1. Staying On Topic
Staying on topic is key to an effective verse. It's just like in battling, your verse is always better if almost each line is an effective punch, or relates to the battle. Don't throw something random in it. There should be a reason behind keying each of your lines. If your topical is a story, then each line should build up to the conflict, climax, turning point, and resolution; just like in a normal story, book, or novel.

For example purposes, I'm going to use part of an old verse I did...and show how the lines and words inner-relate. This topical was for the WBL and the topic was: You're in an out of body experience and you're wandering around the city. You can see everything from a clear perspective without any bias or stereotypes, but no one can see you. Describe the problems you see in society.

1. Dignity holds no weight - 2. they believe the grass is greener on only their side ~ 3. as in infinity, 4. a cycle of hate - 5. broken and mended by the faults they hide...
1. This sets up the line, starting off with a statement relating to the rest of it, in this case, it's referring to dignity. "Holds no weight" is self explanatory.
2. The saying goes, "the grass is greener on the other side" but in this case that saying has been flipping to inply that people are selfish and egocentric. Again, with the lack of self-dignity, they don't care what others think, therefore they are self centered. (Seeing how this is tying together yet?)
3. and 4. These two parts tie together. Infinity is metaphoric, both as a symbol and as a meaning. The drawn symbol of infinity is a figure eight, which looks like a cycle. So, a cycle of hate is referring to the people and their hate, which is passed on generation to generation from parent to child, and it is a continuous cycle.
5. This part wraps up 3 and 4 mostly. "Broken and mended" refers again to the passing of ideas from generation to generation. Often times parents try to instill good morals and values in their children, but the children don't listen, or vice versa, the parents try to install bad morals and values and the children develop their own. This is a cycle that is sometimes broken, but ignorance "mends" it again, so it continues.

As you can see, each part of that line ties into one another, or leads to the next part. This involves smooth transitions and inner-related ideas. Always keep this in mind. If you suddenly go off topic, it not only detracts from your verse, but sometimes also from your flow, because the reader will stop and wonder why you put that in; or it sounds out of place and throws off your flow, ideas, and consistency.

written by Shao