Hello, Poets!
Tension makes life interesting!
crabs can see the stars
do they dream of swimming in
the celestial sea?
Creating Tension
There have been more books and articles written about storytelling than any one person could ever read. The simplest way to understand what makes a good story is to understand tension.
A joke is funny because of the tension between the setup and the punchline. Suspense works the same way. Your friends that tell interesting stories at the bar or cafe aren’t relying on the Hero’s Journey, they’re creating tension. Listening to most people share their dreams is boring because there is no tension.
One way to spice up your haiku is to create more tension. You only have three lines, so you have to be economical.
My favorite shortcut for crafting tension in a haiku is to use contrasts. When you use two images that seem to be opposites, you automatically create a level of tension that makes a poem more interesting.
In today’s haiku, I use the contrast between the stars and the sea to create tension. I double down on this contrast by presenting an image of the crabs swimming in the sky and using the phrase “celestial sea” to keep the poem in the perspective of the crabs and to increase the tension.
crabs can see the stars
do they dream of swimming in
the celestial sea?
Tension is one way to make your haiku feel more like tiny stories and to create a poem that demands to be reread.
Haiku Prompt
Write a haiku, or series of haiku, using contrasts to create tension. Feel free to use either the 5-7-5 or freeverse formats. Please share your haiku in the comments!
Be the poetry you want to see in the world!
Cheers,
Jason
My son wrote me a haiku, it's his favorite kind of poem. He is 7:
Mamas are respectful
She makes me laugh all the time
Coaches my sports team
irises blooming
in a ditch after the rain
flooded with beauty