Every once in a while I try my hand at writing a lyric or poem and present it at a local poetry reading. I find it a wonderful break from regular writing assignments like proposals or reports. It's freeing and has an extraordinary rejuvenating quality.

There are so many things you can get out of writing a poem, or listening to one by someone else. A poem tells you a lot about a person - about their memories, how they were brought up, how they think; sometimes it's more intimate than you care to know. And it's authentic.

When I write a poem I'm telling people something about me, what interests me, my slant on life, even a particular slice of life. Do I feel vulnerable in doing this? Somehow, when I put the words into a poem or lyric, it gains form and although it's me, I'm unafraid of it being expressed into the world.

What poems and lyrics do is allow you to say whatever you want, find out where your boundaries are and choose to push beyond them, or not.

You can be funny. Try telling a story in limerick fashion - five lines with a zinger of an ending with set up, action and hilarious result. Limericks are frequently risqué, full of double entendres; often, they're simply funny.

If you want to see how focused you can get, try writing a haiku. In my experience, something memorable always emerges from a haiku. It takes you by surprise, allowing you to see or experience something from a completely different angle or perspective.

Limericks, haikus, whatever the form, they're all stories. They can be my story, or your story. There's a beginning and there may or may not be an end. We may be left hanging, adding our own ending, our own interpretation.

Now consider this. When you write a proposal, a report, a sales and marketing piece, aren't you also writing a story? Yes, these have their own conventions, just as poetry does, but the corporate version can be made more interesting if you let your inner muse help the process along. What fresh turn of phrase might you come up with? What new ideas did your poem or lyric generate? What thoughts inspired you from other storytellers? What can you now use to make your work more effective?

There's more than likely a group of poets or songwriters where you live. Next time you want a break from your corporate self, try this as an option and see where it takes you.

Neil Sawers develops books and e-books to help entrepreneurs, small business and students write more easily and effectively. Visit us at http://www.howtowriteproposals.com and download our free chapters containing key tools to help you get your message across in the way you want.

Source: www.a1articles.com