The Quick Power Write Method for Love Notes, Love Letters and Love Poems

by Martin Kimeldorf, author of How To Be In Love, Forever

Create a treasured gift

Give a love poem to your very best friend and that gift will be treasured for a life time. But it can be a daunting task if you’ve never written one before. In this article, I’ll show you how to use the Power Write methods to handily create your first love poem. To help you get started, you may want to begin with Love Letters or Love Notes. I will ask you to start by quickly listing the first thing that comes into your mind about pizza and pets. Later we’ll progress to people. Thus, your first poem may be to a pepperoni pizza or your cat.

Even if you believe you cannot write well (or at all) you will be shocked to find how easy and enjoyable writing can be when you use this layman’s approach. Because the Power Writing techniques connect you with the joy of writing, you will eventually look forward to writing more poems, notes and letters in the future. At the same time, these techniques have also been used by professional authors to get their “flow” going after they run into a writing block. Power Writing is a muscular approach that brooks no dawdling or distractions because you will be writing against a timer. Once you master this method, you’ll rarely let doubt or confusion stop you from writing a poem, note or love letter. The basic steps and exercises are explained next. Go ahead; take them out for a spin…

Step 1—Think of an easy, enjoyable topic, like pizza

We’ll start with a concrete, tasty topic like a favorite food; a dish with many different ways to prepare it. For me, I choose pizza but yours could be a hot fudge sundae, potato salad, hamburger, salad or sandwich. The key is to find something with many possible ingredients because you are going to create the worlds greatest pizza/sandwich/salad etc.

Step 2—Power Write about a concrete subject you enjoy

Begin by writing a title for a list of ingredients like: The World’s Greatest Pizza. Second, set a timer for 1 minute. After you start the timer, write down every ingredient that pops into your mind. There is one cardinal rule governing your scribbling: you must keep your hand moving, writing all the time. If you get stuck after writing pepperoni and can’t think of another thing, just keep repeating the last word you wrote: pepperoni, pepperoni, pepperoni …until another ingredient pops into your mind. After the buzzer sounds stop, cross out the duplicates and count up your total ingredients. Repeat this for 2 minutes with another food and see if you can beat your previous count. Try this method for other topics that bring you joy. The topics should be concrete and not abstract nor about people. For instance, don’t write about your boss, instead write about your favorite jobs. Don’t write about love; write about places you’d love to visit. When you are comfortable writing lists we’ll move on, but first let me tell you why this method is so important to master.

Writer’s Block is shared by professional writers and lay people alike. What kills all writing is the editor in your head. As you start to write, a little voice speaks up, asking things like:

• Why do you think you can write?
• How dare you presume to be a writer!
• Your brother-sister could do better than you.
• Do you really know this topic well or are you just parroting other’s words?
• Will you be able to do this subject justice?
• Why are you doing this?

The questions, the doubts, the shaken confidence interrupts the flow, preventing you from enjoying the task at hand. You abruptly realize (or so you think) that you have nothing to say. After all, you can’t think of one more ingredient for that pizza. This doubt can overcome any writer, even an advanced and well known writer.

A poet in my neck of the woods once received a very prestigious award, and was given the title of “poetic genius.” But the title cast a long shadow and in an interview she confided how her writing suddenly didn’t make sense to her and she shut down. To get out of that mess she went back to one of her mentors who had always felt that writer’s block is caused by setting unrealistic expectations. It was another case of the internal critic squelching the writing effort. However, when you write against time, you have to block out the critic to complete the task. And because it is just a list, you can easily give yourself permission to play. As a result, writing returns to the fountainhead of joy.

In most writing classes the instructor might suggest that these lists are part of a pre-writing stage. It usually comes after researching or thinking deeply about your subject. The list-making process helps to release ideas from the unconsciousness, bypasses the internal critic, and build confidence in your topic. The words on the list provide starter ideas to help generate a title, a line or an entire poem. If you find that writing against time bugs you then stop. Try writing without the timer. But if you still stall out, then you probably need to go back and keep filling the mind and heart up to the brim. To learn additional techniques for filling up your writing reservoir see the longer piece entitled How I Write Poems.

Step 3—Write about a favorite animal

Let’s now choose to write about a subject that is more deeply felt. Again, we’ll avoid abstract thoughts like justice and special people in your life. Instead, let’s pick a favorite animal and later a pet.

