Humor me for a moment - I need to sprinkle my vocabulary with some sunshiny clichés. Maybe then I’ll feel better.
No. 1: What a difference a day makes.
No. 2: Water off a duck’s back…
No. 3: The sun will come out tomorrow…
Okay, No. 3 isn’t a cliché, but it was the last thing that popped into my head. Anyway, I’m sure you’re seeing where I’m going with this blog. Yes, the new dawn does tend to temper the ills of yesterday.
And since I have your attention, let me tell you why I appreciate a fresh start every morning. In the last month I’ve received two rejections and they were DOOZERS.
The first one came inside the self-addressed stamped envelope I’d included with my contest entry. I already knew I didn’t win in the categories I’d submitted to, but expected a constructive critique of my work.
Imagine my surprise when the critiquer suggested I completely rewrite my devotional, changing the fragrance I wrote about (which reminded me of my mom and was the theme of the devotional). He/she also advised me to change the Bible verse I used.
Okay, people, where is the helpful critique I’d hoped for? I didn’t feel it was in any of the words written on the back of my devotional. I sat and contemplated the person’s assessment of my work and this thought hit me. I could rewrite the piece and use the verse the person suggested. I could even splash my mother with a hint of White Diamond instead of Jergen’s Lotion. But if I do-doesn't that make my work someone else's idea now?
Just a thought!!
My saga continued – my second rejection came in another self-addressed stamped envelope (I'm going to quit opening them-HA). I ripped it open and inside was my three sheets of paper I’d sent (my query and two-page article). I turned the pages over a couple of times. Nothing was written on them. Nothing was attached to them. Nothing…except a FOOTPRINT.
Yes, that’s what I said—a footprint on the right side of my query letter. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the faint marking revved up my thought process. For a moment I wanted to hunt down the person who two-stepped all over my submission. But instead, I prayed and took captive those wayward thoughts before they got out of hand.
Which is exactly what we need to do every time we receive a rejection. Don’t let a person’s words (or in my case—a footprint) ruin your day. Lay it aside because tomorrow is a new beginning. A fresh start.
And always remember…
“This is the day that the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 NIV)
Happy writing!!!
nettie
PS: Hey, now that I think about it--maybe the guy was leaving me a FOOTNOTE. I better go back and take another look at my query letter. HA!!!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, May 03, 2010
BE STILL...
On three different occasions, in the past two days, I've heard (or read) "Be still, and know I'm God." The first reference came yesterday morning during the sermon on Sacred Silence. Later in the day I heard it while watching a video. Today, I read a devotional, and there it was again. Do you think Someone is trying to tell me something?
YES! And I heard the words loud and clear.
I know there is too much noise around me. And it's not only the stuff blaring in my ears or me talking too much. I believe busyness is another noise interrupting my life.
Seems I must be doing something at all times. If I'm not working on the computer, I'm playing a game. When I tire of Mah Jongg, I flip on the boob tube and watch the shows I've taped.
Seldom do I take a quiet moment to be still. Reflect on His word. His creation. Listen for His voice. Instead, constant clatter keeps me from stillness.
Webster defines STILLNESS as: 1) not or hardly moving. 2) with little or no sound; calm and tranquil. 3) hushed; stilled.
Oh, how I crave stillness. Today, I think I'll give it a try. Does anyone want to come along?
Love ya,
nettie
PS: I'm curious - how do you find stillness in your busy life??
YES! And I heard the words loud and clear.
I know there is too much noise around me. And it's not only the stuff blaring in my ears or me talking too much. I believe busyness is another noise interrupting my life.
Seems I must be doing something at all times. If I'm not working on the computer, I'm playing a game. When I tire of Mah Jongg, I flip on the boob tube and watch the shows I've taped.
Seldom do I take a quiet moment to be still. Reflect on His word. His creation. Listen for His voice. Instead, constant clatter keeps me from stillness.
