5 Things A Poetry Editor Looks At
It can be so scary to give your manuscript, a piece of your heart and soul, to a stranger for editing. Perhaps your mind is racing with self-doubt, and fear of judgement and failure.
To assuage your fears, I’ve curated a list of what I think about while I edit your poetry. You’ll notice that none of these thoughts include negative things about you as a writer, or thinking you suck! Hopefully knowing what you can expect from a poetry edit will help you feel more comfortable with handing your work over to an editor.
(Psssttt… This list can also help your self-editing.)
Here’s a little peek inside my brain while I’m editing poetry!
Line Breaks
The very first thing I do when I approach a new poem is read it in its entirety and take inventory of how it makes me feel. Then I look at the big picture, and line breaks are a large part of that. I consider:
Do the line breaks create cohesiveness or divide the flow?
Is there ambiguity? Are there double meanings? Are they purposeful or errors?
Is there enjambment? Is it purposeful?
How could we increase the emotional impact of the line breaks?
Punctuation
What is the author’s punctuation style? Do they use a lot or a little? Do they tend to use harsher (periods) or softer (commas, em dashes) punctuation?
Does the punctuation help or hurt the author’s message?
Should any punctuation be removed or added to increase emotional impact and/or clarify the meaning?
Diction
Are there words that are unnecessary and can be cut to increase emotional impact?
Is there syntax that can be improved?
Where are the poem’s best moments?
Poetic Devices
What devices does the author use? Are they the strongest they can be?
Would the poem benefit from more or less descriptive language?
Can the reader feel the poem?
Conscious Language
Is there any language that would be harmful?
Are there any metaphors that would be harmful?
Is the writer speaking from their own experience?
Has the author done adequate research?
If the author has created a character or is telling a fictional story, is it appropriate?
Bonus Thoughts:
I don’t spend my days holding a red pen over manuscripts and cackling manically as I cover the page with ink. I often have thoughts such as:
Woah that was genius!
AHAHAHAHA
Oh ouch
That feels so accurate to my experience too
I love this poem!
And I put these as comments on your manuscript too!
You deserve to have someone you can trust to edit your work with encouragement, kindness, and honesty. If it sounds like I might be a good fit to be your poetry editor, please contact me to start a conversation! I have an inquiry form to make it easy, or you can shoot me an email with any questions.
Happy writing and happy 'ber month season!!!!!!
