Getting a grip on the nuts and bolts of putting verse together is a big plus. Master the hang of how to hit on your friends with your poetic skill and wit and, boy, will they be impressed.

A good starting place is the limerick. It's a five-line verse with a standard rhyming structure. It is usually funny and often saucy. Readers can get hooked on them and want to write their own.

Poefaced pals
There's no shortage of times when a cool bit of verse will liven up the party. Who doesn't like to enjoy a laugh? And limericks are great for making even the most poefaced pal crack up.
 

Humor
A dancer with two big left feet
When leaping was less than discreet
When high in the air
She twirled her hair
Then burped and fell on her seat!

Charm the chicks
You don't have to stop there, of course, why not try charming that pretty little gal with a slick bit of verse - it's the way to strum the heart strings. Guys have been pulling that trick since cavemen were scratching on a rock.

Why? Because it works. You can say things in verse you would never get away with most other times. And she knows you wrote it for her. No other chic on the planet has it. (Yes, you might get away with sending the same one to a few others but if they find out, man, will you learn the meaning of wild wild women!)

Big bucks
There's no end to the times a word skill helps you out. Learn to write a powerful limerick and you are more than halfway to composing song lyrics. Cut your creative teeth on simple verse and you can aim to soar to stardom with the big bucks stuff.

Stanza extravaganza
To get back to planet Earth for a moment, let's chew over the days when your hip stanza extravaganza skills will pull you ahead of the crowd.

How's about birthdays - we all got 'em and we all need to let our meaningful others know we care. Could you do better than give 'em their very own personalized-by-you verse?

Buy an expensive card and the same trash words, recycled through a thousand innards, are all you give. Make it your words and it means something.

Your best friend getting wed? Can't afford much of a present? Well, at least give them something unique - something that is a part of you - forever for them. It can be funny or mushy - just catch the mood of the moment. Wedding photos show the surface - a good verse shows the heart.

You should change your style to suit the subject. Run these examples past your eyeballs or chuckle muscles:

Romantic
With eyes that are blue as the ocean
You fill me with such strange emotion.
I think all the time
Of a suitable rhyme
To tell of my strongest devotion.

Birthday
Your birthday has come round again
So now I must pick up the pen.
It's just a short note,
'Cause I ain't a poet,
But have a nice day now you're ten!

Wedding
"Congratulations" it often is said
Are due to the girl (boy) who gets wed.
It is always a thrill (joy)
To get the right girl... (boy)
But the rhyme here's gone right out my head.

Invitation
Hello there, my old buddy Charlie!
A long time since we had a parley.
I'd like to meet you
For a sup of the brew
Or a taste of the stuff made from barley.

There are a lot of tricks and tips for improving verse that you can learn with the limerick before moving on to lyric writing. Stuff like alliteration, assonance, consonance, pace, tone and a whole bundle more. Some folks pop out of the womb writing well, but knowing the inside info helps to create a class act.

Limericks are great for texting a mate.

My first name is Billy, OK?
My second is Mark with a K
I am glad to believe
That my name is not Steve -
He got his quite cheap on Ebay!