1. Be a reader
Writers must be readers for enjoyment of poetry. Read the poem again, analyse it, ask yourself why it is a winner, particularly if you don't like the poem. You absorb what you read, and will learn something from it.
You are 'inspired' to write your own poetry, sparks happen in your own mind as you read, ideas come from other ideas.
Poetry of the past gives pleasure,
Poetry of the present informs.

2. Reassess your back-list
Poems you have abandoned will have at least one element which is good and can be built up.
See this not as a failed poem, but as a pre-writing exercise.

3. Combine and amaze
Look at bits of dead/forgotten poems. Combine 2 or 3 pieces, and craft a new poem from these separate pieces, the odd line or phrase, new ideas will come.

4. Hoard exercises
Fall back on workshop exercises for stimulation. Dip in, practice and combine them.
e.g. a persona poem written from the viewpoint of a character can be mixed with the personification of an inanimate thing.
See what happens.

5. Gain a new perspective to refresh your ideas
Try clothes on in a shop fitting room, ones you wouldn't buy. How do they look, develop a character from your own strange appearance for a creative piece.
Walk about the house in shoes, in a style you wouldn't wear outside. Who would wear these shoes, see who grows in your imagination.

6. Content must fizz
Don't write half-heartedly – be 110% involved in your writing.
Write early in the day – or compose when you are most active:
travelling, out walking, or doing mundane jobs around the house.

7. Rework and revise – redraft carefully
Work yourself up to new work with momentum by redrafting older pieces.

8. Reinvent yourself – your style should be renewed and refreshed – try new forms. Be continually aware you need freshness. Always be ready to move on.

9. Mantra: Submit
Send your work away. Keep records. Editors change regularly so look out old work and send it again. Look out for openings. Read – read aloud – perform where you can. Compete – enter competitions.

10. Don't lose sight of the joy of writing
(it's possible to view writing as a business, something we do routinely.]
Remember poetry is an art form, practised because we love it and because we have to.

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