William Carlos Williams is often recognized as a poet that was brave enough to step outside the traditional bounds of poetry and write about what moved him. These events were often simple things that might have been overlooked by any other writer, which illustrates Williams' ability to use his poetic vision to his advantage. Critics Linda Wagner and Charles Doyle have explored Williams' creative style and determined that, among many things, he was a poet that enjoyed focusing on the common aspect of life. In Linda Wagner's article, "William Carlos Williams: Overview," she focuses on how Williams "established many new principles in the writing of his poetry" (Wagner). She surmises that much of his creative technique stemmed from his firm belief that the "common American was an apt source of character" (Wagner). According to Wagner, Williams discovered a "joy in re-creating natural speech" (Wagner). Charles Doyle, in his article, "William Carlos Williams and the American Poem," concurs with Wagner's notion adding, "perception and the imaginative disposition of perceptions, these are primary to the poem" (Doyle). "Spring and All," "The Red Wheelbarrow," "To a Poor Old Woman," and "The Young Housewife" are examples of Williams' literary style, revealing how he was able to capture the very simplest of things and bring them into clearer view under his poetic lens.

             He also points out that Williams also experimented with poetic structures and forms that provided him with a flexibility with language. She maintains that Williams subscribed to the philosophy that "'Nothing is good save the new'" (Williams qtd. in Doyle) simply because what really matters when composing poetry is the "here and now, our immediate experience" (Doyle). Wagner points out how Williams was struggling against centuries of a particular poetic technique, style, and form. Despite the traditionalists, Wagner's asserts that Williams had the "insight to see that the significance of the poem is not in its subject-matter .