Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully Helpful....................
Review: .....................Behn and Twichell bring us literally dozens of writing exercises from established poets like Maxine Kumin, Rita Dove, Donald Justice and many more. The chapters in the book are separated according to the poetry writing skill they are designed to sharpen. There are chapters on image and metaphor, self and subject, topic, structure, sound and rhythm, and on revision and writer's block. After each exercise is a thorough explanation of how the exercise is supposed to help the poet, often illustrated by the author's own personal experience. Additionally, some exercises are followed up with the titles (but not the actual poems) of recommended poems that should illustrate to the novice poet an excellent example particular poetic elements in action. Personally, I feel my poetry has been helped a great deal by the exercises that I've used in this book. I'm a beginner and I've come to see how choosing the right word is so critical, learned how to gain a different perspective, started to hear the "music" of poetry better, and I've begun to really see how critical strict revisioning is. I highly recommend this book to all novice poets!
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite what I was looking for.
Review: As a poet and teacher of poetry for decades, I periodically experiment with different, newer texts for my poetry workshops (graduate and undergraduate) at Towson University. But nothing comes close to this book. It's wonderful--both for class use and for jumpstarting myself out of one plateau onto the next.
Rating: 
Summary: "I came back"
Review: As a poet and teacher of poetry for decades, I periodically experiment with different, newer texts for my poetry workshops (graduate and undergraduate) at Towson University. But nothing comes close to this book. It's wonderful--both for class use and for jumpstarting myself out of one plateau onto the next.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful to teachers--essential for those who love to write
Review: As a teacher of poetry writing, I am always looking for books that include exercises and inspiring starters that will help the young and or inexperienced writer. I bought this book for that purpose, but what I found myself doing was bringing the book home week after week so that I could experience the activities personally. Writing is an incredibly personal activity that isolates one from others. This book brings writers together collectively to that lone writer and helps her to know she is not alone, and it helps that writer to try some new ways of tapping that well of creativity...even when the supply is running low. There are a lot of books out there on writing poetry, but few are as inspiring and helpful as Ms. Behn's. It is a must have for every poet, teacher, and lover of poetry.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful to teachers--essential for those who love to write
Review: As a teacher of poetry writing, I am always looking for books that include exercises and inspiring starters that will help the young and or inexperienced writer. I bought this book for that purpose, but what I found myself doing was bringing the book home week after week so that I could experience the activities personally. Writing is an incredibly personal activity that isolates one from others. This book brings writers together collectively to that lone writer and helps her to know she is not alone, and it helps that writer to try some new ways of tapping that well of creativity...even when the supply is running low. There are a lot of books out there on writing poetry, but few are as inspiring and helpful as Ms. Behn's. It is a must have for every poet, teacher, and lover of poetry.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I was looking for.
Review: I found this book more difficult to follow in my attempt to do creative writing on my own. I felt it lacked enough example poems. The exercises were inconsistent, as they seemed to come from some very different teaching styles. Many of the exercises just seemed so goofy that I didn't even bother with them. I would much more strongly recommend "In the Palm of Your Hand" for the same purpose.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful. Very helpful.
Review: I found this book to be very helpful in guiding me to use my writing skills, as well as helping me to open my mind and extract deeper, truer, feelings and thoughts.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a wonderful helper for poem ideas!!
Review: I really liked this book! Though, I took three semesters of a creative writing class in high school, this book still gave me new ideas on how to write different varieties of poems. It is very useful, and I enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this book!
Review: I taught from this book and continue to use it year after year in my own writing. It's indispensable!
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this book!
Review: I taught from this book and continue to use it year after year in my own writing. It's indispensable!
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