Webster defines STILLNESS as: 1) not or hardly moving. 2) with little or no sound; calm and tranquil. 3) hushed; stilled.
Oh, how I crave stillness. Today, I think I'll give it a try. Does anyone want to come along?
Love ya,
nettie
PS: I'm curious - how do you find stillness in your busy life??
Friday, April 30, 2010
FINAL POETRY TIP - A HAPPY ENDING
On my final post I thought I'd leave you with one of my favorite hobbies (or so it seems)
Revise, Revise, Revise. (Tip #10 from Kara Zeihl-UWEC Junior-2000)
The first completed draft of your poem is only the beginning. Poets often go through several drafts of a poem before considering the work "done."
To revise:
• Put your poem away for a few days, and then come back to it. When you re-read it, does anything seem confusing? Hard to follow? Do you see anything that needs improvement that you overlooked the first time? Often, when you are in the act of writing, you may leave out important details because you are so familiar with the topic. Re-reading a poem helps you to see it from the "outsider's perspective" of a reader.
• Show your poem to others and ask for criticism. Don't be content with a response like, "That's a nice poem." You won't learn anything from that kind of response. Instead, find people who will tell you specific things you need to improve in your poem.
Good advice Ms. Ziehl and thank you for your tips to insure our poetry comes to life.
And, thanks to those who came along with me on this poetry adventure. I do hope you’ve learned something through all the teaching (thank you Mr. Taylor). And, I hope one or more of the posts inspired you to write a piece of poetry.
Poetry begins as a tiny seed planted inside your soul and soon blossoms into a love you can’t quench until you write another magical poem.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: See you next year for another Poemapalooza!!!!!
Revise, Revise, Revise. (Tip #10 from Kara Zeihl-UWEC Junior-2000)
The first completed draft of your poem is only the beginning. Poets often go through several drafts of a poem before considering the work "done."
To revise:
• Put your poem away for a few days, and then come back to it. When you re-read it, does anything seem confusing? Hard to follow? Do you see anything that needs improvement that you overlooked the first time? Often, when you are in the act of writing, you may leave out important details because you are so familiar with the topic. Re-reading a poem helps you to see it from the "outsider's perspective" of a reader.
• Show your poem to others and ask for criticism. Don't be content with a response like, "That's a nice poem." You won't learn anything from that kind of response. Instead, find people who will tell you specific things you need to improve in your poem.
Good advice Ms. Ziehl and thank you for your tips to insure our poetry comes to life.
And, thanks to those who came along with me on this poetry adventure. I do hope you’ve learned something through all the teaching (thank you Mr. Taylor). And, I hope one or more of the posts inspired you to write a piece of poetry.
Poetry begins as a tiny seed planted inside your soul and soon blossoms into a love you can’t quench until you write another magical poem.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: See you next year for another Poemapalooza!!!!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
POETRY TIPS - GOALS AND MORE
Know Your Goal.
by
Kara Ziehl(UWEC Junior-2000)
If you don't know where you're going, how can you get there?
You need to know what you are trying to accomplish before you begin any project. Writing a poem is no exception.
Before you begin, ask yourself what you want your poem to "do." Do you want your poem to describe an event in your life, protest a social injustice, or describe the beauty of nature? Once your know the goal of your poem, you can conform your writing to that goal. Take each main element in your poem and make it serve the main purpose of the poem.
Yes, Ms. Ziehl, poems do come from life. The one I'm sharing today is the piece I wrote on the first anniversary of my father's death.
DAD
The day you died, we wondered if
the world would stop turning? We
knew we’d see it different somehow.
As this year passed without you, the
time hasn’t erased our deep sorrow.
You are missed more than you can
imagine. Our hearts overflow with
many happy memories spent with
you. We love you, Dad!
The Fudge family
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Come back tomorrow for the final day of Poetry Month.
by
Kara Ziehl(UWEC Junior-2000)
If you don't know where you're going, how can you get there?
You need to know what you are trying to accomplish before you begin any project. Writing a poem is no exception.
