Ty J. Williams : part one

Ty J. Williams is a writer and poet who has recently eschewed decades of corporate jobhood to seek his first undergrad degree from the Ohio State University. His poetry can be read in Black Bough Poetry, Neololigism Poetry Journal, Columbus Alive and Fourth & Sycamore, as well as his WordPress site, The Little-Known History of Brooding. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, USA, with his wife, 3 sons and dog. Follow Ty at tywrites1 at twitter.com and tywrites at instagram.com

Photo credit: Kate Chapman.

How do you know when a poem is finished?

Well, most of my poems are never “finished”, but all of them have an ending. I’m always editing and revising my poems, and that process is never really done. On the other hand, the endings of my poems are always intentional and well thought out. The last lines and the word choices in those last lines are probably the most deliberated and the most purposeful part of my writing. So, when I complete an initial draft of a poem, the endings are usually pretty solid and the least edited part of the poem. The rest will be tinkered with ad nauseum.