MODULE 9: IMPROVING YOUR POETRY AND DEVELOPING AS A POET

The learning objectives of this module are:

• To understand that there is no such thing as a perfect piece of work, and that there are always ways of improving as a poet.
• To understand the importance of using correct punctuation, spelling and grammar when submitting work to publishers.
  

INTRODUCTION

The burden of being an artist, whether a painter, sculptor, writer or poet, is that whatever you create and however much time you spend on creating it, it will never be good enough. For almost all artists, everywhere, nothing is ever perfect, and everything can be improved upon. THE POET and its editors have published thousands of pieces of work from hundreds of poets around the world and, whether a poet laureate with many titles to his or her credit, or an emerging poet exploring words for the very first time, there isn't a single poet anywhere who has ever said that their work is perfect, and that they are absolutely satisfied with everything they have written or have had published; there is always a word that could have been changed, a line altered, a structure revised, a comma added.

Like all artists, poets should also be continually honing and developing their skills and creativity, and be endlessly searching for new and exciting ways of evolving. In short, poets must NEVER stop looking into ways of being better poets, and of writing better poetry.

IMPROVING AS A POET

As we have explored and discussed throughout this course; writing good poetry is all about choosing the right words in order to say as much as possible, with as few words as needed. Knowing how to do this is not just a talent, but a skill and, like all learned skills, to master it, you have to practice it ... over and over again. And for poets, the only way to do this is to write poetry; you will not master the art of writing poetry if you only wrote once a month! Ideally you should write every day, or at least every other day. It doesn't have to be a poem a day - good poems often take days or weeks, or even months to complete - but you must regularly dedicate time every day to writing something, or to editing and re-writing poems you have already written, or looking at ways of improving them. Spend time with your writing, work out ways of clarifying your thoughts and dig deep down to the essence of what you want to say, and how you want to say it.

Think about world-class pianists who spent their first few years playing scales over and over again, until they would dream about them in their sleep. Think about Olympic swimmers who get up at 4am every single morning and do lap after lap in order to build their strength, or the weightlifter who adds just a half a kilo to the bar every couple of weeks which, over time, builds to be a substantial weight. This is the same with poetry. 

You can also regularly set yourself exercises that will help you hone and strengthen your ability to use the language of poetry as effectively as possible too. This is a reiteration of all we have covered in the previous modules, but keep in mind that amazing poets get recognised not because they are lazy and don't write, but because they spend months, years, even decades learning and mastering their craft. Do the same; learn how to accurately refine the meaning and emotions you are trying to capture within your words and work.

As a poet, it is absolutely necessary that you experiment with as many different forms and techniques as possible too. By expanding and developing your technical skills in attempting something different, you are cultivating a strong base from which your abilities and strength as a poet will grow. Practice writing different forms, over and over again. Push yourself, and by studying and understanding the tools and techniques used in a wide range of poetry, from the traditional to the modern, you will undoubtedly sharpen your own 'voice,' style and skills. For example: Practice hard at rhyming eloquently; so you know what not to do in your own poetry. Write lots of verse using hyperbole, so you are not blind to superfluous words in your own poems. Examine how poets of old use sound and rhythm to capture meaning and feeling, so that you can do the same in your own, more contemporary work. Learn how other poets structure their work, so you know how, or indeed how not to structure your own work.

Poetry is often a reflection of our inner and outer lives, and it is a poet's mission to observe, capture and put into words the atmosphere of these experiences. However, a poet doesn't always need to understand the world around them, but they DO need to acutely observe their environment, and to be mindful, and even meditative about what's going on. A poet must always ask themselves questions like; How does this feel? What does this look like? How does it sound? How is this affecting me? What impact is this having on me, or on others? Why is this happening? Writers and poets are the same regarding this acute awareness of their environment, but poets need to be much more concise in describing it. So write, every day, and continually ask yourself 'Can I do better?' , 'Can my poem be better?' , 'How can my poem be better?' And by pushing through the boundaries you set yourself, you will become a great poet.

PROOFING YOUR WORK

Proof, proof, proof your work, and then proof it again, thoroughly and completely, and 'within an inch of its life'! A poem written awkwardly, with bad grammar, bad spelling, poor punctuation and bad construction is an unfinished poem. Simple. THE POET receives hundreds of poems each and every week, and a huge number suffer from at least one of the above; with bad punctuation being the most consistent error. This does not bode well if you are sending it for publication. A poet must always go through everything that he or she writes, and should check it over and over again.

These are some very common errors:

PUNCTUATION

Lots of contemporary poets use no punctuation at all in their work, which seems now to be part of the modern style of writing poetry. However, many poets use punctuation now and then - for example a comma would just appear for no reason, or a full-stop at the end of a poem that has no other punctuation. Or some lines would have commas and full-stops, and others nothing at all (even though there should be). Either use punctuation, or don't, but don't use it sometimes, and then not. And if you are going to use punctuation, then make sure you use it correctly. There is a (very) big difference between:

Let's eat, mother.

and 

Let's eat mother.

Learn how to use punctuation in poetry and, as explored at length earlier in this course; READ YOUR POEM OUT LOUD, so that your punctuation matches the sound and rhythm of your poem and defines exactly what you want to say.

SPELLING

Again, you would be surprised how many poems land on THE POET's desk (metaphorically speaking of course) every single day, that have words spelt incorrectly. Use the spell check on your computer, and remember; there is a difference between American English and British English, so make sure you change the spelling according to the market of the reader. Also, know the differences between (for example) 80's, 80s and '80s, or its or it's or where, were, wear and we're. Keep an eye on contractions too, for example: haven't, didn't, won't etc. Revise your grammar and check your spelling, and if in doubt; look it up!

ABBREVIATIONS

At THE POET, we always know when a poet hasn't read his or her work out loud when he or she writes '&' instead of 'and'. How do you say '&' You can't, because it is not a word. Don't be lazy; write words out in full and don't abbreviate unless you really have to, or unless it is absolutely necessary for your poem.

CAPITALISATION

Again, check capitalisations carefully; only capitalise words that should be capitalised, and don't capitalise words that shouldn't. Randomly capitalising words doesn't make the reader focus on the word, but it does make the poem stand out - but not for the right reasons.

SUMMARY

Writing poetry isn't easy for native English speakers, let alone for anyone for whom English isn't their first language. Of course, not all poems follow the traditional rules of grammar, but make the effort to check everything carefully, especially if you are submitting to English language publications. Editors will think twice before publishing or showcasing work that is poorly written, or that they have to spend a lot of time editing ... even if their title is: 'Editor.'



CONCLUSION

We hope you have enjoyed this 9th Module. In this module we have looked at exploring ways of continuously trying to improve what we write. We have also briefly looked at punctuation, spelling and grammar, and the importance of proofing your work. 

MODULE 10

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