Before you begin, ask yourself what you want your poem to "do." Do you want your poem to describe an event in your life, protest a social injustice, or describe the beauty of nature? Once your know the goal of your poem, you can conform your writing to that goal. Take each main element in your poem and make it serve the main purpose of the poem.
Yes, Ms. Ziehl, poems do come from life. The one I'm sharing today is the piece I wrote on the first anniversary of my father's death.
DAD
The day you died, we wondered if
the world would stop turning? We
knew we’d see it different somehow.
As this year passed without you, the
time hasn’t erased our deep sorrow.
You are missed more than you can
imagine. Our hearts overflow with
many happy memories spent with
you. We love you, Dad!
The Fudge family
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Come back tomorrow for the final day of Poetry Month.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
POETRY - HAIKU
Good Morning Everyone:
Throughout the month of April you've learned poetry comes in all kinds of forms and fashions. Today I want to share another fun way to write a poem.
HAIKU (hikoo is how it's pronounced) - 1. a Japanese three line poem of usually 17 syllables. 2. an English imitation of this.
Here are three examples of ones I've written. After you've finished reading mine - why not try your hand at writing a Haiku yourself. Not too many words, but in the end you've said so much.
#1
Waters flow downstream,
Cascading to meet the river.
Where does it ever end?
#2
At peace, the forest rests.
Creatures, life, nature.
Simple, yet profound.
#3
Our God, the Majestic One
in all the earth. Praise Him.
He is awesome.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to check in on Thursday and Friday because they are the last two days of my month long Poemapalooza. I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have.
Throughout the month of April you've learned poetry comes in all kinds of forms and fashions. Today I want to share another fun way to write a poem.
HAIKU (hikoo is how it's pronounced) - 1. a Japanese three line poem of usually 17 syllables. 2. an English imitation of this.
Here are three examples of ones I've written. After you've finished reading mine - why not try your hand at writing a Haiku yourself. Not too many words, but in the end you've said so much.
#1
Waters flow downstream,
Cascading to meet the river.
Where does it ever end?
#2
At peace, the forest rests.
Creatures, life, nature.
Simple, yet profound.
#3
Our God, the Majestic One
in all the earth. Praise Him.
He is awesome.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to check in on Thursday and Friday because they are the last two days of my month long Poemapalooza. I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
OUTSIDE THE BOX OF SELF (PART II)
by
Donn Taylor
Last week I wrote that too many poems today have the poet's self as both the subject and the speaking voice of the poem, and that this approach limits the poem's interest to a broader audience. I then described and illustrated two methods of writing poetry outside "the box of self": making the speaker of the poem someone other than the poet, and making the subject of the poem someone or something other than the poet.
Today I'll name and illustrate three other methods of writing outside the box. The first of these is a partial contradiction: to begin with the self, but then expand into a general principle. (This can also be done with a fictional narrator.)
This illustrative poem began sixteen years ago with a minor personal catastrophe: a blocked artery gave me a small blind spot in one eye just below the focal point. If I close the other eye and look at a white wall, the blind spot appears purple, and it is shaped like a lizard. This generated a poem that begins with that intensely personal experience but opens out into a subject of more general, perhaps universal, interest.
REPTILES (© 2008)
This purple lizard-shadow in my eye,
Where vision used to be
Till some intruder blocked an artery,
Implants a ragged scar to vilify
Each perfect pattern with its roughly fret
Reptilian silhouette.
Thus, once, another alien came to bate
Or mar our inner sight---
To blend, with all that's beautiful, a blight.
To canker every good we contemplate,
He left a loathsome gift, with hue of coal:
His cobra in our soul.
A second method is to develop metaphors that violate natural laws, as happens in the following poem:
HORIZON (© 2008)
In two dimensions, all agree:
This circle marks our boundary.
A third dimension coincides,
Yet simultaneously divides.
For some conceive the world a bowl
Centered on the acquisitive soul;
Whatever falls within the brim
Flows inward and accrues to them.
