7 things you should know about being a poet

Poet Aaron McCollough wrote the original 7 things you should know about being a poet, an exercise which has since blazed its way across the Internet. I discovered it at 32 poems.

Here is my list:

• 1. You have to read poetry to write poetry. Start by reading published poetry that you can find in the library or bookstores.

• 2. There is no easy answer to “What do you write about?” Make up responses that entertain you…the insides of things, for instance, or existential riddles.

• 3. The first draft is not the final draft. This is true of any writing.

• 4. Poems need to cool before they can be revised.

• 5. Like jazz, often it’s the notes you don’t play that demonstrate finesse.

• 6. Some days, the taste of a ripe pear is your poem. (Thank you, Mr. Goodfoot).

• 7. Poetry is not always pretty.

After you check out McCollough’s informative and amusing take on the subject, try doing one of your own. It doesn’t have to be about being a poet, it can be whatever you have been called to do, what you do to pay the bills, what you would like to do, or any combination of motivations.