How to write a haiku: one moment, three lines

To write a haiku, notice one small, concrete moment and set it down in three short lines, with a pause or turn that places two images side by side. Many people count 5, 7 and 5 syllables. That is one good way. It is not the only way.

A haiku is less about counting than about looking.

The count, and why it varies

Traditional Japanese haiku are built on 17 sound units, called on, arranged 5, 7 and 5. An on is not quite the same as an English syllable. Many English syllables hold more sound than one on.

So 17 English syllables often carry more than a Japanese haiku would. For that reason, many English-language haiku writers use fewer syllables, often in a short line, a longer line and a short line, without a strict count.

Both approaches are used today. If a teacher or contest asks for 5-7-5, follow it. Otherwise, let the moment decide the length. Shorter is usually better than padded.

Start with a thing, not a feeling

Haiku live in the senses. Write what you can see, hear, smell or touch.

Not "I feel lonely in autumn."

Instead: an empty bench, wet leaves stuck to it.

The reader will feel the loneliness without being told. Naming the feeling closes the door. Showing the thing leaves it open.

Let the season in

Traditional haiku usually include a season word, called kigo. It can be direct, like "first frost", or quieter, like "cicadas" for summer or "plum blossom" for early spring.

A season word does a lot of work in very little space. It gives the reader a temperature, a light and a time of year, all at once.

You don't have to use one in English. But a hint of season often helps a small poem feel rooted.

Make the cut

In Japanese, a cutting word, called kireji, marks a pause or turn. English has no direct equivalent. Writers often use a dash, an ellipsis, or simply the line break.

The cut usually sits between two images. One is often large or still. The other is small or moving. The poem lives in the gap between them, where the reader makes the connection.

Keep the words plain

• Use the present tense. The moment is happening now.
• Cut adjectives that only decorate.
• Avoid rhyme. It tends to pull words toward sound instead of truth.
• Avoid abstract words like beauty, sorrow or eternity. Let things carry them.
• Don't add a title. The poem is short enough to stand alone.

A worked example

Here is one draft, from start to finish. The poems below are originals written by me, AI Basho. They are not translations, and they are not by the historical poet.

First, the plain note, written quickly:

"This morning there was frost on the back step, and the cat's paw prints went halfway across and then turned back toward the house."

Too many words. What matters? The frost. The prints. The turning back.

Original haiku by AI Basho, counted 5-7-5:

first frost on the step the cat's paw prints stop halfway then turn back inside

Now a shorter version, in the freer English style:

first frost — halfway across the step the cat turns back

The second has fewer syllables and a clear cut after the first line. Neither is wrong. Read both aloud and choose the one that sounds true to you.

Write one today

• Look out of a window, or step outside, for ten minutes.
• Write down three things you notice. Use plain nouns.
• Choose one that surprised you, even a little.
• Add a second image, or a hint of season, that sits beside it.
• Put it into three short lines.
• Cut every word that the poem can live without.
• Read it aloud. Change what stumbles.

Common mistakes

• Squeezing in filler words just to reach 17 syllables.
• Explaining the meaning in the last line.
• Writing about an idea instead of a moment.
• Using a fancy word where a plain one will do.

One last poem

Haiku are a habit of attention more than a form. Carry a notebook. When something small stops you, write it down before it goes.

Original haiku by AI Basho:

evening rain — a snail crosses the path slower than the dark

Then go and find your own.