But others find the world a sphere,
Themselves at pole; and they, from there,
Flow outward toward the planet's girth
With gifts of self, enriching Earth.
A third method is to reach back into Medieval and Renaissance times for the mode of allegorical landscape, sometimes called psychological landscape. In allegory, many things that occur in the literal level of the poem also have figurative significance, and the figurative meanings connect with each other to form a systematic second level of meaning. Reading allegory requires a good bit of reflection and meditation. The title of this poem, "A Fair Field..." alludes to the Medieval Christian poem Piers Plowman, in which a tower represents heaven, a dungeon represents hell, and between the two lies "A faire feld ful of folk," which represents the world.
“A FAIR FIELD....” (© 2008)
“I don’t look that way often,” says my neighbor.
“This field demands attention. At my feet
So many wonders glitter that my eyes
Draw down to earth---each blade of grass
An emblem, life triumphant, and this trumpet vine
Circles its bush and vaults into the treetops,
Binding in gleaming green of symbiosis,
Blazing in orange bloom. That single squirrel
Scampering, arcing, leaping across the lawn---
Instinctive ecstacy and pride of life---
Is miracle enough to ground my thoughts
In duty here. What tragedy to lose
Even one species! Thus my day is filled
With deep concern to keep right ratios
Of worms, wolves, and woolies. So that strange
Enigma yonder can’t compete. That’s why
I don’t look that way often. When I do,
It seems a mirror where I see myself.”
He finds this path I journey on too narrow,
Hedged on either side by poisoned thorns
Of “Thou shalt not.” Yet from this place I see
His field entire, but in a different light
Revealing all its pleasures and much more
Beyond, above. And while these hedges guide,
My path lies clear before, inviting me
A few more reasoned steps before it turns
In ways I can’t yet see, or drops away
Though valleys of a depth I don’t yet know---
Perhaps, at times, to unimagined heights.
It’s mine to follow, confident, secure
In destination. Light is different here:
That’s not a mirror but a window there,
To show vague shapes and tantalizing forms
Of glorious things beyond, assurances
That there, all turnings done, at journey’s end
The mystic window will become a door.
To summarize these last three posts: Sound is an important structure of poetry, and should not be neglected. We can write poetry outside the box of self by making the speaker of the poem someone besides the poet, making the subject something besides the poet, beginning with the self and expanding into a general principle, using metaphors that violate natural laws, and asking a bit more of our readers by resurrecting Renaissance allegory. Other methods not discussed include writing narrative poems and building poems on dialogue between historical or fictional characters.
As mentioned in my first blog in this series, I would like to encourage aspiring poets to write to a general audience, as Robert Frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson did a century ago. Too much of contemporary poetry has little or no audience outside the graduate schools or other restricted groups. And too often, that avant has little or nothing to garde.
Many thanks also to Janetta for allowing me to visit on her blog. It has been a pleasure for me, and I hope it has been helpful to others.
You are SO welcome, sir. I enjoyed our Tuesday's together. And, I hope next April we can get together again to help inspire people to pen some poetry.
Love,
nettie
PS: Please go to Donn's website at www.donntaylor.com to find out more about his writing.
Donn Taylor
Last week I wrote that too many poems today have the poet's self as both the subject and the speaking voice of the poem, and that this approach limits the poem's interest to a broader audience. I then described and illustrated two methods of writing poetry outside "the box of self": making the speaker of the poem someone other than the poet, and making the subject of the poem someone or something other than the poet.
Today I'll name and illustrate three other methods of writing outside the box. The first of these is a partial contradiction: to begin with the self, but then expand into a general principle. (This can also be done with a fictional narrator.)
This illustrative poem began sixteen years ago with a minor personal catastrophe: a blocked artery gave me a small blind spot in one eye just below the focal point. If I close the other eye and look at a white wall, the blind spot appears purple, and it is shaped like a lizard. This generated a poem that begins with that intensely personal experience but opens out into a subject of more general, perhaps universal, interest.
