10 ideas to improve your Haiku poetry writing

How to write more impressive Haiku poems

I learnt Japanese Haiku poetry in school. There are some rules we must follow in Japanese Haiku poetry. On the other hand, writing Haiku poetry in English is more flexible and you can try different styles.

I had never thought about writing Haiku poems in English or Japanese before, but I found it is fun after I started writing them in English. It reminds me of the beautiful Haiku pieces which I learnt in school and I think some ideas which came from ancient Japanese Haiku poems may be helpful for English Haiku poets.

So, I want to share my ideas for writing better Haiku poems in English with you in this story.

Stick with the Haiku essence of “simplicity”

Haiku is one of the shortest poetry styles, with 5–7–5 syllable structure at most, but you don’t always have to follow this rule, as I wrote before in another story, “Does Haiku poetry always have to have only 5–7–5 syllables?”

You can write Haiku poems with your style and your preference. However, if you want to follow the ancient Japanese Haiku poets concept, I would recommend focusing on its simplicity. Simplicity is the initial pursuits of Haiku poets.

Besides its syllable structure, there are some other rules such as a seasonal word, for example, but it is not really important when you write Haiku poems in English. It is better to keep them as simple as possible because simplicity is the heart of Haiku poetry.

Describe a moment with short words

I said that we need to focus on simplicity, but how should we do that?

Concretely speaking, use short and easy words rather than big words. It is also because the number of syllables in a Haiku poem is limited. Simple and small words which only have two or three syllables at most are preferred.

You don’t need to worry too much about the grammar. In Haiku poetry, articles (a, an, the) or prepositions (on, to, from, etc.) are often omitted.

Don’t try to put too many things or complicated stories in a Haiku poem. You just pick up a moment or a tiny slice of your life and describe it with simple words. Dramatic big-scale stories don’t go well with Haiku poetry.

A world of Haiku is as calm as a pond

In Japanese Haiku poetry the present tense is recommended, but you don’t have to cling to this rule when you write a Haiku poem in English. However, I think it is better to avoid the complication of the time tense.

Japanese Haiku poets don’t even like to put many verbs in a Haiku poem. They usually use only one verb in one piece of Haiku at most, while there are many of them without a verb.

古池や 蛙飛こむ 水のおと an old pond a frog jumps into sound of water

by Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉, 1644–1694)

This is one of the most famous Haiku poems, and you can see there is only one verb in it; jumps (飛こむ).

菜の花や 月は東に 日は西に rape blossoms the moon at east sun at west

by Yosa Buson (与謝蕪村, 1716–1784)

This piece doesn’t have any verbs at all. (note: because Japanese verbs don’t always correspond with English verbs, so there are verbs appeared in English translation even when the original Japanese poem doesn’t have any)

Overall, Haiku poetry doesn’t need many actions; it is tranquil. Of course, you don’t have to follow this ritual though.

Read more, learn more

If you want to become a better writer, reading a lot is the right approach. Simultaneously, if you want to improve your Haiku poem writing, I suggest you read a lot of Haiku poems.

There are lots of Japanese Haiku poems as well as English Haiku poems. From the view of a poem lover, English Haiku poetry has more various tastes and moods than the Japanese one.

If you find your favourite poets, you can try and copy their tastes and styles. As long as you keep your ‘simplicity’, I don’t think there are any taboos in Haiku poetry writing in English.

Grab your inspiration

The inspiration is critical for writing Haiku poems. You can hardly get inspired when you are just sitting in front of your computer and waiting for a sparkling moment.

You can never tame the inspiration. It comes and goes as capriciously as a wild bird. Your inspiration moment is so precious that you don’t want to miss it. Write it down, take a record, as soon as it flies to you.

We see many objects and sceneries every day, but not everyone can always appreciate them. Lots of ancient Haiku poets were prolific because they were good at capturing those precious ‘moments.’

Train to verbalise everything

Not only do you need to grab the Haiku ‘moments,’ but you also have to put them into your words. Even if you are lucky enough to get inspiration, if you don’t know how to visualise it into your poem, it will vanish in smoke.

My tactic is to verbalise everything that I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, and I feel, as a training. As a little child learns words, name it and speak it out in your head.

If a word can reflect another event, connect them. You might create a great piece of Haiku poem with those connections.

Play with its sounds

After I have written a Haiku poem, I always try to read it out loud, so that I can analyse the sound of my poems. Using a text-speech tool is also helpful.

Haiku poetry doesn’t necessarily have a rhyme. However, thinking that Haiku came from Tanka poetry, and Tanka (短歌) literally means ‘Short songs,’ we should enjoy its sound at the same time.

Your Haiku poems don’t have to be staying as written letters on your notebook or PC screen, and they can freely fly away as ‘songs.’

Write as if you are a photographer

This is another idea of writing Haiku poetry. You can describe things or events visibly just as if you are shooting photographs.

汽車過ぎて烟うづまく若葉かな

train has passed thick smoke left curling green new leaves

by Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規, 1867–1902)

Masaoka Shiki is known as a poet being anti-Matsuo Bashō, who was the most important Haiku poet in Japanese literary. Shiki is famous for his ‘drawing pictures’-like the style. He created lots of visual and objective Haiku poems.

In this piece above, ‘train’ is a steam locomotive which generated thick smoke. After the train passed, the picture was vividly drawn; sharp contrast between artificial grey ‘thick smoke’ and natural ‘green new leaves’.

When we read his poems, we converse his words into our visions as if we are looking through his camera’s viewfinder. When you write your Haiku poems, you can also try his style to share your ‘views’ with your audience.

Bring multiple senses

Having talked about the vision, you can also bring other senses into your Haiku poetry: sound, smell, taste, feel and even a sense of time. Let’s see the example below.

柿くへば 鐘が鳴るなり 法隆寺 eating persimmon sound of the bell rings ’Horyuji’ temple

by Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規, 1867–1902)

This is one of the most famous Haiku poems written in Japanese.

It has a ‘taste’ of persimmon, a ‘sound’ of the ‘Horyuji’ temple’s bell. The orange persimmon, which represents autumn, reminds us of the colour of autumn leaves in the temple garden.

The bell of the temple tells you the time of the day. I think many Japanese people would imagine the time of sunset when they read this Haiku poem.

Each word cleverly connects and that makes this Haiku poem an unforgettable masterpiece.

Leave space for your readers

Your Haiku poems are not only for you, but they are also for your readers. You cannot explain everything with Haiku poetry because it is a word-minimised style. That is another fun part of Haiku poetry.

Every single reader of your Haiku poem can have a different perspective on your piece, some of which you would have no way to estimate. Take writing Haiku poetry as a creative game with your readers.

You give minimal information into your poems and see how your audience react. It is even better to leave some space for them to imagine because it will be more exciting!

Grab your inspiration, pick up the ‘Haiku moment’ and describe it with the manner you like. Haiku poetry is simple and quiet, but profound. Most importantly, enjoy writing it as a game of imagination. You and your readers may share sensational moments.

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