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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 will have multiple ideas.
Jot down each idea and mull them over. Do you have one poetry book trying to form, or multiple potential collections? If it helps, write each “idea” on an index card. You can then put the idea cards in varying orders and see if something does not fit in with the others. Set that one aside for a different book.
When the vision for your book takes shape you are ready to move to the next phase.
For example: My first poetry book, organic, is a collection of poems with nature themes that tell a story of personal growth and maturation.
Create a Title for Your Poetry Book
Another “sit with it” step is to mull over a title for your book. The title should be the manifestation of your overall vision for your book.
Sometimes the title comes to you first and defines the vision of your book for you…
