How to Write a Poem That Works

The next time you feel inspired to write a poem, take a deep breath and think about the people who helped make you a better writer.

Here are a few people who’ve made a big difference in your life.1.

James Joyce (1783-1845) (James Joyce was born in Ireland to Irish parents, and his first work was an unfinished novel called Ulysses.

Joyce died in Dublin in 1845.)1.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1842-1933)  (Born in Kentucky, he moved to New York in the 1920s.)2.

Samuel Johnson (1832-1902)  (Born in Wales, Johnson’s father was a doctor.)3.

William Morris (1818-1898) 3.

J.K. Rowling (1921- )4.

Paul Erdos (1883-1953) 5.

James Baldwin (1894-1973) 6.

George Orwell (1903- )7.

John Steinbeck (1902-1984) 8.

Robert W. Chambers (1918- )9.

Ernest Hemingway (1912-1946) 10.

Charles Dickens (1870-1940) 11.

Ray Bradbury (1913-1948) 12.

E.

Ewing (1911-1994) 13.

John Grisham (1924- )14.

Elisha Cuthbert (1893-1972) 15.

Arthur Miller (1932- )16.

David Foster Wallace (1939- )17.

David Sedaris (1899-2007) 18.

Philip Roth (1942- )19.

Flannery O’Connor (1937- )20.

Anne Rice (1886-1951) 21.

John Updike (1930- )22.

David Bowie (1975- )23.

Jane Austen (1849-1865) 24.

John Lewis (1911)25.

Charles Bukowski (1940- )26.

Robert Redford (1887-1959) 27.

Margaret Mitchell (1957- )28.

Anne Sexton (1917-1962) 29.

David Lynch (1996-2000) 30.

Michael Kors (1934-1984)(also, designer) 31.

Jack Kerouac (1931-1974) 32.

Robert Cialdini (1946- )33.

Jane Campion (1948-1959)(also: writer) 34.

John Waters (1964- )35.

Paul Verhoeven (1972-2000)(also filmmaker) 36.

James Franco (1997- )37.

Robert Pattinson (1990-2005) 38.

Paul F. Tompkins (1961-2001) 39.

William Goldman (1941- )40.

Woody Allen (1993-2003) 41.

Richard Nixon (1972-) 42.

Jane Fonda (1963- )43.

David Fincher (2005-) 44.

George Carlin (1995-2008) 45.

Robert De Niro (2002-) 46.

Neil Patrick Harris (1995-) 47.

Paul McCartney (1984-) 48.

Michael Bolton (1975-) 49.

Billy Joel (1990-) 50.

Joss Whedon (2007-) 51.

Stephen Colbert (2008-) 52.

Billy Bob Thornton (1973-) 53.

John Legend (1993-) 54.

Jim Carrey (1996-) 55.

John Malkovich (1994-) 56.

Billy Strayhorn (1992-) 57.

Amy Schumer (2014-) 58.

James Corden (2015-) 59.

Will Ferrell (2014- )60.

Stephen Baldwin (2015- )61.

Tom Hanks (2015) 62.

Justin Bieber (2013-) 63.

John Stamos (2016-) 64.

David Tennant (2013) 65.

Tim Robbins (2014) 66.

Jodie Foster (2008)