Use an idea web to free associate on that moment or idea.
Look for a central image to use (a story to tell, a metaphor to expand, or a symbol to focus on).
Think about the structure that best expresses what you want to say. (A controlled structure with a set rhythm or a rhyme scheme; or free verse where line breaks and stanza breaks provide the only structure; or a combination, perhaps).
Keep the focus on the central image, and express what you have to say. Write more than you think you should. Keep going until you wear the image or the emotion out. Remember that your final poem should be 16-40 lines long.Keep sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, caesura, repetition) in mind and choose stronger and clearer verbs, adjectives, adverbs (and cut out the ones that aren’t absolutely necessary).
Add figurative language, so that your poem uses at least one example of each of the following: symbolism, sensory imagery, metaphor/simile. (Your poem may also use hyperbole, understatement, allusion, and/or irony.)
Reassess punctuation, line breaks, and rhythm patterns
