First of all, gimmick is a positive term, not a negative one.
Receiving a gimmick is related to and like receiving an inspiration. Sometimes when you lock onto a good gimjmick it allows you to finish a piece faster than you usually do, and more in one shot. Gimmicks can be closely related to themes, as well, but this is not necessary. Gimmicks are also closely related to hooks sometimes.
A poem with a gimmick does not have to be a novelty poem, either. The poem can be serious.
In songwriting, gimmicks are more common, and acceptable ones are easier to come up with. We need some examples, right? The first example is from a song I wrote way back in the mid 90's. You will see the gimmick immediately.
I've had major love, I've had minor love,
I've had augmented love, I've had diminished love,
But I've never had...blah, blah, blah
Of course, augmented and diminshed are types of musical chords, as well.
I had my gimmick and the song was easy to finish--zip! you just follow the gimmick. It was maybe not one of my masterpieces, but it helped me toward my goal of writing what I thought were excellent (or at least decent) songs in as many descriptions as possible--children's songs, Christmas songs, trucker songs, rodeo songs, waltzes, odd meters et al. I have to confess, I attempt the same multifariousness with poetry. I guess that would be a personal poetic drive for me.
For poetry, I will not point to any of numerous famous examples of effective gimmickry, but to a poem submitted yesterday or so by Mr. Stately to the LitNet poetry submission thread. I will not post the poem. You will have to go there to read it. You will see that he has done with astronomical terms what I have done above with musical chords, but perhaps more cleverly. I am a dork and cannot remember the name--a tired dork who has not slept for twenty hours. It is the first selection in his batch of six.
While you are over there, do not be shy about dropping off some of your own work for consideration, if you have any you feel is interesting. It is not a comment thread, it is just for submitting to the proposed project.
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