Lisa Schroeder: Writing in Verse (Guest Post)

Hi guys! Since April is National Poetry Month, I asked Lisa Schroeder, the author of Chasing Brooklyn, Far From You, I Heart You, You Haunt Me, and many more, to discuss something about poetry.

First of all, I’d like to answer the question – what IS a verse novel? Here is a definition for those of you who aren’t sure what it is, exactly.

A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose.

A lot of people think – a novel written in poetry? Are you kidding me? How boring that must be. Ha! Think again. Authors like Karen Hesse, Sonya Sones, Ellen Hopkins, Lorie Ann Grover, and many more have shown us through the years that they are anything BUT boring. The poetic form gives us a bit different structure in which to write the story we want to tell, but there is the important point to remember. It is still a story. Even with a verse novel, I think most authors would agree with me when I say, story has to come first. The story must be compelling enough to cause the reader to want to keep reading. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the verse is, the story must pull the reader through the pages, like any other type of novel.

Precious asked me to talk a little about how I go about writing a verse novel. She asked, “How do you tell a complete story with such limited words?”

I write my verse novels from beginning to end. Others may do it differently, but this works for me. I think in terms of scenes, and take it scene by scene. I ask - what is happening? What are the characters feeling? What information do I want to give now and what information do I want to only hint at, and share later?

I usually start with a scene that shows the reader something big has just happened or is about to happen to my main character. Some authors are good at writing lengthy, flowery descriptions – and they love opportunities to do that in their stories. I’m not like that. When I’m writing one of my verse novels, I look for brief, unique ways to describe things that get to the heart at what I want to say.

Let’s look at the opening poem in the first novel-in-verse I wrote:

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“A Day of Black

I’ve never been
to a funeral
until today.

I see
dazzling arrangements of
red, yellow and purple flowers
with long, green stems.

I see
a stained glass window with
a white dove,
a yellow sun,
a blue sky.

I see
a gold cross,
standing tall,
shiny,
brilliant.

And I see
black.

Black dresses.
Black pants.
Black shoes.
Black bibles.

Black is my favorite color.
Jackson asked me about it one time.

“Ava, why don’t you like pink?
Or yellow?
Or blue?”

“I love black,” I said.
“It suits me.”

“I suit you,” he said.

And then he kissed me.

I’m not so sure
I love black
anymore.”

(from I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, copyright 2008)

***

In this poem, I’ve established who the main character is: Ava. I’ve established where she is: a funeral. I’ve hinted at whose funeral this might be, although the reader isn’t quite sure, and so will want to turn the page and keep reading to find out. And through repetition combined with imagery, we can see the scene, even though I gave very few words to describe the scene.

This is what we do in a verse novel. We use poetic devices to convey elements of the scene and the story to the reader. It should feel effortless to the reader. We don’t want the reader to have to work at figuring out what they’re reading. I think that’s one of the miconceptions about verse novels – people are often worried they’ll be hard work. They should be hard work for ME, the writer, so it’s not hard work for you!

Throughout the book, things about Ava will be revealed, and you will learn what kind of person she is. This is no different from any other novel. How I do it might be a little different, yes. I can’t just come out and tell you in two or three long and rambling paragraphs what makes her special and unique and what’s bothering her. I have to sprinkle little things throughout the coming pages, until eventually, you’ll have a clear picture.

I think that’s one of the important things about a verse novel. Details are sprinkled throughout, like a nice coating of sugar over the top of an apple pie. The hard part is figuring out what details are important and when, exactly, they should be sprinkled.

With each poem, I’m looking for the MOST important items to share with the reader. I want to make each word, each sentence, each phrase really count. I want the poetry to elicit emotions, but I also want the words to tell a story that makes the reader want to keep reading.

It’s a balancing act. It’s not always easy. But the payoff is huge. I hope if you haven’t ever read a verse novel before, you’ll give one a try!

Thanks for having me here, Precious! Happy Poetry Month, every one!

