2.  Refer to the season, time of year or nature.

3.  Write in the present tense.

4.  Choose everyday events in nature and life that provide you with an understanding of a greater truth.  Do not explain your greater understanding; just the events that caused the realization.

5.  Use your personal experiences and memories in order to make your haiku realistic and original.

6.  Instead of presenting your reaction to the event, strive to evoke the same reaction in your reader with your words.

7.  Create unity or set up a contrast by using two specific, natural images.

8.  Do not three or more images in a haiku.  It is powerful because it is so short, but the connection between two images add more effect to the energy of the poem.

9.  Avoid traditional poetical devises, including titles, rhyme, metaphors and similes.

10.  Create a natural flow within the haiku that is devoid of things such as dropping or adding words to fit within the necessary syllable count.  The primary rule of haiku is to imitate nature, which cannot be done effectively if the poem sounds awkward and unnatural.