Basil Bunting's Advice to Young Poets
1. Compose aloud; poetry is a sound. 2. Vary rhythm enough to stir the emotion you want but not so as to lose impetus. 3. Use spoken words and syntax. 4. Fear adjective; they bleed nouns. Hate the passive. 5. Jettison ornament gaily but keep shape Put your poem away till you forget it, then: 6. Cut out every word you dare. 7. Do it again a week later, and again. Never explain - your reader is as smart as you. -- Source: Basil Bunting Poetry Centre http://www.dur.ac.uk/basil-bunting-poetry.centre/poems.quotes/quotes/