Thanks Lisa for sharing! :) If you guys haven't checked out her books, you better!
Photo was taken from Lisa's website: http://www.lisaschroederbooks.com/

Writing on Tuesday: Lauren Kate on Curiosity

Hi guys! For Writing on Tuesday this week, Lauren Kate, the author of Fallen and the upcoming Torment, will be talking about curiosity.
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A few months ago, I went to visit my parents at the house where I grew up in Texas. My mom, in mom her way, likes to make use of my presence to clean out closets.


“Can we throw out these softball trophies?”

“What about these old dance recital costumes?”

“You’re never going to wear these shoes again are you?”

And on it goes. If Mom and I fill up a garbage bag to take to goodwill, the day has been a success. This last trip, she was going through my old dresser, tossing things into the trash with reckless abandon—until we came across an old sketchbook buried in the recesses of a drawer.

“What is that?” my mom asked, when I leapt up to save the sketchbook from its date with the trashcan. I recognized it immediately. I’d filled it up on a road trip my family took to Colorado in the summer of 1994. The binding was split and a few of the pages were loose, but otherwise, it was still in good shape. Once glance at its rough maroon cover brought back a flood of memories.

It was the summer between seventh and eighth grade. My family rolled in a dark green Ford Aerostar minivan back then. Baby-tees and colored jean shorts were all any one I knew was wearing. I remember I had this one baby-tee with a bar code across the chest. (Why??) That whole trip I could not be separated from my discman, which would have been blasting either Ace of Base and or the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat soundtrack. We drove fourteen hours from Dallas to Boulder with my brother throwing things at me from the back bench of the minivan.

And I wrote it all down.

I’d documented everything we ate on our vacation. Every restaurant name, every dish that every member of my family ordered, every meal of every day. I wrote down everything we wore (yes, the baby-tee with the bar code made a few appearances). I wrote down the weather and what the stars looked like each night and jokes my brother told. I drew floor plans of the little cabin we rented. I drew the escape route we took when we filled the cabin with smoke using the wrong kind of wood to make a fire. I had a page for funny bumper-stickers I saw on cars we passed along the highway. I made notes of what each of my friends were doing the two weeks I was out of town.

It was a time capsule of that summer—but it was more than that.

People ask me all the time when I first knew I was going to be a writer. I don’t think I knew it then. A lot of kids keep diaries. But flipping open this book fifteen years after I’d filled it, I could see it. My attention to detail was pretty intense. I guess I was either going to be a novelist or a detective.

People also ask me if I have any advice for aspiring writers. I don’t think that being a writer means you have to fill a sketch book with every meal every person in your family ever eats, but I do think there’s value in taking note of the things that are happening around you. There’s value in finding something interesting in even the most mundane details of life. Because somewhere, there’s a story in them. Someday, you’ll lose the sketchbook, but the sense of curiosity will be rooted deep inside you. More than anything else, curiosity is what keeps me writing today.

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Thanks Lauren for taking the time to share about this! :)

If you haven't picked up Fallen, better do it soon! Torment, the sequel, will be released this October!

Writing on Tuesday: Four Lessons by Foz Meadows + The Rare: Solace & Grief

Hi guys! Today Foz Meadows, the author of Solace & Grief, is here to share something about writing!

Hello all, and thanks to Precious for the invite! Writing is obviously a passion of mine, and because of that, it’s never far from my thoughts. Having spent a not inconsiderable portion of my life jotting down story ideas on tram, bus and train tickets, old receipts, school handouts, scrap paper and, quite frequently, my own arms, I’ve developed the habit of keeping multiple notebooks in my bag at all times. The fact that I still inevitably resort to writing on myself and various bits of biro-friendly flotsam does not make this any less of a good idea, although it possibly suggests that I cannot be trusted to define terms like good idea without strict adult supervision. The point being, you are a gazelle, and inspiration is a leopard. It does not care that you have herd-related activities scheduled, such as grazing or pronking or playing video games, because it is hungry now, and no sooner have you looked away than it chases you across the savannah, grabs you by the throat and hauls your carcass up into the fork of a tree, to marinate at leisure.