REPTILES (© 2008)
This purple lizard-shadow in my eye,
Where vision used to be
Till some intruder blocked an artery,
Implants a ragged scar to vilify
Each perfect pattern with its roughly fret
Reptilian silhouette.
Thus, once, another alien came to bate
Or mar our inner sight---
To blend, with all that's beautiful, a blight.
To canker every good we contemplate,
He left a loathsome gift, with hue of coal:
His cobra in our soul.
A second method is to develop metaphors that violate natural laws, as happens in the following poem:
HORIZON (© 2008)
In two dimensions, all agree:
This circle marks our boundary.
A third dimension coincides,
Yet simultaneously divides.
For some conceive the world a bowl
Centered on the acquisitive soul;
Whatever falls within the brim
Flows inward and accrues to them.
But others find the world a sphere,
Themselves at pole; and they, from there,
Flow outward toward the planet's girth
With gifts of self, enriching Earth.
A third method is to reach back into Medieval and Renaissance times for the mode of allegorical landscape, sometimes called psychological landscape. In allegory, many things that occur in the literal level of the poem also have figurative significance, and the figurative meanings connect with each other to form a systematic second level of meaning. Reading allegory requires a good bit of reflection and meditation. The title of this poem, "A Fair Field..." alludes to the Medieval Christian poem Piers Plowman, in which a tower represents heaven, a dungeon represents hell, and between the two lies "A faire feld ful of folk," which represents the world.
“A FAIR FIELD....” (© 2008)
“I don’t look that way often,” says my neighbor.
“This field demands attention. At my feet
So many wonders glitter that my eyes
Draw down to earth---each blade of grass
An emblem, life triumphant, and this trumpet vine
Circles its bush and vaults into the treetops,
Binding in gleaming green of symbiosis,
Blazing in orange bloom. That single squirrel
Scampering, arcing, leaping across the lawn---
Instinctive ecstacy and pride of life---
Is miracle enough to ground my thoughts
In duty here. What tragedy to lose
Even one species! Thus my day is filled
With deep concern to keep right ratios
Of worms, wolves, and woolies. So that strange
Enigma yonder can’t compete. That’s why
I don’t look that way often. When I do,
It seems a mirror where I see myself.”
He finds this path I journey on too narrow,
Hedged on either side by poisoned thorns
Of “Thou shalt not.” Yet from this place I see
His field entire, but in a different light
Revealing all its pleasures and much more
Beyond, above. And while these hedges guide,
My path lies clear before, inviting me
A few more reasoned steps before it turns
In ways I can’t yet see, or drops away
Though valleys of a depth I don’t yet know---
Perhaps, at times, to unimagined heights.
It’s mine to follow, confident, secure
In destination. Light is different here:
That’s not a mirror but a window there,
To show vague shapes and tantalizing forms
Of glorious things beyond, assurances
That there, all turnings done, at journey’s end
The mystic window will become a door.
To summarize these last three posts: Sound is an important structure of poetry, and should not be neglected. We can write poetry outside the box of self by making the speaker of the poem someone besides the poet, making the subject something besides the poet, beginning with the self and expanding into a general principle, using metaphors that violate natural laws, and asking a bit more of our readers by resurrecting Renaissance allegory. Other methods not discussed include writing narrative poems and building poems on dialogue between historical or fictional characters.
As mentioned in my first blog in this series, I would like to encourage aspiring poets to write to a general audience, as Robert Frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson did a century ago. Too much of contemporary poetry has little or no audience outside the graduate schools or other restricted groups. And too often, that avant has little or nothing to garde.
Many thanks also to Janetta for allowing me to visit on her blog. It has been a pleasure for me, and I hope it has been helpful to others.
You are SO welcome, sir. I enjoyed our Tuesday's together. And, I hope next April we can get together again to help inspire people to pen some poetry.
