (Tweedy 2020, 69)

Word Ladder - Verbs and Nouns

The 6 Steps For Songwriting Using The Word Ladder

• Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job

• Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job

• Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you

• Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected

• Step 5: Write a poem with these connections

• Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking

Jeff Tweedy’s Word Ladder

Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job.

Tweedy picked “physician” for his example. He listed out ten verbs to describe a physician and then listed out ten nouns from objects within his line of vision.

Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job

1. Examine

2. Thump 

3. Prescribe

4. Listen

5. Write

6. Scan

7. Touch

8. Wait

9. Charge

10. Heal

Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you

1. Cushion

2. Guitar

3. Wall

4. Turntable

5. Sunlight

6. Window

7. Carpet

8. Drum

9. Microphone

10. Lightbulb

Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected. 

1. Examine→ Lightbulb

2. Thump→ Microphone

3. Prescribe→ Cushion

4. Listen→ Window

5. Write→ Sunlight

6. Scan→ Carpet

7. Touch→ Turntable

8. Wait→ Drum

9. Charge→ Wall

10. Heal→ Guitar

Step 5: Write a poem with these connections.

“Now take a pencil and draw lines to connect nouns and verbs that don’t normally work together. I like to use this exercise, not so much to generate a set of lyrics but to remind myself of how much fun I can have with words when I’m not concerning myself with meaning or judging my poetic abilities.” (Tweedy 2020, 73)

Jeff Tweedy’s first draft:

the drum is waiting 

by the window listening 

where the sunlight writes 

on the cushions

prescribed

thump the microphone

the guitar is healing 

how the turntable is touched

charging in the wall 

while one lightbulb examines 

and scans the carpet (Tweedy 2020, 73-4)

I find it almost always works when I’m finding a need to break out of my normal, well-worn paths of language. (Tweedy 2020, 74)

Below is Tweedy’s revision of the poem. He says, you don’t have to use every one of the verbs and nouns or put any restrictions on your writing at this point. The goal of this exercise is to warm up your creative muscles. 

Tweedy’s revised poem:

The drum is waiting by the windowsill

Where the sunlight writes its will on the rug

My guitar is healed by the amp charging the wall

And that's not all, I’m always in love (Tweedy 2020, 74)

“That’s still a little awkward, but it's enough to jumpstart my brain to where words and language have my full attention again.” (Tweedy 2020, 75)

Logan’s (Vib3.machine) use of the Word Ladder

Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job.

The word Logan picked for his example was “astronaut.” He listed out ten verbs to describe an astronaut and then ten nouns from objects in his room.

Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job.

1. Explore

2. Discover

3. Float

4. Wait

5. Voyage

6. Travel

7. Learn

8. Fly

9. Land

10. Journey

Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you. 

1. Basket

2. Letters

3. Books

4. Art

5. Kitchen

6. Camera

7. Floor

8. Watch

9. Fan

10. Bike

Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected.  In his captions, Logan said, “Having your subconscious constantly finding creative unique phrases while you aren’t actively TRYING is super powerful. It’s a habit [I’]m [trying] to develop.” (00:45-1:00)

Logan’s word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Logan connected his verbs and nouns like this:

1. Explore → Basket

2. Discover→ Kitchen

3. Float→ Floor

4. Wait→ Fan

5. Voyage→ Books

6. Travel→ Letters

7. Learn→ Bike

8. Fly→ Watch

9. Land→ Art

10. Journey→ Camera

Step 5: Write a poem with these connections. Don’t worry if it still doesn’t make sense. Right now, we’re just writing; we’ll edit it soon!

Logan says in regard to lyric writing, to make it as conversational as possible because it’s more relatable. (Logan 2022, 1:30-1:45)

Here was the poem he came up with from those connections:

I explored your basket 

And discovered us in the kitchen

We floated on the floor 

And waited next to the fan

You voyaged through this book 

And traveled every letter

So I can learn to bike 

And fly through this watch

You landed in my art 

And the camera we journeyed (Logan 2022, 2:36-2:50)

He said, “I know this sounds like nonsense, but we just wrote something without thinking about it.”  (Logan 2022, 2:30-2:35)

Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking. For full-length songs and longer poems, continue the process with each stanza. Consider sticking with a common theme, for your first 10 words each time you start the process within one poem or song,  but change the words you use for this process with each stanza. Try to avoid unintentional repetition. For poems, see if you can create a rhyme scheme with the words and themes present and make use of the elements of poetry. 

I wrote a poem using the Word Ladder

I was substituting for a high school drama teacher when I tried this exercise so, you might notice a theme.

Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job

I picked “Actress”

Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job

1. Perform

2. Practice

3. Dance

4. Project

5. Articulate

6. Memorize

7. Act

8. Pantomime

9. Smile

10. Transform

Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you

1. Podium

2. Mirror

3. Pen

4. Curtain

5. Piano

6. Spotlights

7. Screen

8. Tape

9. Carpet

10. Garbage

My word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected

1. Perform→ Spotlights

2. Practice→ Tape

3. Dance→ Carpet

4. Project→ Podium

5. Articulate→ Piano

6. Memorize→ Spotlights

7. Act→ Garbage

8. Pantomime→ Mirror

9. Smile→ Curtain

10. Transform→ Screen

Step 5: Write a poem with these connections

The performance begins with the spotlights 

The practice tape is peeling up as I 

Dance across the carpet

My teacher projects from the podium and 

The piano’s keys articulate a melody

I’ve memorized my position beneath the spotlights

Inside, I hope my acting isn’t total garbage

My classmate pantomimes in the mirror

I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens

We transform from stage to screen

Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking

The performance begins with the spotlights 

The practice tape is peeling up from the stage

Dancing on the painted wood is nothing like the carpet in our classroom.

For a breath, I think back to rehearsal —the director projecting ques from the podium

The pianos keys articulate the melody of the opening coda

I’ve memorized my lines a million times beneath these spotlights

And still, I hope that my acting isn’t total garbage

The other actors pantomime one another like reflections in mirrors

I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens

We transform from students on a stage to actors on a screen

Here is my final poem:

ACTRESS

The performance begins with the spotlights 

The practice tape is peeling up from the stage

Dancing on the painted wood is nothing like the carpet in our classroom.

For a breath, I think back to rehearsal —the director projecting cues from the podium

The pianos keys articulate the melody of the opening coda

I’ve memorized my lines a million times beneath these spotlights

And still, I hope that my acting isn’t total garbage

The other actors pantomime one another like reflections in mirrors

I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens

We transform from drama students in a classroom to actors on a stage

As you can see this process is easy, effective, and creatively freeing. It takes the pressure of your shoulders to create something perfect, especially with the first draft. Having this skill is a great resource for writers both new and seasoned because it gets the words out of our heads and onto the paper and it gives us something to work with. You can edit a bad page but you can’t edit a blank page.

Exercise 4: Word ladder variation using adjectives

“Don’t let adjectives make you think you’re being poetic. An “impatient red fiery orb loomed in the whiskey-blurred, cottony-blue sky is rarely going to hit me anywhere near as hard as “I was drunk in the day.”...Of course, it’s strange how adding words to paint a clearer, more specific image often muddies the image you’re trying to expose. The problem is when they are used to spice up a vague verb or noun instead of replacing that with precise language….”I was extremely frightened by the very large man behind the counter” versus “I was petrified by the colossus working the register.”” (Tweedy 2020, 86)

1. Step 1: Come up with a location

2. Step 2: List out 10 adjectives to describe that location

3. Step 3: List out 10 nouns in your line of vision or that pop into your head (and aren’t related to the location you picked) 

4. Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected

5. Step 5: Write a poem with these connections

6. Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking

Step 1: Come up with a location

Tweedy selected “outer space” for his location.

Step 2: List out 10 adjectives to describe that location

1. Circular

2. Distant

3. Ancient

4. Haloed

5. Cold

6. Vast

7. Bright

8. Frozen

9. Silent

10. Infinite

Step 3: List out 10 nouns in your line of vision or that pop into your head (and aren’t related to the location you picked)

1. Ladder

2. Kiss

3. Daughter

4. Hand

5. Pool

6. Summer

7. Lawn

8. Friend

9. Blaze

10. Window

Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder variation. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected

1. Circular→ Summer

2. Distant→ Hand

3. Ancient→ Blaze

4. Haloed→ Daughter

5. Cold→ Kiss

6. Vast→ Pool

7. Bright→ Window

8. Frozen→ Ladder

9. Silent→ Lawn

10. Infinite→ Friend

Step 5: Write a poem with these connections

Tweedy’s poem came out as:

there is a distant hand

on a frozen ladder

climbing through 

a bright window

a vast pool waiting

beside a silent lawn

where a daughter haloed

lives a circular summer

one cold kiss

from an infinite friend

away from an ancient blaze (Tweedy 2020, 87)

“It’s not a perfect poem, but it took me only about fifteen minutes to complete, and I really do enjoy some of the imagery that emerged. I actually found a few bits of language that I’ve been looking for to complete a song I’ve been working on.” (Tweedy 2020, 87)

Exercise 2: Steal words from a book writing exercise

This is the second writing exercise in Tweedy’s book. It’s a bit more free-form than the first exercise and can be helpful for getting you used to working with lyric fragments. (Tweedy 2020, 77)

• Step 1: If you have a melody, keep it at the forefront of your mind as you read

• Step 2: Skim over a page and see what words jump out at you

• Step 3: Highlight the words that strike you   

• Step 4: Keep going until you have a collection of words that sound right with your melody

• Step 5: Use an anchor word if one strikes you and pair other melodic words you find with it

Tweedy explains that this process helps put his ego securely in the backseat and forces him to surrender to a process that puts language/words in front of his creative path and he feels free to find them as though they’ve come from somewhere else. He feels more free to react with surprise and passion or cold indifference than he is able to when his intellect begins treating his lyrical ideas like precious jewels. (Tweedy 2020, 78)

