Writing Tip #6: To Look at Your Piece From a Different Angle, Approach it Visually

If you’ve been working on a poem for a while and have reached a roadblock, sometimes it can help to play around with the visual aspect of your piece. Reflect on the theme of your poem, and try to see if its visual arrangement could emulate that. This could be as simple as breaking up your poem into shorter lines, or as advanced as filling the space around your words on the page with visual art.

Here’s an example by visual poet Monica Ong. In her piece, she establishes an astronomical theme using visual art, while playing around with the idea of “length” using the arrangement of her words:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/156121/solstice-blessing