The first notable contemporary blackout poet, Austin Kleon, used newspapers to make his blackout poems in 2010. He was bored and looking for inspiration, and started scribbling on articles in order to make new art. [3] X Research source
A similar form, cut-up poetry, which “breaks” existing texts by literally cutting them up and rearranging them, gained popularity as a form when, in 1959, the beat poet Brion Gysin wrote a poem out of words he pulled out of a hat. [6] X Research source
Blackout poetry is great when writing poetry for beginners, since you’re working with words that already exist, and don’t have to worry about writing new ones.
You can also just use a pen or a pencil rather than a black marker. A black marker will make removing words easier, but you can make blackout poetry with just about any writing tool. Mary Ruefle, a notable blackout poet, actually uses whiteout. [9] X Research source
Alternatively, it’s equally valid to just dive right in and start blacking out before you’ve read the text. Follow your instinct, and don’t worry too much about doing it “right,” rather just do what feels right to you.
Blackout poems sometimes interact with the text they’re blacking out. For example, if you’re blacking out an article about current events, the words you choose to keep might reflect your own thoughts on the events. This approach isn’t mandatory, of course. [12] X Research source Use a pencil to box possible words, if you don’t want your choices to be permanent just yet. Or, embrace the permanent marker and go with the flow!
Have fun with how you choose to black out the piece. Some poets black out the words by drawing illustrations, some leave the other words on the page and simply draw arrows or lines to connect the boxed words. It’s up to you.
Alternatively, use a word processor’s highlight function to make a blackout poem. Set the highlight color to black (or your preference) and select and highlight any text you want to black out.
On first read, look for exciting and related words that can tie your theme together. For a poem on the sky, you might take note of “stars,” “clouds,” and “horizon,” for example.
Blackout poems sometimes incorporate methods used when writing shape poems, which arrange words into specific patterns. Try arranging your cut-out words into new shapes that relate to the poem (so if your poem is about a star, try a star shape!).
If you find you’re looking for a particular word that isn’t in the text itself, this is a great technique for manipulating existing words to form the word you need.
