How to Compile a Collection of Poetry

Citation

Kaye Spivey. How to Compile a Collection of Poetry. 2019. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkCQBBGhLfk.

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Literature notes

How to compile a collection of poetry

Two ways to write a poetry collection

  1. Take all the poems you've written and compile them.
  2. Write poetry with the intention of putting them into a collection.

Many poets do their second and subsequent collections using the second way.

Don't get caught up to how a poem should look but how it comes together as a whole.

The collection must be about an overarching theme

Don't force a collection with just a single poem unless you are willing to write more poems for that collection that goes with that poem.

Will you have sections?

Sequence the collection in a way that it will flow.

If you want a poem to be in the collection but it needs more work, don't put it.

Take the time to write the poems more organically then figure out how to link them together like a puzzle. Then if needed, write more poems to be included in the collection.

Steps

  1. Choose the poems to be included.
  2. Edit them.
  3. Sequence them.
  4. Send to someone.

Prompts