[Mark McDonnell]

I did enjoy the article and don't really disagree with anything he says. I don't know if it's great advice for brand new writers. It's like the old cliched analogy with painting isn't it? Before you ask us to admire your abstract expressionism, prove that you can draw an accurate pair of shoes. It's easy to pontificate that craft/adherence to form stifles creativity etc once you can do it.

Hopefully, and ideally, learning the 'mechanics' of poetry should feel of a piece with finding your own voice, your own subject matter. It should come from the same elusive and pleasurable place. If it ever feels like a chore, like 'homework', do something else.

That's not to say that even learning 'forms' is a prerequisite for what makes a good poet. One can imagine a person never attempting a sestina, say, or even a sonnet and being a remakable poet. But 'craft' is vital.