How to Revise Your Poems

from the popular book 'how to write a poem' ...

Poet Tania Runyan is the author of the popular poetry How-To-Trio. One of her best selling books from the trio is How to Write a Poem: Based on the Billy Collins Poem “Introduction to Poetry”. The following is an excerpt from the book. It’s some of the wisest advice you’ll find on how to revise your poems!

Chapter 7

A Change for the Better: Revision

The Eight-Letter Word

For many writers, revision has become a bad word. Revision means picking through your words at a painstaking level. Revision means crushing that original inspiration. Revision means not trusting your own work.

Most experienced poets would say nothing is further from the truth. Is the concert pianist who practices six hours a day to prepare for a concert discounting the music, or is she giving her best to perform at her best? Is the homebuilder who checks and rechecks the plans for the foundation and electrical work doubting the work or ensuring quality and pride? Yet for years, while taking and teaching workshops, I’ve run across the attitude that poems are somehow exempt from revision because they issue from the soul.

I would argue that revision is the highest form of respect and soul-nurturing you can give to your poetry. Birthing a child is one thing; molding him or her into a thing of beauty is something more. And, of course, never forget that a draft is just a draft. No one is telling you to throw away what you started with.

Revision Strategies

Throughout this book, I’ve been guiding you through some strategies to make your poems inviting to your readers. Some of these steps involve revising, deleting, and adding. Now we will take the process even further with some general points to keep in mind while revising poetry.