A List of Things I've Learned on Poetry Courses

I've done number of poetry courses over the years, so I thought I'd share some of what I've learned. In bullet points to begin with, although some of these will be worth a blog post of their own.

• "What if" applies to poetry as well as fiction. 
• It can be from the point of view of anyone or anything, animate or inanimate.
• Look at the scene or inspiration from a different than usual angle, or combine it with something unexpected.
• Know what your message is. It doesn't have to be profound, or mean the same to everyone.
• Pay attention to detail, but there is room to leave things open to interpretation.
• Sometimes poems go their own way - like fiction!
• Don't feel that every line has to rhyme, or even some of them.
• But if you do pick a rhyme scheme or form, stick to it - unless not doing so is part of the poem.
• Pay attention to rhyme, near rhyme, and slant rhyme - and make sure it's deliberate.
• Beware of rhyme crime! Avoid cliches, including a word just because it rhymes (whether or not the resulting line makes sense), and twisting the syntax of the sentence just to make a rhyme fit.
• Avoid outdated and archaic language.
• Use specific, rather than general, vocabulary.
• Using the senses will make it more powerful.
• Listen to it out loud - get someone to read it to you, or tape yourself reading it.
• Practice styles and types of poems you're not usually drawn to.
• Turn traditional ideas on their heads.
• Keep a list of poems you want to write.
• Bring in your personal experience, especially sensory details.
• If breaking the rules, make sure it looks deliberate (ie  do it more than once).

I'm sure I'll get around to blogging about some of these eventually, but for now it's mostly about getting all my notes in one place (as opposed to over six years' worth of notebooks).