The first thing I do when writing free verse is to decide the meaning and purpose of my poem. I need to understand what emotions I want my readers to feel. Then, I write the poem with that goal in mind. I always write in complete sentences and punctuate normally. I study each sentence separately and eliminate any unnecessary words.
Conciseness makes a sentence more powerful.
I try to use strong nouns and verbs and avoid the overuse of adjectives. I have used, because I want to say ordinary things in an unusual or fresh manner. The poetry devices I use most often are imagery, simile, and metaphor. The imagery, hopefully, paints a picture in the mind of my reader. The simile and metaphor allow for comparisons that are three dimensional descriptions, which in turn create more imagery.