a. Reading Poetry
b. Writing Poetry
c. Keeping track of your random notes/ideas, etc.
COMMON APPS FOR POETS
NOTEBOOK, NOTEPAD or WORD APPLICATIONS (e.g. MS-Word): This app is for saving and scribbling your ideas. Whether it’s the one you’ve written on paper, or the spontaneous one you thought about in the bus.
TEXTGRAM: This app makes poetry more presentable and alluring, with the varieties of fonts, beautiful backgrounds and templates. It also gives your poem a larger audience, as it gives you the opportunity to post your poems on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest etc
A DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS: A good poet must be able to appropriately use words. He/she must also be ready to learn new words, or something new about a familiar word. What If I told you, ‘bogus’ didn’t mean ‘big’, and ‘opportune’ meant appropriate? A tour of your dictionary would tell you so.
A GLOSSARY OF POETRY TERMINOLOGIES: A good app for people studying poetry and poets. You can discover unique techniques of writing poems, and types of poems.
There are free apps, and also priced apps for poetry.
Let’s treat the free apps first;
POETRY DAILY, by poetry daily: Poetry daily focuses on contemporary poetry, and delivers a new poem to your phone daily. You can start each day by reading a new poem. This app is actually optimized for the iPhone.
POETRY, from the Poetry Foundation: This app allows you access to a large number of classic and contemporary poems. And, to spice things up, you can listen to poetry. Note that; this app has flaws, in that it does not have many 21st century poems and also contemporary poems.
POET ASSISTANT by Carmen Alvarez: This app has a 4.6 out of 5 stars rating on the Play store (the last time I checked). This tells a story. It’s a wonderful companion for a poet or writer. It comes with a rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, and a sample editor with playback.
QUOTES CREATOR: This helps you express your thoughts and words with pictures. It also has more backgrounds and templates than textgram. Note that there are different types of quotes creator on the play store, ranging from Kwote to Quotes Creator by Piyush Patel.
JOURNEY by Two App Studio Pte Ltd.: This provides the ultimate diary and journaling experience. It comes with special features like Lock(for privacy), reminder, and a Backup, in case you lose your device.
QUOTES, by Skol Games LLC: This app can help with inspiration. It has 20 categories, one of which can inspire you. It also triggers creativity.
POETRY CREATOR/VERSES- Poetry, Poems and Poets by Tiny Mobile Inc: This is a FREE alternative to Instant Poetry HD (this will be treated under priced apps). This app helps you break from the norm. The simple style of writing also helps newbies.
Other apps that could be of interest include; Shakespeare Sonnets Free, Shakespeare, Verses.
Now, let’s treat the priced apps. Before I go through a list of the priced apps for poetry I’ve come across, I have to say, I have not tried any of them. This is due to the fact that many of them have suitable substitutes or alternatives that are free.
AMERICAN POETRY- 5000 Poems and verses, by Aliaksei Balurski. A suitable replacement is either Poetry Daily or Poetry by the Poetry Foundation.
VERSES NOTEBOOK+rhyming dictionary/rhymebook by Derek Kepner. A wholesome replacement is the Poet Assistant along with the Journey app.
POET’S PAD by Paragoni, LLC (can record an audio version of your poem). An alternative app is the notebook app or textgram, coupled with your phone’s sound recorder.
WRITING PROMPTS by 21x20 Media, Inc. This app suggests things to write about. The QUOTES app by Skol Games LLC is a good alternative.
PORTA POET by Artisan Engineering LLC. Very similar to Poet’s pad. You can write poetry on this app. An alternative is textgram and notebook.
INSTANT POETRY HD by Razeware LLC. Similar to POETRY CREATOR/VERSES- Poetry, Poems and Poets.
Feel free to add the poetry apps that you’ve come in contact with, and can be of value to poets.
SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR POETS
You might feel your poems don't have enough audience. You might feel you need to share it with like minds. You might feel the reactions from your instagram followers or your facebook friends, are not as euphoric as you expected. You might feel 140 words limit your creativity and expression on twitter. If you've had any of these feelings, then this is for you. You can share your poems, literary works, articles on social networks that have a large number of creatively minded people. Even if you've had enough influence or followership, you can extend it through these social networks. Having your work published is not necessarily a pinnacle. It might be a high point, but these virtual communities enable you to even develop and improve your content. However, there are not so many social networks for poets. Also, some of the ones that are available, are still budding, and are still going through a developmental stage. Some of these social networks will be highlighted in this article.
Writers' network: This app is one of the foremost social networks for poets and writers alike, and also a premier poetry site. It's a free creative writing community, created as far back as 2004. It's major purpose is to provide a platform in which writers can share their writing, get constructive feedback, and interact with people who have a similar passion. You also get to see the works of diverse writers. This social network also runs a reward system, as you can earn points just by reviewing write ups. Joining is easy, straightforward and free. You can also participate in contests, discussions, polls and live chats. Note that there's an emphasis on poetry, but writers of all genres are welcome and active on this site.
Mirakee: Mirakee is a community for writers, poets and readers. It's a platform to showcase your poems, quotes, stories, micro-tales, prompts, thoughts, ideas, emotions,etc. It's user friendly, and is similar to Instagram. Hence the nickname, Instagram for poets. You join by choosing a username. For example, I used shawndanny as my username when I wanted to join. Subsequently, you can share your poems and meet new poets.
Allpoetry.com: A social network, dedicated to poets. You have access to a the works of different poets, famous or not famous, established or amateur, classical or contemporary, modern day or old timers, etc.
Other social networks that facilitate dissemination of your poetry, but are not committed to poetry, include;
Tumblr
Feel free to add your suggestions.
Can my poems be published on your blog
ReplyDeleteYes they can,Jephthah. You will have to join Friends in Poetry to publish your poems here. You may find out more about us in the 'About' section. Then, contact 08105492663 to join.
ReplyDelete