#WritingTips Mondays: Sir Andrew Motion on How to be a Successful Poet

Sir Andrew Motion is one of the UK's most influential and acclaimed poets. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009, and was one of Philip Larkin's literary executors (later writing an influential biography of the late poet). His knighthood was awarded in 2009.

Motion has been praised for his playful approach and the emotional impact of his writing. The Guardian called his 2012 collection, The Customs House, "lucid, brilliant, [and] melancholic", praising it as a triumph "in terms of poetry and in terms of truth".

So Sir Andrew is not a bad source for some writing advice, and for this Monday's #WritingTips Monday, we bring you some poetic inspiration from across the pond, courtesy of Sir Andrew Motion and the BBC.