How long does it take you to compose?

I was thinking seriously about the different lengths of time it takes people to complete a poem.

Once I have an idea I am set. I go until it's finished and I don't edit it afterwards. The thought process, writing and finishing can take anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours for me.

How long does it take you to compose a piece and do you edit and re-edit to get your representation of the perfected poem?

Bert

When I write it doesnt take long at all, actually it only takes the amount of time that my fingers have to move. If I could type faster, I would write faster, even though I am a very fast typist anyway. The poems just flow out and onto the paper (or screen), I have never really taken more than 20 minutes to write a poem, and I only edit them if it is suggested, most of the time I never look at my poems after I write them unless someone points them out.

You never have to really edit if you get the flow right the first time, but if there is a mess up then it gets pointed out and you have to fix it.

I barely write poetry... I'm usually too busy studying, but writing a poem for me is very quick. I write whenever I have the urge to do so, and when I do I never type it. I always write poetry down on paper, or on cocktail napkins, receipts, the backs of checks, whatever I can find in my pocket at the time. Also, when I write I write a few poems at a time ... or get in a rut of writing that takes 4-5 hours to clear. It truly is spontaneous for me.

Sometimes I can't write quick enough to put my thoughts down on paper - at other times it takes me days to finish a piece. Sometimes I have half written things that I go back to months or years down the track and edit and finish it

usually it takes me about ten minutes.. thats if i know what im gonna say, if i dont then it can take days

it depends for me i can take anywhere from 10 mins to three dayz lol :P

my shortest poem took about three minutes, but it took a few days to write the longest. i usually don't edit, and if i do it's just small changes in word choice or other small things like that.

I usually don't edit mine either. It takes me about 10 minutes to 30 minutes, usually depending on how motivated I am.

About 5 To 10 Minutes Is The Tops For Me xoxo-Nikki-xoxo

depends...sometimes about 10 minutes if i know what i wanna say, if i don't then it might take like a day or two. l8ter! :^)=

It takes me bout 5 min. I usually have a title already thought out then i just write what i think the title is about.

Well, i think about a poem an write it in my head first. that takes me about 10 minutes. Then when i write it down on paper i edit it. but yes i do edit my poems a lot.

I have to say i agree with tEyS. I can't see how anyone could write a real poem in under 15 mins and also 4 or 5 a day, surely you will find yourself writing about the same thing before long. I've never really completed a poem yet as such. It takes me at least 2 hours, more often than not i sleep on the ideas and it takes a couple of days to write the 'foundation' of the poem, then i edit it, and that time changes from poem to poem. Then eventually i post it, and see what others think should be done to improve on it....

when i write a poem, it pops into my head. it takes me 5 minutes to write one, if it is about death or sadness. 10-15 minutes if its a happy one. dont worry about the editing. the more screwed up it looks, the more feeling and frustration it portrays. to have a typed up, well written, no mistake poem with no editing marks, would be a dead poem, that means nothing when you glance at it. the more screwed up, the more feeling it has when you look at it. ttyl! -nancy

i always write poetry in class. i have a little notebook that i hide in my desk and write in all the time. usually it takes me the period to write a good one, but usually im always interrupted and have to continue it later or cant rhyme a word and have to wait until i get home to look on the internet. but sometimes they just come and i have to write really fast to keep up with my mind, those are usually the good ones.

well, i'm like you. no editing once it's written. but, it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to a week of thinking of small bits and pieces to put into a whole poem. so, your call; it usually takes me about 15 minutes if i really know what i'm gonna say.

It usually takes me between 10-20 minutes to write a poem just because the writing and thought process just flows out at once so yeah.

Sometimes it takes me about 10 minutes. Other times it takes me a couple of hours. Just depends on what the subject is and what kind of mood I'm in.

For me it depends on the poem...if it is something that is very true to me then i will always sort of nit pick at it.

If it is something that i feel is good..i will just go with it and just let it go.

But my poem "Gods Lost Angel" never had a name it just started out as me writing down my feelings over a few days and then adding to it in the coming weeks.

It depends a lot of my *Five* poems i did in about five minutes or so, just wrote them here and put them no where else...or my "why do it?" poem only just let my hands go on the keyboard and whatever was writen was what i felt.

