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Editing ■ Checking for Style and Accuracy
Check your revised poem for punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar errors. Ask someone else to check your work for errors as well. Then write a correct final copy of your poem. Proofread this copy before sharing it.
Helpful Hint
In a free-verse poem, you do not have to capitalize the first word in each line. The choice is yours. Use end punctuation marks or other punctuation as you would in regular prose. Or don’t use punctuation at all if you don’t feel it is necessary. (See the poem below.)
Free-Verse Poem
Jeff Kivland made many changes to his poem: title, images, line breaks, and word choice. Notice how he removed the moon cycles, inviting readers to infer them, which creates mystery.