Begin by conjuring up in your mind an image of a farm animal that intrigues you. For me it was pig.

Now create a title for your farm animal list. (You may use my Pig if you like). Approach the first farm list in a very concrete way. Write about all the things you see in the image. Simply describe what it looks like. Pretend you are writing a poster or want ad for a missing pig and you need to describe your special pig to others. In fact, let’s use a beginning title like Missing Pig. Set the timer for 1 to 2 minutes. Then try a second list describing all the things the pig does or has lived through. Think of it as a My Pig’s Resume.

Lastly, we’ll cut a little closer to stronger feelings. This time fix your gaze upon an image of a favorite pet or animal in your life. Again, begin simply by describing what the picture shows or what the pet looks like. Then find another picture with a humorous or expressive bent like these: Finally, we’ll move our animal lists up a notch by writing more deeply about the story that lies behind the image. Here are some possible list topics:

• If my dog could talk he would say…
• My cat has taught me these things…
• If my horse were gone I’d have these feelings…
• I always enjoyed doing these with my pet…
• This is what I love most about my dog…

After all these lists, you may have discovered the secret power that results from keeping your hand moving and repeating a single word when you get stuck. First, the continual movement quiets the conscious mind. With the self-aware critic silenced, thoughts from the subconscious begin to bubble up. In essence, the momentum of the moving hand silences the internal editor and opens the gates to your inner thoughts and feelings.

Step 4—Pick a list to convert into a note, letter or poem

Now it’s time to pick from all the lists, one you enjoy the most. Which listing stirs up the most feelings? Which one has the most interesting words? Does one list make you laugh? Did you find a word that caused you to catch your breath? It won’t matter which one you pick, just find one that means something to you. Next, consider if you’d like to convert the list to a poem, a page long letter or a brief note. Think of the note as an in-depth caption for the picture ranging from 2 to 6 lines, while the letter may be more personal. And if you are comfortable writing a poem, start there. You won’t use every item on your list. And some words may even combine into a single phrase. Review your list and circle your favorite words. Then pick one or two to write about.

Step 5—Give yourself permission to write crap

Oh, and before you start, add the word “crap” to your title. For instance, mine might look like this:

Crap Franky Might Say…

I’m the clown dog
searching for a perfect cracker

When you’re away
I’m the down dog
waiting for my faithful master.

Why crap?

It’s all about giving yourself permission to write a poem, letter or note. It’s all about forgetting high standards and great expectations because these will kill your writing effort. If you think of this as a word-doodle, a sketch, a rough first draft and not a Pulitzer Prize winner, then you can enjoy the experience. Just get the first draft of ideas down quickly, later you can eliminate or change lines.

Oh, and don’t forget to set the timer. Try a bit longer, say 4 to 8 minutes. When you write this fast, forget about spelling and grammar. Just slam those words down!! And if you get stuck, just repeat the name of your subject…and keep the hand moving!

Step 6—Change the title

Now you are home free with a first draft. Remove the word crap from the title and at the end of the title add draft #1.

A Note To Franky The Thinker
Draft # 1

What goes on behind those schnauzer eyes?

Is it just the scent of a squirrel, a treat, old socks?

Are you just in the moment to my surprise?

You come when called, It’s all I ask…

And with that pose I too come
when called by your piercing eyes…

Let your poem-letter-note sit for a day or two before going back to revise or edit out mistakes. And if you want to go deeper into the writing process look at the other essay: How I Write A Poem

Step 7—After the apprenticeship, write about a special friend, partner or lover

You’ve completed your apprenticeship. You are now ready to use the Power Writing techniques on a bigger topic. Create a list for someone you care about. Circle your favorite words or phrases. Then, with the timer going, keep the hand moving, and slam down that first draft…

In conclusion…

Always begin simply with lists about concrete items you know well. Then progress to a person or pet for which you have deep feeling. Start by converting your list to a note. In themselves they are as powerful as poems. This is demonstrated at right in the sample created by my neighbor for his wife Sherry. She wrote me the following:

This is one of the many love notes Mike has written to me. This one was written before we were married and I commuted every weekend to be with Mike. He always tucked a love note inside a packaged lunch he made for me for my trip back to Canada.

It is just a short step from a note to a poem. No, correct that… I think Mike’s note is a poem in my books.