1) Decide on the presentation or purpose you want your form to have. For example, will this be a descriptive poem (such as nature poems), a poem with a personal angle (feelings/emotions), or will it be more of a narrative style (telling a story)?

Maybe the presentation of your form is not important, and you would rather focus on the form itself, such as rhyme, meter, etc. That is fine too! Poetry that has a particular purpose or presentation include the elegy (a poem for the dead), limerick (humorous), ode (a tribute to someone/something) or the ballad which is often written like a song with refrains and tells a story.

2) Do you want it to be free verse or rhymed? If free verse (un-rhymed) will there be a line minimum or maximum? For example, a haiku is often written (by English speakers, anyway) in three lines. Your form may require more than that, but perhaps you want to limit the length. If rhyming, how many stanzas are required/allowed?

If you decide to rhyme you need to decide on a rhyme scheme. You can see an example of a rhyme scheme below in the invented form, the Sparrowlet. Meter, or the beat of each line, is also a variable you may want to build into your form. Rhyme and meter can be tricky if you're not already familiar with them. You may wish to require rhyming but leave the pattern of the rhyme up to the writer!

3) Will your form require use of poetic devices? You could add an element of poetic device to your form to make it unique. For example, E.E. Cummings writes with almost zero punctuation, not even upper case letters. Other poetic devices could include the use of alliteration (repeating consonant sounds such as "small silver spoon"), metaphor, personification (an animal or object given human characteristics), imagery (reference to the senses), or repetition such as repeated words, lines or refrains. Explore different poetic devices and decide if your form will require or encourage the use of any of them.