CAT WOODWARD

Constructive approaches to take; useful questions to ask. Editing. Not fixing typos or cleaning up commas. Editing. In other words, transforming, developing, growing a new, adolescent poem. It's hard to know where to start, especially if you don't have a workshop group or a tutor.

In my years as a mentor, there have been some pieces of advice that I find myself giving again and again. Usually I give this advice to new poets, because it relates to essential difficulties that hold them back from progressing. But it’s not always new poets, often this advice is relevant to more experienced poets too. No one is too far along to have a stumbling block, and blocks are tough to see with only one pair of eyes.