The Complete Guide to Writing Haiku

By Ron Evans

Have you wanted to write haiku but didn't know how to start. If so, "The Complete Guide to Writing Haiku," written by a haiku poet with over thirty years of experience, is all you'll need. "The Complete Guide to Writing Haiku" includes such topics as:

1. The Ten Essentials

2. Writing Haiku -- How To Start

3. Haiku Rules -- To Break Or Not To Break

4. Listen To Yourself

5. Books on Writing Haiku

6. Haiku Anthologies

7. Counting Syllables In Haiku

9. Haiku and Nature References

Especially helpful is the information on "haiku and season words." How to decide whether to count syllables or beats (stressed syllables) is yet another topic where the author is uniquely qualified to guide the beginning haiku poet.

In the pages of "The Complete Guide To Writing Haiku" you have learned what a haiku is and what distinguishes it from other poetry. You have learned some of the essentials necessary in order to write good haiku, and you have been provided real-world suggestions for actually sitting down and creating haiku. You have learned what "rules" must be followed and which ones may not apply in writing a particular haiku. And, most importantly, you have been encouraged to listen to your inner voice as a haiku poet/writer and to decrease your reliance on a list of "thou shalts or shalt nots." In short, you have received a very real and valuable education in the art of writing haiku.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ron Evans
• Release date: Mar 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311153869

Ron Evans

Ron Evans is a native Texan who lives with his wife and small dog in Alvarado. He has two adult children, a son who lives in Maryland and a daughter who lives in north central Texas. Mr. Evans attended The University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Wesleyan University (TWU), receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree from TWU. A course of graduate studies in Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary led to the Master of Divinity degree, which he received in 1971. He taught English and Spanish in the Fort Worth Independent School District where he later held positions in computer operations and programming. Mr. Evans retired in 2000 from Lockheed Martin Aerospace where he worked for over forty years in a variety of positions in Technical Publications. His poetry has appeared in literary publications, magazines, and poetry anthologies. Memberships have included the Fort Worth Poetry Society and the Poetry Society of Texas. His first collection of poems, A Saint's Falsetto, was privately published in 1984 and is no longer in print.

Book preview

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING HAIKU

The Complete Guide To Writing Haiku doesn't purport to be comprehensive or authoritative in nature. Much more than a primer, one might still view it in terms of baby steps. Advanced haiku techniques have no place in The Complete Guide To Writing Haiku, and much that I would have liked to include has been omitted due to space limitations and the desire to reach a wider audience with a more general presentation.

You probably already know a little about haiku from elementary school, may have tried your hand at writing one or more, or may even be an aspiring haiku poet.  Whatever the case, the little quiz below will be fun and informative  and may help you decide that you’d really like to know more about this ancient  small verse  form.  Try to complete the quiz in ten minutes or less. 

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HAIKU?

(True or False) 

1.   The plural form of the word haiku is haikus.  

2.   Haiku written in English must always have three lines with syllable counts of five-seven-five. 

3.   Haiku must never employ rhyme. 

4.   Haiku must have nature as their subject. 

5.    Haiku must be grammatically correct. 

6.   Human relationships must never be the subject of a  haiku.

7.   Haiku  began as an art form in Mesopotamia. 

8.    Millard Fillmore wrote haiku love poems to his wife-to-be. 

9.   Haiku  must use proper punctuation and capitalization. 

10.   Verbs in a haiku  must be in the past tense. 

11.   A haiku  must not employ puns or wordplay. 

12.   A haiku  must not employ