How to Write an Epic Poem

An epic poem is a long narrative centering around a single hero, presenting his or her adventures within a suitably heroic framework. An epic hero is usually a person of great strength, wit or skill whose adventures usually contribute to the development of a particular race or nation.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dictionaries
• Thesauri
• Pencils
• Erasers
• Notebook Papers
• Notebooks
• Pencils
• Pens
• Word Processors
• Pencils
• Pens
• Notebooks

1. Write a brief statement of the poem's purpose before you begin recounting the story - say, to detail your dog Champ's heroic crusade against backyard birds - followed by an invocation of the Muse.

2. Give a short, general outline of the action of the poem in the statement of the poem's purpose.

3. Invoke the Muse next by first praising her, then by asking her to aid you in the writing of your poem. The Muse of epic poetry was Calliope, but you can also invoke Thalia (Muse of comedy) or Melpomene (Muse of tragedy).

4. Choose a particularly heroic event in the hero's life at which to start. This will be the main action of your poem.

5. Begin the narrative by employing "in medias res" or "framework" narrative. Literally meaning "into the midst of things," this is a poetic convention in which the narrative begins in the middle of the main action and earlier events are retold through flashbacks. The past actions thus form a framework centering around the main action.

6. Confront your hero with dangerous monsters and other incredible adventures. Include vivid and explicit descriptions of warfare (particularly weapons and combat).

7. Use the supernatural to get your protagonist out of tough situations. If your hero or heroine is in a no-win situation, simply send in a god or goddess to help out at the last moment.

Tips & Warnings

• Read a few epic poems, such as the "Aeneid" or the "Iliad," before writing your own.
• In the story about Champ the dog, you would begin your narrative at the middle of Champ's life - in the midst of her crusade against birds - and then, in flashbacks, recall her formative years as a puppy.
• Be prepared to devote a great deal of time to writing your epic poem.

on 8/8/2006 Write about one heroic deed at a time. Then find a way to tie the stories together.

on 8/8/2006 If you're going to write your epic in formal verse (as opposed to free verse), consider making the line the verse unit. Rhyme and stanza structures complicate the writing process and can interrupt the narrative flow for the reader if not handled masterfully. Homer composed his epics in Greek hexameters, for instance, and Milton in blank verse.

This isn't a universal rule. Alexander Pope's mock-epic Dunciad was written in rhyming couplets, and several Romantic epics were written in 8 or 9 line stanzas (ottava rima, spenserian stanzas).

on 3/17/2006 Write a chronology of the events in your poem before you begin a first draft. This will save you time when you write the actual draft.