Here's my little class. One of the key things I consider when editing a poem is the imagery. I’m a visual person & personally if a poem lacks impactful imagery I find it difficult to remember anything about it afterward 1/9

Every poem I write starts with an image in some form - it might be a nebulous sketch of an image, or a string of words that form the image arriving at once. When I say “image” - this too is variable. It might be a singular thing, or a whole scene almost like a music video 2/9

So, I ask myself 2 questions regarding the imagery. 1) is it interesting? & 2) does it make sense? 3/9

1) Is it interesting? I would argue this is an area where you need to push yourself. It’s easy to settle for an easy image, an adequate description etc. Jump a bit higher, even if it's not 100% successful. Is it just something you’ve heard somewhere else? 4/9

“Cotton ball clouds” is a lazy image. Why? Because it’s the first thing that springs to mind. It’s what I think of as a “direct image” - it’s literal. It’s easy. Don’t go for easy. “Rosy-fingered dawn” is another one so cliched even Garth Marenghi did it 5/9

Does it make sense? I don’t necessarily mean literal sense. What I mean is - does it make sense within the context of the poem - does the imagery fit the little world you are creating within that poem? 6/9

Consider: does the poem have a colour palette? Does it have a mood? Is it the dusk over a closing funfair? What music does the poem make you think of? 7/9

The second part to this is - does the comparison you’re making make sense? So if you’re saying X is like Y - is Y truly evocative of X? Clouds like cotton balls is accurate but boring. So what else are clouds like? Whatever you pick, it should convince while feeling new 8/9

So, I read through the poem & perform these mental checks with every image, description etc. I have a strong aversion to anything that feels easy or old & I would much rather make life difficult for myself & turn out an alien fresh poem than settle for an easy image. 9/9