How To Edit Poetry | Write Better Poetry

I'm a naughty boy when it comes to editing poems. That is to say poetry editing isn't very high on my list of things to do. Or at least it WASN'T! I'm making it my duty to take my poetry to a new level and so editing comes a long with that. Here's my How To Edit Poetry guide!

Also it's National Poetry Writing Month! So, happy NaPoWriMo !
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Read it: Read the poem you’ve just written to yourself and OUT LOUD. It’s important that you listen to how it sounds. Do you use the same word too often. Less is more in all mediums of art, ask yourself if you’ve used too many words, or spent too long on a sentence.

2) What it looks like on the page. I’ll be honest with you, a lot of page poets spend a long time considering what the poem looks like on a page. For me, I don’t really care about this at all, unless I’m feeling ridiculously creative and make an active choice to play around here, which I’ve only done that a handful of times as of making this video. Maybe one day my opinion will change on this and I’ll have to remake this video, but to me the words and metre are more important than how it looks. If I need to make a line longer to make the metre work better, I will do so with no problems of making the poem “Look messy on the page”

3) Have you conveyed your message? If you’re like me, and just enjoy writing in the flow state, to quote taoism, then it is super easy to get lost in your own words and finish a poem without really making a valid point. I do it all the time. That’s why it’s important to come back and edit. To ask yourself, why are you writing this poem, what message are you trying to convey. Once you’ve got an answer to that question, write it at the top of your page, then read through your poem line by line and make sure each word is contributing to the story, and that they all help lead to the final message that you have chosen the poem to communicate to your audience.

4) Are your metaphors and images cliche? In one of my previous videos I mentioned never EVER place a cliche in your poem, unless done so on purpose. They instantly kill your poem. Now, it’s fine to include them in your first drafts, because it’s important to just get words down whilst you’re in the flow state. But when editing, if you come across a cliche metaphor, try your damnedest to come up with something original that says the same thing.

5) Read it again Once you’ve finished your first set of edits, read the piece again as a whole. Ensure it still flows nicely and the new additions you’ve inserted don’t stick out like a sore thumb, if they do then find a way of smoothing them out.

5) Leave it alone. One of the most important steps, believe it or not, is walk away. Once you’ve got your first draft down, walk away for a day or two, even a week. Leave the piece to settle, and your mind to reset. It will make it so much easier to be objective towards the poem, and to see things that you couldn’t whilst you were still in the honeymoon phase with your poem.

6) Come back and start the process again. Once you’ve left your poem for a time, come back and start the entire process again, and so on and so forth until you feel the poem is finished.

So, actually it really isn’t that difficult to edit your poems. It’s probably not as exciting, granted. I don’t know if I can argue that point, but the more we practise, the more we may enjoy it. Good luck on your editing journey my friends, I’m right there with you. I hoped this helped. My name’s Adam Gary, if you enjoyed this video don’t forget to hit like and subscribe. You can also follow me on other social media platforms above. I’ll see you next week!
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#howtowritepoetry #poetrytips #poetry

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