Love,
nettie
PS: Please go to Donn's website at www.donntaylor.com to find out more about his writing.
Monday, April 26, 2010
MONDAY MADNESS-PLETHORA OF PROMPTS
I can’t think of a better way to start the week off than with a plethora of prompts (thanks to Robert Lee Brewer from Writer’s Digest Magazine).
And I do hope you've used some of Robert's ideas to write a poem or two in the last three weeks. If you haven’t, take a couple from this week and give poetry a try.
Happy writing!!!!
DAY 20: Two for Tuesday prompt
1. Write a looking back poem. There are a few ways to tackle this one, I guess. The narrator could be reflecting on the past or literally looking back (like over his or her shoulder).
2. Write a poem that doesn't look back. This poem would be kind of the opposite, I suppose. Narrator who refuses to look back or who is literally looking forward (or I suppose another option even is that the narrator is blind or something).
DAY 21: “According to (blank)”
For today's prompt, take the phrase "According to (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Example titles might be: "According to Bob," "According to these instructions," "According to the government," "According to the sun," etc.
DAY 22: Earth poem
For today's prompt, write an Earth poem. You can decide what an Earth poem is. Maybe it's a poem about the planet; maybe it's actually the lowercase earth (a gardening or burial poem?); maybe it's just a poem that happens on (or to) Earth; maybe it's even written in the voice of extraterrestrials (that might be fun). No matter how you decide to roll with it, have a very poetic Earth Day!
DAY 23: Exhaust poem
For today's prompt, write an exhausted poem. The poem can be a first person account of your own exhaustion, or it can describe the exhaustion of someone (or something) else. Heck, I guess it even could be about exhaust, huh?
DAY 24: Evening poem
For today's prompt, write an evening poem. My initial thought is that this poem would somehow involve the night, but upon further reflection, I guess it could be about evening things up or something.
There you have it – another five prompts to help ignite your creativity. Oh, and if you want to read Robert Lee Brewer poems from these prompts and all the others he’s posted, go to www.writersdigest.com.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to come back tomorrow for Tuesdays with Donn Taylor. You won't want to miss his valuable teaching!!!
And I do hope you've used some of Robert's ideas to write a poem or two in the last three weeks. If you haven’t, take a couple from this week and give poetry a try.
Happy writing!!!!
DAY 20: Two for Tuesday prompt
1. Write a looking back poem. There are a few ways to tackle this one, I guess. The narrator could be reflecting on the past or literally looking back (like over his or her shoulder).
2. Write a poem that doesn't look back. This poem would be kind of the opposite, I suppose. Narrator who refuses to look back or who is literally looking forward (or I suppose another option even is that the narrator is blind or something).
DAY 21: “According to (blank)”
For today's prompt, take the phrase "According to (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Example titles might be: "According to Bob," "According to these instructions," "According to the government," "According to the sun," etc.
DAY 22: Earth poem
For today's prompt, write an Earth poem. You can decide what an Earth poem is. Maybe it's a poem about the planet; maybe it's actually the lowercase earth (a gardening or burial poem?); maybe it's just a poem that happens on (or to) Earth; maybe it's even written in the voice of extraterrestrials (that might be fun). No matter how you decide to roll with it, have a very poetic Earth Day!
DAY 23: Exhaust poem
For today's prompt, write an exhausted poem. The poem can be a first person account of your own exhaustion, or it can describe the exhaustion of someone (or something) else. Heck, I guess it even could be about exhaust, huh?
DAY 24: Evening poem
For today's prompt, write an evening poem. My initial thought is that this poem would somehow involve the night, but upon further reflection, I guess it could be about evening things up or something.
There you have it – another five prompts to help ignite your creativity. Oh, and if you want to read Robert Lee Brewer poems from these prompts and all the others he’s posted, go to www.writersdigest.com.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to come back tomorrow for Tuesdays with Donn Taylor. You won't want to miss his valuable teaching!!!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
POETRY - SUNDAY SONGS
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
Refrain
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Refrain
By now you know I love, love, love the old hymns. When I read these words, I realize how much they still relate to us still today. And the precious song tells a powerful story. Turn your eyes upon Jesus - your life will never be the same.