Therefore, lesson one of writing: always have a pen.

Character names are important to me. At any given time, I have a list of favourites on hand culled from baby books, random name generators and daily life. Last names are harder; I don’t want to make them up, but I generally want something more original than Smith, Jones or Wright, which is why they have a special notebook all their own. Solace began as just a name I liked, as do most of my characters: once I know what they’re called, I find it that much easier to figure out who they are. From there, I start to get an idea of the world they inhabit – modern or magical, cruel or kind – and then a story starts to come together. These early ideas are simple, centred on a single person, but as I generate more and more people, hoarding them away like winter acorns, the greater the chance that a particular few will suddenly stand out as belonging to the same world. From their personalities and likely interactions, I go on to configure my plots, hunting out the narrative arc that ties them all together.

Thus, lesson the second: know what methods work for you.

Of course, while the above pattern describes how I’ve put together the majority of schemes and fables lurking in the vast wilderness that is my Documents folder, it doesn’t fit with how I wrote Solace & Grief. In that case, the opening prologue leapt into my head, leopard-like (see lesson one) and literally refused to let go until I’d well and truly done something about it. Solace had a name at the start, but none of her companions did; they popped up as the story dictated, flowing together and drifting apart as I decided, through the course of writing the first draft, who was most important to the plot. I’ve written stories before where one or two characters appeared that way, and it’s always been a good thing – spontaneity is, after all, the kissing cousin of creativity. But Solace & Grief marked the first occasion where virtually the entire cast came to life via a meandering process of elimination, favouritism and plain ole’ narrative Darwinism. It was a little awesome, and a little scary, because it was outside my Zone of Familiarity. But, in the end, it worked. I’ve come away a stronger writer for letting this particular story tell me where it was headed, rather than trying to put a bridle on it, and that is a satisfying outcome.

Lesson the third might seem like a contradiction of lesson the second, but really, it’s more of a rider: don’t be afraid to try new things.

Right now, I’m seriously mired in the gumboot-devouring quagmire that is the Third Act of Book Two, being The Key to Starveldt. I am so. Completely. Sick. Of trying to write. This recalcitrant story. If it was a person? I would stab it in the face, because hypothetical Stabbity Death as a means of anger management has long formed part of my personal mission statement. I have deleted scenes, replaced them with new ones, deleted those, chopped both sets together to form a seamless patchwork of double-deleted wrongness, and am in all respects on the brink of flinging my laptop into a fiery volcano – or at least, I would be, if we lived near a volcano, and I hadn’t just paid the damn thing off (the laptop, not the volcano we don’t have), and anyway, all my KOTOR saves are on here. It is hard work, and often agonising. But I love my characters. I know where they’re headed next. (No, I’m not telling. Not yet, anyway.) I want to see them get there. And if that means I have to sweat metaphoric blood, or possibly actual blood, to do it, then I will.

Which brings me to the fourth and final lesson of this particular Fozrant, viz: despite appearances, writing can be hard.

But it is also – spectacularly, gloriously, impossibly – rewarding. It is the music of glyphs and the stampede-song of consciousness. I wouldn’t be without it for all the Crazy in CrazyTown.

And, as you’ve probably guessed by now, that’s saying a quite lot.
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Thanks for sharing about your four rules Foz! I strictly follow rule # 1! I even have a handy notebook to scribble ideas in.

Check out her new book:

The Rare: Solace & Grief
Release Date: March 1, 2010 (*edited.sorry!)

Book Description:

Solace Morgan was born a vampire. Raised in foster care, she has always tried to keep her abilities secret, until an eerie encounter with a faceless man prompts her to run away. Finding others with similar gifts, Solace soon becomes caught up in a strange, more vibrant world than she ever knew existed. But when the mysterious Professor Lukin takes an interest in her friends, she is forced to start asking questions of her own. What happened to her parents? Who is Sharpsoft? And since when has there been a medieval dungeon under Hyde Park?

