For Dear Life with Maggie Smith

Share this post

Craft Tip

maggiesmith.substack.com

Discover more from For Dear Life with Maggie Smith

A newsletter about writing & other things that make this life dear—from the poet, not the dame
Over 15,000 subscribers
Continue reading
Sign in

Craft Tip

An Exit Strategy

Maggie Smith
Sep 18, 2023
110
Share this post

Craft Tip

maggiesmith.substack.com
8
Share
a yellow building with a green arrow on it

Hi, Friend,

I’ll be posting an AM(A)A opportunity later this week, when paid subscribers can pick my brain and ask me (almost) anything. One thing people ask about a lot is endings: How do you know when a poem or essay is done? How do you find the right moment to step out of a piece? How do you avoid either stopping short or overshooting the target?

The short answer is intuition. With experience, you often feel when the piece has found its most resonant, compelling landing. But it’s also true that some exit strategies work better than others, so today I’m sharing one of my favorites.

Whether you’re working on a poem, a story, or an essay—or even a longer form piece like a novel or memoir—experiment with ending on a significant image. Let the detail release meaning.

You can use a new image at the end of the poem, or return to an earlier image, so that the piece is somewhat bookended. I like how this move gives a sense of coming full-circle—a sense of closure and cohesiveness—without relying on exposition. You don’t want to oversell the closing or spoon-feed the reader; after all, a poem isn’t a fable with a moral at the end.

Flipping through my second book, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, I noticed this kind of bookending in “Freedom Colony.” The poem opens with the image of the moon, likened to a parade float, and closes with a return to that metaphor. The “bad cover of a song” from line 2 is also returned to in line 15: “I had to close my eyes to hear ‘Blue Bayou.’”

In your poem or essay, you might consider transforming an earlier image to provide more detail or show a shift in the piece. For example, if you return to a tree from earlier, is it still full and green, or is it bare at the end of the piece? Consider this imagistic shorthand that allows you to communicate without explaining. For example, I love the return of the rain in Stanley Plumly’s “In Passing,” and the rising at the end as a foil to “the Falls” at the beginning of the poem.

My two cents: As an exit strategy, try offering a significant image, one that feels metaphorically freighted, as the poem’s “last word.” Resist the impulse to explain. Let the reader sit with that image and participate in making meaning.

Happy writing (& revising)—
Maggie

For Dear Life with Maggie Smith is a 100% reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, access the full archive, and directly support my work, I hope you’ll consider becoming a subscriber.

Thank you for reading For Dear Life with Maggie Smith. Can you think of someone you know who might like this post? Please feel free to share it with them!

Share

110
Share this post

Craft Tip

maggiesmith.substack.com
8
Share
8 Comments
Share this discussion

Craft Tip

maggiesmith.substack.com
Kyomi O'Connor
Writes KO Elevate
Sep 18Liked by Maggie Smith

I’m so fascinated to see your world is composed in this way perfectly!

Thank you

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
Paul Delo
Writes Paul’s Substack
Sep 18Liked by Maggie Smith

Worth reading for the poem alone. Thank you.

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
1 reply
6 more comments...
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Maggie Smith
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing