Read! It’s important
to “know” both time-honored and contemporary poets. Whenever possible attend
readings and participate in workshops – learn what other poets are doing in
their work, and be part of the poetry community.
Write little –
embrace the minute on the way to the universal.
Be aware that every
poem needs a strong emotional center that doesn’t smother meaning with
sentiment. (There’s a big difference between sentimentality and poetic
sentiment.)
Understand that
overstatement and the obvious are deadly when it comes to writing poetry. Many
promising poems don’t measure up because they’re over-written. Don’t ramble on
and don’t try to explain everything. Think about this: a poem with only five
great lines should be five lines long.
Remember what Dylan
Thomas wrote, “You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick … you’re
back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best craftsmanship
always leaves holes and gaps … so that something that is not in the poem can
creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.”
Beware the dreaded
Prose-o-saurus! A lot of people who “write poetry” work from a prose impulse
and a prose logic. They arrange their writing in lines and stanzas that make
the writing look like poetry when it really isn’t. It’s a kind of poetry
masquerade.
Memoir poems can be
wonderful if they are not exercises in journaling that are presented as poems.
If you write in this genre, ask yourself, “Is this art, or is this a diary
entry?”
Work on a sense of
immediacy (even when you write in the past tense). Stay away from the passive
voice, and be wary of words that end in “ing” (gerunds).
Avoid over-use of
adjectives and too many details (bulk without substance doesn’t work).
Eliminate
prepositions whenever you can (i.e., the sky’s length rather than the length of
the sky).
Be specific – avoid
abstractions and generalizations. Imagery is key. Write about things, not
ideas. William Carlos Williams wrote: “No ideas but in things.” Tell it “like
it is” in specifics, not through philosophical musings on the “meaning of it
all.”
Tune your ear to
natural rhythms, especially if you are writing free verse. Develop a sense of
sound in your poems (sonic impression): use alliteration, assonance, and
internal rhymes. Read your poem aloud – listen!
Avoid the slippery
slime of lofty language and literary affectation. Neither big words nor
literary pretensions will save a bad poem and may weaken a potentially good
one. Be real!
Subvert the
ordinary. Language and figures of speech (i.e., similes and metaphors) should
be memorable and fresh, not hackneyed or tired.
Steer clear of
cleverness and “cutesiness.”
Don’t be sucked in
by fashionable clichés, and don’t think you must flatter current prejudices
about what constitutes “popular” poetry.
Stay away from foul
language that doesn’t enhance anything and has no contextual significance.
Shock value is cheap.
Resist the urge to “finish”
a poem by tying it up in a neat package. Last lines that explain or sum-up can
ruin an otherwise good poem.
Discipline yourself
for the process of revision and revise, revise, revise! Often during tweaking,
you’ll need to shorten a poem, not make it longer. Ask yourself, “Do I really
need that word, phrase, or line?” When you revise your own writing, you have to
play critic to your own creation. Be tough on yourself. Sometimes it will be
necessary to sacrifice words or images you love for the sake of the poem.
However, beware of over-editing and recognize that when the editing process is
no longer one of discovery, it’s time to stop. As Leonardo DaVinci said, “Art
is never finished, only abandoned.”
Spend time away from
a poem you’ve just completed – put it aside for a few days (or weeks) and then
look at it again. Take time to refine your work.
Don’t be so “stuck”
on your own work that you fail to take the advice of workshop leaders and
colleagues. Be true to your own voice, of course, but understand that you can
never be completely objective about your own poetry.
Listen to criticism and try to learn from it. Advice (even if you don’t
like it) is often a very good thing!
