Improving my craft is a big reason I post poems here for crit. (The other reason is the feeling of community -- here, writing poetry isn't seen as
weird.) So this question on what we think of as craft got me thinking -- what exactly am I trying to learn?
To say more with less words. This isn't a goal for all poets, but it is with me. People here have noticed this obsession and been wonderfully helpful in pruning verbiage.
To make words sing. This is meter and rhythm and all those wonderful things which lead me to sit and mutter words, trying to hear where the accent lies. I'm very bad at this and am still looking for a "Accents for Dummies" book, a cheat sheet would be nice
To remember that poetry is communication. I'm including this in craft only because it's a choice I've come to make in my style and choice of subjects. Sometimes poetry is primarily for the originating poet; there is something that just has to be expressed -- but it is not to be shared. I'm trying clumsily to say that I feel uncomfortable reading poems which have little meaning beyond the poet, and I'm trying to correct this in my own work..