Writing on Tuesday with Beth Fantaskey (Guest Post)

Hi guys! Today, the wonderful Beth Fantaskey dropped by to share about her writing experience!
Enjoy Writing on Tuesday with BETH FANTASKEY!

WARNING: This may be the most boring guest post on the subject of writing that you will ever read.


Well, I hope that the way I handle the topic won’t be boring, but the information, itself… It might be a little tedious.

That’s because, when it comes to the subject of writing, I don’t have a revelation that will help anyone transform into a “writer.” The best insight I can offer, from my own sometimes difficult experience, is that writing is something you have to practice.

There’s the boring word: practice.

For me, it conjures up images of kids being nagged to play piano when they’d rather play outside.

But as we all know, practice pays off. You can’t be good at sports, or music, or… anything, without repeating certain actions, again and again, and building your skills.

And yet, I get the impression that some people believe writing is the one talent you either “have,” or you don’t. That, if you were meant to write a novel or essay or poem worth reading, you should be able to sit down one day and expect it to pour from your fingertips.

Maybe that’s true for some people, but in my case, I practiced writing for 20 years before I even attempted a novel. I worked as a political speech writer and a journalist, writing every day, and learning as I worked. I was fortunate to have good editors who taught me a lot, and putting words on paper, 9-to-5, also helped me figure out how to organize my thoughts and develop my “voice.”

I look back at my first speeches, composed right out of college, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cringe. Or both. They’re HORRIBLE. The only thing that ever made me a “writer” – to the humble extent that I am – has been practice. Lots of it. Decades of it. And I’m still practicing.

I’m sure there are prodigies who are “born” to write, just like the one-in-ten-million child who picks up a violin and plays Mendelssohn on the first try. But I have a feeling that most of us are like me, and need to work at it.

So if your first attempt at a novel didn’t flow out of you as naturally as you hoped – just like mine didn’t – I hope you won’t give up, if it’s really your dream to get published. I hope you’ll sit down and try again. And again. And again… Just like I’m still doing today, as I write this essay, one paragraph of which took me more tries than I care to admit.

Good luck and keep going!


Practice makes perfect!
Thank you Beth for dropping by!

Writing on Tuesday with Cyn Balog

Hello guys! This Tuesday, I will be posting a guest post by Cyn Balog, the author of Fairy Tale and the upcoming Sleepless! I asked her if she encountered any struggle with her writing career. And I think, all authors go through struggles.

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Things went fairly easily for me when I was writing FAIRY TALE. I only did one draft and had minimal revisions, so maybe I got a little too confident in my abilities. When I was writing SLEEPLESS, things did not go very easy. First I was pregnant, and throwing up pretty much every time I breathed in. There is a thing called "pregnancy brain", and I had it, because I couldn't think of anything except how uncomfortable I was. I couldn't even dress myself properly, I kept tripping, I didn't know what day of the week it was, and I had to write a book, too???!! And I guess that gave me super-super-bleak outlook on life.

When I turned in the first draft of SLEEPLESS, my editor came back to me a couple weeks later, saying I needed to make it more cheery. Supposedly it was the most depressing draft of a book ever created. It was all about mutilations and death and hopelessness. Basically I needed to start over. Which I did. But of course, that was when reviews of FAIRY TALE were coming out, and not all of them were very nice. I had to ignore them, which was tough. And I remember sitting in bed thinking that writing was my career, the thing I'd loved and wanted all my life, I'd come so far already, and I was NOT under any circumstances going to give up and be a one-book-wonder. I wrote the next draft of SLEEPLESS in three weeks, with very little sleep, and I had to force myself to make it a little more cheery, even though I was nearly 8 months pregnant at the time and still feeling not-so-great. Let's just say I was very happy to hear when it was finally accepted and the editing process went very smoothly after that. But it is NOT FUN having to rewrite a book from scratch after you've poured so many months of blood and sweat and tears into it!

