The Basics of Writing Poetry ...

There are many instructive articles about writing, but this one by writing coach Jessica Page Morrell is one of the most thorough and instructive I've come across since I started writing for the LAwritersgroup.com blog. She begins with a quote from the Norton Anthology of Poetry that is worth repeating here:
'A poem is a composition written for performance by the human voice. What your eye sees on the page is the composer's verbal score, waiting for your voice to bring it alive as you read it aloud or hear it in your mind's ear.'
She goes on to offer suggestions and insights into:

• The importance of keeping a notebook
• Joining the writing life
• Looking to your own life for material
• Using poetry to express emotion
• Style tricks
• Style: Line
• Style: Stanza
• Style: Shape and format
• Style: Repetition

She packs a lot of information into short paragraphs, and simply reading her suggestions is inspirational.