Editing Poetry: A Checklist to More Precise Poems
My second collection of poetry, Delirium, underwent numerous rounds of edits—around ten or twelve passes over the course of about a year.
The initial few rounds of edits, it felt fruitless. The poems stayed mostly the same. Only the grammatical errors were cleaned up throughout the manuscript. Each poem felt flat. Nothing I did—no incremental changes to grammar or line breaks—served to improve the overall quality of the book. The work had become too dear to me, solidifying with each subsequent pass.
I dropped the manuscript in the drawer of my writing desk, where I let it sit for a few months.
When I inevitably returned to the manuscript, it was with the benefit of distance and a refreshed perspective. And when I began a new round of edits, it was with horror—I welcomed it.
That horror is a reaction of growth. No longer was I too close to the poems. I could deconstruct them to rebuild them.
What I ended up with was a mostly coherent manuscript with some poems that shine among the others. Even if I read those other poems with some horror, I know that it’s because of my growth as a writer.
The takeaway from my experience with Delirium is it helped me develop a checklist I go over before submitting—or even sharing—my manuscript.
As I work on another poetry manuscript, now in the editing stage of the process, I’ve kept it close to help guide me throughout the process. And it can easily be applied to individual poems as well.
The Poetry Manuscript Checklist
Put the manuscript (or poem) away. A habit I adapted from writing short stories, but one that’s proven useful time and again. It’s hard work to write. Because of that, we tend to get too close to what we get down on paper (or the screen). Take some time away from that particular piece, then come back to it with a fresh perspective. The distance allows you to be more objective with your edits.
Read your poem(s) aloud. Poetry, at the end of the day, is a phonetic endeavor. Almost all writing is. Think about some of your favorite sentences or most memorable quotes—in most cases, it will feel good to feel the words move off your tongue. It helps you improve the structure of the poem, and will lend itself to catch any errors as you read through. And if you’re feeling up to it, try reading your poem backwards. This ensures any missed errors are caught, but also might lend itself to open a new perspective on a poem. It should feel good to read and be a joy to hear when it’s “finished.”
Review your poem(s), line by line. Be sure that the poem is unified by a central theme, and that each line serves the purpose of imbuing meaning to the overall poem. This was a habit I picked up from my poetry professor at Towson University. If a line doesn’t serve the poem, nix it (or rework it). I’m a fan of removing what doesn’t fit. Sometimes it gives way to a more interesting poem by omitting what you couldn’t manage to say.
Start strong; finish strong. The opening lines of a poem will set the tone for what follows, and the final lines of the poem will bring closure to the opening. That’s not to suggest it needs to have closure. But it should, in some fashion, come full circle. The ideal poem lingers with the reader well after they’ve read it.
Consider the language. By nature, poetry is a far more sparse form of writing than fiction or nonfiction. Each word should be carefully considered and add to that larger theme the poem encapsulates. This also feeds into the rhythm and rhyme, as well as the structure. Reading aloud will help identify areas of the poems where the language might need to be adjusted.
Review the form. Look over your poem(s). How do they look on the page? When reading them aloud, do you find yourself pausing longer in places where there are no line breaks? Do you stop where there is no period? Could enjambment be used or removed to heighten the meaning? Does the form benefit the poems flow? All of these are points of consideration you want to keep in mind when it comes down to the form of your poem(s). It’s what will help the reader better understand what it is you’re interrogating—what theme is at the heart of your poem. And is it aesthetically pleasing to look at on the screen? How does it look when you print it out? Still pleasing? If not, remove or move around some lines until it is pleasant to look at.
Perform a final read. Take the prior rules into consideration and apply it to one thorough and final reading of your poem(s). If all the boxes are checked and—this is important—you feel as satisfied as you can be with the poem(s), then it can be considered finished and is ready for submissions.
With this checklist in mind, you can get to know with confidence. Print it out and use it as a reminder to be careful, thoughtful, thorough. As much of a pain as editing can be, editing is where a mediocre piece of writing can become a great piece of writing.
It is difficult but necessary work for any poet.
