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Poetry mechanics: a “toolshed”.

This is not so much a “how to”, with me laying down the rules; simply because there are no fixed rules in poetry. Rather these are my tips, insights and suggestions. My approach is what I would have wished I’d known around ten years ago; when I started publishing my own collections of poems.

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Digital publishing (Amazon Kindle and others).

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Offers the potential of reaching a wider audience and market than regional or local. Be selective; choose only the best poems to include in your book. Format; font pitch layout, be consistent throughout.

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Do spell check, but be aware that any grammar or spell checker is for prose – not poetry! Therefore: you have to decide if a word is spelt right or the phrase is right etc. (you may have made up a word, or used slang, dialect)

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I include around 40 poems per book. Themes I have sifted into books: Love, Blues, music, general (assorted).

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What makes a good poem?

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It makes you think, and it has a point to it. Like an argument with a conclusion.

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It has a passion, wrote about something you care about and want to communicate/share with the reader.

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It’s not a “laundry list”; it use some form of syntax, grammar language, metaphors, symbols. That is beyond and above everyday language.

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It has “killer lines” i.e. meaning going beyond, perhaps not making logical or strictly literal sense, yet feeling right to the reader.

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It strikes a chord, stirs the emotions.

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Has freshness in expression.

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A personal style / view comes across in the piece.

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Form, rhythms, rhymes:

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Tip: read other poems to know and be aware of the different forms to use or adapt... Chinese and Haiku, for the economy of lines and words used. Love poems, ballads, sonnets, free verse.

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Poems: “lives” or meanings:-

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Like all poetry, because the language is slightly ambiguous, readers have their own interpretations. People will get their own meanings, apart from what you intend when writing – you cannot control this!

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Firstly when the poet writes, the meaning or significance in the authors mind.

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Secondly, when the poem is read by others.

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Thirdly when the poems are read out to others. Here meaning and interpretations, arise from the audience’s emotions, experiences and views.

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There is a possible fourth meaning, with time and a reader reading a generation or so on; the meaning is changed. (lost in translation would be a fifth)

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What is poetry, as opposed to prose?

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Poems have...rhythm, rhyme, elevated language, similes and metaphors.

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Why write poems anyway?

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To express something we feel is worthwhile sharing this with others our insight, comment, satire, humour.

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You will find discouragement and also indifference to your poems.

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KEEP ON! A recent phrase I came across and find helpful is “The mission continues”. Alternative phrase, from Van Morrison: “It’s too late to stop now”.

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Accept the reality.

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There are so many poets or writers out there; the good inevitably gets lost in the tide of mediocre, and not so good. Agent and publishers are pressed for time and swamped by the volume of submissions.

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Keep in mind Sting’s comment:

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“If you aren’t in it for the music, then there’s really no point”; it is the same with poetry. Poetry is not an alternative to the X factor – you are unlikely to get rich, or become a celebrity; so you have to do it for its own sake.       

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Go and do; just make a start.

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For those starting you can gain a lot from groups, correspondence courses, and books.

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Keep self belief in your abilities, which are developing all the time.

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This is vital as like others in the Arts; critics, rejection, misinterpretation, misunderstanding, indifference, even hatred, are all part of the territory you have to deal with.

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Set your own internal guidelines:

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What subjects, language, etc will you decline to release? Is the work good enough, to your own standard?

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Be yourself.

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 Poets are like everyone else; they just also happen to write poems.     

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Life is not neatly ordered

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 Frequently the lines or ideas for some lyrics or a poem will pop into your head at not really convenient times, e.g. the middle of the night, or in the day during work. In which case rapidly write them down, because otherwise they can’t be recalled later! Always have a pen and some paper to hand.

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Use your network and Social Media

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Outlets to raise awareness of your work, including:- your emailing list, Forums, Blog. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Poetry competitions, writers magazines.

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Flip through a dictionary,

To know more words than you do now.

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I’ve also at times written a “book”;

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I.e. a storyline like an opera or musical, to then write song lyrics to situations/characters.  

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Read widely, travel, absorb into the pool internally from which comes the poems...Time outt in travelling seeing friends etc, all add to experiences, potential materials for poems.

 

   Paper publishing:

 

Can be costly due to cost of paper increasing. Also you then have to physically locate a retail outlet, promote, market, sell all yourself; unless a publisher takes on your book.

 

Bookstores, usually large chains, are not interested in books without glued spines or ISBN numbers.

 

 

Copyright protection.

 

While it’s correct that copyright exists from the moment you pen any piece; sadly on the internet the cut n pasters and would be plagiarists are there! One can only stick a notice on the poem to ensure if stealing is done, they know clearly they are doing so.

 

 

I hope this has been of use, and wish you the best of luck in your poetry!

 

Louis.

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This article copyright Louis J Casson 2012

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