He recommends using anchor words if any jump out at you and to find words that go well together sonically. He uses “catastrophe” as an anchor word and uses it to create the following lines:

wouldn’t you call it a catastrophe

when you realize you’d rather be

anywhere but where you are

and far from the one you want to see?” (Tweedy 2020, 79)

Tweedy advises “overdoing it” in terms of coming up with lyrics you like. “Coming up with more than you need is almost never going to make a song worse. Sometimes every good line doesn’t make it into the song you’re working on. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw those lines away. I go back and look at the pages of lyrics I’ve written with this process…and find things I love, even ones I never used, frequently. It helps for there to be some length of time between when they were written and revisited, especially for it to be long enough for the initial melody to have faded. At this point you’re not committing yourself to anything. You’re just creating building blocks. (Tweedy 2020, 79-80)

Exercise 3: Cut-up techniques

“Grab something you’ve been working on and write it all down on a legal pad. Or if you have access to a printer, print it out double-spaced… The easiest cutting strategy is line by line, but word by word or phrase by phrase can provide equally interesting results. Once you’ve cut up your text, you can either put the strips in a hat or turn them over and pull each line/word/phrase randomly. Then scan your chosen poem construction for unexpected surprises.” (Tweedy 2020, 81) 

Tweedy says he almost always finds “at least one newly formed phrase or word relationship” that “moves” him or makes him “smile.” (Tweedy 2020, 81)

“Another way to use your cut-up strips is to forget about trying to make random associations and just use them as moveable modules of language. It’s always fascinating to me how much more alive lines I’ve written become when I’m able to have a simple tactile experience reorganizing the order and syntax of the lines and phrases.” (Tweedy 2020, 81-2)

Tweedy provides a comparison of the initial order and finalized order of a set of lyrics from his song, “An Empty Corner”

Version 1:

In an empty corner of a dream

My sleep could not complete

Left on a copy machine

Eight tiny lines of cocaine (Tweedy 2020, 82)

Version 2:

Eight tiny lines of cocaine

Left on a copy machine

In an empty corner of a dream

My sleep could not complete (Tweedy 2020, 83)

“[The second] version is so much more powerful and better overall that I can’t believe I ever tried to sing these lyrics in any other order…Take the time to play with your words. Allow yourself the joy of getting to know them without being precious about directing everything they are trying to say.” (Tweedy 2020, 83)

Exercise 5: Have a conversation 

In Chapter 12 of Tweedy’s book, he advises trying another liberating writing exercise. He says to record yourself and someone else having a conversation to see what lyrics can emerge from common conversational language. He shows two examples of this exercise in action and it’s actually brilliant. For the sake of brevity, I’m only including the steps for this exercise but I highly recommend you try it.

• Step 1: Record a conversation or rewrite it as accurately to life as possible

• Step 2: Take the important and surprising snippets from the conversation 

• Step 3: Arrange those snippets to amplify or give them new meaning

• Step 4: Read it aloud

• Step 5: Rearrange and edit as necessary

Other poem and song writing exercises in the book

Some other exercises Tweedy recommends in his book include playing with rhymes (in an unexpected and new way) and pretending to be someone else and channeling their essence when writing songs or poems, which takes the pressure to be vulnerable and perfect off the writer’s shoulders. He also recommends songwriters collect pieces of music, either in the form of mumbled songs, hummed tunes, instrumentals you play yourself or digitally, or music from other artist’s songs and advises songwriters to learn other people’s songs like the back of your hand, so you can take them apart and create something new with those parts. 

Additionally, he advises writers to “steal” elements of songs such as themes, lyric fragments, chord progressions, and melodies from existing songs and make them your own. He strongly advises writers to loosen their judgment and allow the creativity to flow freely. 

He explains writer’s block as he sees it and provides four conflicting tips for combatting the “stuck” feeling that comes with being creatively blocked: “1) start in the wrong place, 2) start in the right place, 3) put it away, and 4) don’t put it away.” (Tweedy 2020, 144-49) By all of this, he means rearrange song parts until they sound like a good fit for that part of the song, work on fragments or start from the end if the beginning is stumping you, walk away from the piece if its just not working and “keep punching” until you push through to the lyrics you’re looking for. 

That’s it for my guide, on writing a song or poem using writing exercises from Jeff Tweedy’s book, How To Write One Song. I hope you enjoyed it and that this process inspired you to try this in your own writing. If you do try this method, post your work in the comments below so I can see how it helped you! Make sure to check out Jeff Tweedy’s book and Vib3.machine’s TikTok for more information on songwriting! Thanks for reading!

Bibliography:

• Hayes, Payton. “How To Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy.” Thumbnail Image, November 6, 2022.

• Hayes, Payton. “Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.

• Hayes, Payton. “Logan’s word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.

• Hayes, Payton. “My word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.

• Hayes, Payton. “Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder variation.” Image, November 6, 2022.

• Logan, Vib3.machine. “Word Ladder” Tiktok.com. 2022.

• Tweedy, Jeff. How To Write One Song. New York: Dutton, Penguin Random House LLC, 2020. (65, 68, 69, 73-83, 244-49)

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—Payton