Question

What was the biggest obstacle you faced while writing your poems? How did you overcome this challenge? Is there anything you would do differently next time? In my own words

Answer 1

Here are three short ways you could say it in your own words — pick the one that sounds most like you or mix lines from each.

1) Simple/school-answer
The biggest obstacle I faced was getting started: I kept second-guessing my ideas and felt stuck. I overcame it by just writing anything at first — freewriting and jotting images without worrying about structure — then editing later. Next time I’d ask for feedback earlier and give myself a set time each day so I don’t rush the revision.

2) Reflective/personal
My hardest challenge was being honest enough on the page. I wanted my poems to feel true but worried about sounding exposed or clichéd. I worked through that by reading other poets, experimenting with different voices, and forcing myself to write drafts that were deliberately messy. After several rewrites the heart of the poem started to show. If I did it again I’d let the first draft be raw sooner and involve a friend or teacher earlier in the process so I don’t get stuck polishing the wrong things.

3) Brief/creative
The biggest barrier was silence — not knowing which image or line to trust. I broke it by playing: listing small moments, reading aloud, and moving lines around until something clicked. Next time I’ll take more risks with unusual images and ask for outside eyes earlier instead of hiding the work until it feels “perfect.”

Tell me which tone you prefer or give one detail about your poem (topic, form, what made it hard) and I’ll tailor it more closely to your experience.