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How Do You Pick and Arrange the Poems for a Poetry Collection?
It’s not as hard as you think.
I’ve edited over 55 poetry books for poets from around the world. Developmental editing, line editing, and formatting — I’ve done it all. One common theme I see from poet to poet, no matter their experience level, is the feeling of overwhelm.
If you need direction on getting your poems ready for a book — you’ve come to the right place!
Here’s an editor’s advice (mine!) on staying objective, selecting the most impactful poems for your book, and sticking to a vision.
Ready? Let’s go!
FIRST
Breathe. This thing won’t come together overnight so sit with your intention for a moment and just take a deep breath.
Now, read through this bit of “what to do next” and remember, you can do this.
Define the Vision for Your Poetry Collection
A successful poetry collection is cohesive. When I say plan a theme — I do not mean that each poem needs to be about one topic, but the book as a whole needs to have a definable “purpose” or “theme” or “feel.”
Think of it as the vision of this collection. Spend some time with this because it is likely you…
