“If we didn’t have words, we couldn’t express who we are, or what we are. More importantly, we couldn’t express WHY we are.”- Lee Pennington, Kentucky Poet Laureat 1984-present.

In July of 2025, I had the opporunity to attend the poetry workshop presented by Lee Pennington. Under his expert instruction, we learned how to write, breathe, and live our poetry.

It was inspirational in the best way, and I feel more confident in myself and my poetry because of it.

And, since you know I’m a fan of sharing knowledge, I’m going to offer you a condensed version of Lee’s workshop. Enjoy!

How to Write Better Poetry

Here are some of the ways we can become better poets.

Never describe abstract concepts with abstract words.

If we describe abstract things with abstract words, we lose it’s meaning. However, if we describe them with concrete words, we can learn more about them.

For example, don’t say “winter is cold.” Instead, say “Winter is a frog eating a frozen mosquito.”

The same goes for describing things literally. Poetry is indirect and subtle- you CAN NOT interpret poetry literally.

Cut your sermons

Don’t tell your readers what they can figure out on their own. If you do, you run the risk of ruining their reading experience.

Remember- everyone will see it differently, so cut your sermons and let them divine their own messages from the poem.

Sometimes, the power of the poem isn’t what we say, but what we don’t say. 

Write what you know

It sounds restrictive, but you may find that you know more than you think you do. Start with what you know for certain, then build upon it.

Train your senses

You have five physical senses. When you train them all, you’ll have more ways to describe the world around you.

Lee reccommends going out at night in a familiar place, closing your eyes, and feeling a tree. Use your hands to feel the bark and leaves, smell the wood, listen to the wind through the branches, and familiarize yourself with everything but the sight of it.

Then, use that information to describe the tree to someone else.

Think about your words

In English, words generally have two implications: the connotation, and the denotation.

• The connotation is the emotion of the word.
• The denotation is the literal definition of the word.

Both are important when creating poetry. However, you can’t just throw words together and hope they stick. Think about what message you want to send and pick your words accordingly.

Read and Buy poetry

If you don’t like to read poetry, why are you writing it? Also, if we poets don’t buy poetry, how will the non-poets find it?

Support your fellow poets!

Find the strangeness in everyday life

The difference between a poet and a non-poet is the ability to identify the strangeness among the natural. Above all, poetry is an element of strangeness.

Remember- Poetry is a way of life

According to Lee, “Poetry is a way of living, not a way of writing. You can be a poet without writing a word. It’s all in how you live your life.”

Once you embrace that and begin living your poetry, writing it will become second-nature.