I recently came back to this fun way of writing after about 10 years. I loved creating slightly abstract poems in college by way of black out or cut out poetry, but somewhere along the way, it got lost.

My wonderful friend and talented copywriter Bee reminded me of it over on her Patreon, and one evening after work, I spotted some books for free on somebody’s wall, so I took one home. I didn’t want to read that book, but I did want to cut it up and make something of my own.

How to make cut-up poetry

All you need is a book that you don’t want to read, or print out some text from your computer – I think it’s best if it’s a text that you’re not familiar with, so that you aren’t too influenced by the existing story.

I spent an evening cutting out any words that caught my eye, and laid them out in front of me. Then, I tried to piece them together into something resembling sense. I had an idea of what I wanted to create, but as I went along, the words found me and turned into something completely different.

I’ve spent a good few more hours since then creating little bits of poetry and prose, some of which have inspired a few short stories. I really like the ones that seem unfinished, too.

I popped the remaining words into a little paper sweetie bag – a treat for another day when I feel like being creative.

It’s such a lovely process, and I really encourage you to give it a go.