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Afterwards, I asked Cyn what she did to rewrite the draft. And she claimed she didn't know how she did it! This my dear readers, is what we call pure talent. There are things that can't be fully understood and explained, only fueled by creative juice and perseverance...and Cyn's rewriting of her draft without exactly knowing how she did it is one of those things.

A big thank you to Cyn for this guest post!
Check out Cyn's books! I must say this: I LOVE the cover of both books, especially Sleepless! Ack! I'm dying to read Fairy Tale!

Sleepless is coming out on July 13, 2010! For more information please go to Cyn's website.

Writing on Tuesday with Leah Cypess + Mistwood!

Hello! Two weeks ago, I decided to start a new Meme called Writing on Tuesday, wherein authors will talk about anything that falls under the umbrella of writing, based on their experience.

Today we are Writing on Tuesday with Leah Cypess! She gracefully agreed to do a guest post here in my humble blog!

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One of my favorite quotes about writing is by A.J. Liebling:


"The only way to write is well, and how you do it is your own damn business."

This seems rather obvious to me; in fact, it’s not entirely clear to me why anyone would care how anyone else writes. But I know that there are people who do, because when I was 14 years old and trying out this new thing called the Internet, I joined a writing forum where a Person of Authority wrote that if you’re going to call yourself a writer, you MUST sit down and write for a large chunk of time every day. No matter whether you have ideas or not, no matter whether you’re in the mood or not, you sit down and write - just like, if you’re an accountant, you sit down and do accounting stuff every day, whether or not you’re “in the mood.”

This is actually very good advice, and it works for many people. It happens not to be how I work, at least when I’m writing my first draft. I still make sure to give myself time to write every day, otherwise the day can easily be taken over by trivialities like making food for my kids or providing them with clean clothes. When I’m revising or responding to edits, I usually fill up that time pretty effectively. But when I’m writing a new book, I find that I have little control over how well the story flows on any given day. It’s usually obvious to me within about fifteen minutes whether I’m going to get anywhere, and if I’m not, I stop and go do something else.

I wrote something to that effect in reply to the Person of Authority's proclamation (not including the part about my as-yet-non-existent kids, obviously), and the next day I logged in to find myself under attack. There were about a dozen of people on the forum agreeing with him and mocking my comment. One response, which I still remember pretty clearly, said something like, “Dude, I’m so sorry that you have to deal with unprofessional amateurs like this one. It must be really frustrating for you. But it's her problem, since she’ll obviously never make it as a writer.”

*I look smug for a moment, then clear my throat modestly and move on*

Again, this is not to say that “write every day” is bad advice. It’s excellent advice. I would guess, based on writers I know, that this is how most professional writers tackle their schedules. But it’s just that: advice. Try it. If it works for you, that’s great. You’ll certainly be more efficient than I am. But if it doesn’t, don’t let anyone tell you it’s the only way to write. Because there is only one way to write, and that is well; how you get there is up to you.
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Thank you Leah for guesting on my blog!

Leah Cypess is the author of Mistwood!
Coming this April 27, 2010 from Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins!

Book Description:

Everyone tells Isabel that she is the Shifter – the ancient shape-shifting creature who has protected the kings of Samorna for centuries. They need her to be the Shifter. Prince Rokan risked everything when he rode into the Mistwood to summon her to his side; Ven, the magician's apprentice, has devoted his life to studying her legend; and even Princess Clarisse, who fears and hates her, depends on Isabel's powers to further her own plans.



But Isabel doesn't feel like the Shifter. She feels like a lonely human girl, beset by flashes of memory that do more to confuse than to help her. If she is the Shifter, why can't she change her shape? Why doesn't she remember what made her flee the castle so many years ago? As she is drawn deeper into a web of magic and assassination, Isabel will have no choice but to look for answers. But her search will lead her to the one question the Shifter hasn't faced in a thousand years: where does she come from, and what does she really want?


Check out the Mistwood Trailer:








Go to Leah's site for more!