Honestly it sometimes takes me days or a week to finish a poem due to my business schedule, mostly a day to finish a poem now that i am writing them on paper rather then just typing them on the site directly *GRRRR sometimes it came back with an error and i had to re-write whole poems or just not post one*.

Well that is all i got to say for now.

Sometimes, when I have a few rhymes thought out for a poem, I can write it as fast as my fingers will move. But when I force myself, it takes a while, and it doesn't even come out that good.

5 to 10 minutes on paper, then i edit it when i type it up :)
xo

i usualy take about half an hour to write a poem or song, and after that im pretty much done, i might change one word later on but most of tha time thats it for me.

*~peace and love~*

I don't have a set time for how long it takes me. Every poem I write takes me a different amount. Also, it depends on the kind of idea I get. I don't edit mine. I like them how I write them. So normally I can take around 30 minutes.

~Krissy

For me it usually takes many hours to write one single poem. Though I am a very fast typist, I let the words come out slowly and I organize them onto the paper (or screen) carefully and thoroughly. Some of my poems take days to finish, because of their length.

I hardly ever edit the poem after I've written it, and if I do then it's usually only a small part. If someone gives me good critique on it then I might take it seriously and change my poem around a bit. After writing each poem I check to see if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes.

The length of time varies. Sometimes I'll get an idea and I'll be able to write it down in 15-20 minutes. Oher times I'll start something, and then come back to it again and again for a couple of days until it's finished. Some stanzas come to me quickly, while others I have to dwell on for a while. And once I finish writing I have to read it over and over and scrutinize it to death. I am my toughest critic.

That depends on a number of things:
- The topic I am writing on
- What mood I am in at the time
- The environment I am in i.e. work or home
- Whether I already have some lines to work from or whether I am starting from stratch.

Some of my poems may only take minutes to write, others have taken days. I see no point in trying to rush a poem into completion.

I have a word document on my computer which is just pages of odd lines/phrases/words that I feel work well together. I use it as a resource for my poetry writing i.e. when I am stuck for a topic or on a line. Usually if I can't think of a subject, I just don't writet though. Again where is the point in rushing or forcing the completion of a poem?

Nici

i couldnt have said it better. that's just how it is for me. it all depends.

it doesnt take me long at all i just write w/e i feel i dont really care how it sounds. all of my poems and that is what i want to get across (different emotions)

I rarely sit down and complete a poem in one writing session! I'll usually get a few stanza's written and then start a different poem in a complete different direction! At other times I lose my inspiration all together. At those times I go through my old notebooks and work on unfinished poems!
I do alot of editing to my poems! I hate using the same descriptive word in poem twice. Also flow is a very important factor to me! So I usually have to work on that~Holly

5-10 minutes.

I get an idea, rush it, think it through, do 2 minutes editing at the end of it.

Which would explain the crap i write :).

5-15 Minutes At The Most xoxo-Nikki-xoxo

it takes me a couple of days.

It takes me different lengths. Sometimes I can write a poem in 15 minutes. My most recent poem took me a few days. In Microsoft Word it's 5 pages long. (With stanza's)

For me sometimes it can take like 5 minutes but then others i start and then just get "writers block" and then it could take days before i figure out what comes next..it just depends on if i get that feeling to write or not.. it comes and goes thats all i can say.. bye bye EJ

shortest 5 min. Some a few years. I have notebooks full of unfinished poems. I flip through them every time I get writers block. Its helps.
Case and point "Day Dream" was started in 1996,
I edited it A week ago.

wow, L.S. Moore!! lol.. um for me, i think most of the people have pretty much said that when you get writers block it takes a while longer! so.. yea... like whenever i'm DEFINATELY in the mood for a poem it will just write itself out so great and fast, but when i may not be in the mood but i wanna write.. it may take a lil' longer cuz im not inspired!
love always
ABCEDE

When I write a poem, it takes me 5-10 minutes depending on the length, once I have an idea for a poem, I cant stop writing it, so I just keep on doing it. I dont think ive ever left one of my poems unfinished, once I think, but thats because I couldnt find a word that rhymed with the other one. But it didnt take me long to get on that did.

It depends... it can take me from 5 minutes to 1 hour... sometimes even 2. usually i don't edit. i leave as is... but of course, that depends.

10 to 15 minutes.

5-20 dep. on what im writing anf for who