Remember:
Iambic Pentameter

bah BUM bah BUM bah BUM bah BUM bah BUM

Use elision to shorten multi-syllable "ed" words: shortened = "BUM bah BUM" while shorten'd = "BUM bah".

And don't put unimportant little words
Like "a" or "the" or "and" in stressed beats
Unless you want those words to jump right out
And shout out loud, above their neighbor words.

14 lines

8 LInes introducing the main idea (ABABCDCD or ABBACDDC or even ABABACAC or some variation)

[major break in thought, introducing a new idea]

4 Lines developing that new idea (continuing rhyming pattern previously established)

2 Lines concluding the poem (rhyming couplet)