Love ya,
nettie
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
Refrain
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Refrain
By now you know I love, love, love the old hymns. When I read these words, I realize how much they still relate to us still today. And the precious song tells a powerful story. Turn your eyes upon Jesus - your life will never be the same.
Love ya,
nettie
Saturday, April 24, 2010
NOBLE POET
JOY
The son I once cradled in my arms
Now cradles his own baby boy.
Brown eyes gaze into blue.
My son smiles, his son gurgles.
I lean close, inhale deeply;
My heart fills with the scent of joy.
Poem written by:
J. Smith
Such sweet words from a brand new grandparent. Thanks again to another Noble Poet for sharing one of your poems.
Love,
nettie
Friday, April 23, 2010
POETRY - TEACHING TIPS (Part 2)
SUBVERT THE ORDINARY
Poets' strength is the ability to see what other people see everyday in a new way. You don't have to be special or a literary genius to write good poems--all you have to do is take an ordinary object, place, person, or idea, and come up with a new perception of it.
Example: People ride the bus everyday.
Poets' Interpretation: A poet looks at the people on the bus and imagines scenes from their lives. A poet sees a sixty-year old woman and imagines a grandmother who runs marathons. A poet sees a two-year old boy and imagines him painting with ruby nail polish on the toilet seat, and his mother struggling to not respond in anger.
Take the ordinary and turn it on its head. (The word "subvert" literally means "turn upside down".)
(Excerpt written by: Kara Zeihl-UWEC Junior-2000)
Writers, stretch your imagination. Think outside the box. Get out and experience the life God gave you. Okay, I'm done with the cliches. HA!!! But, imagine the world around you with different eyes. You might be surprised what you come up with.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to visit the blog tomorrow - Saturday is the day I feature Noble Poets!!!
Poets' strength is the ability to see what other people see everyday in a new way. You don't have to be special or a literary genius to write good poems--all you have to do is take an ordinary object, place, person, or idea, and come up with a new perception of it.
Example: People ride the bus everyday.
Poets' Interpretation: A poet looks at the people on the bus and imagines scenes from their lives. A poet sees a sixty-year old woman and imagines a grandmother who runs marathons. A poet sees a two-year old boy and imagines him painting with ruby nail polish on the toilet seat, and his mother struggling to not respond in anger.
Take the ordinary and turn it on its head. (The word "subvert" literally means "turn upside down".)
(Excerpt written by: Kara Zeihl-UWEC Junior-2000)
Writers, stretch your imagination. Think outside the box. Get out and experience the life God gave you. Okay, I'm done with the cliches. HA!!! But, imagine the world around you with different eyes. You might be surprised what you come up with.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Be sure to visit the blog tomorrow - Saturday is the day I feature Noble Poets!!!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
POETRY - TEACHING TIPS (Part 1)
BE A PAINTER IN WORDS," says UWEC English professor emerita, poet, and songwriter Peg Lauber. She says poetry should stimulate six senses:
• sight
• hearing
• smell
• touch
• taste
• kinesiology (motion)
Examples.
• "Sunlight varnishes magnolia branches crimson" (sight)
• "Vacuum cleaner's whir and hum startles my ferret" (hearing)
• "Penguins lumber to their nests" (kinesiology)
Lauber advises her students to produce fresh, striking images ("imaginative"). Be a camera. Make the reader be there with the poet/speaker/narrator.
Yes, professor, as writers we hear this over and over again. We MUST incorporate the senses into our poetry, novels and short stories. This is how we make our words sing!!! Without them, they are simply dribble on a page.
The poem I'm sharing with you today encompasses sight, sound, touch. Enjoy!!
CHRISTMAS MORNING
by nettie (4/09)
Christmas morning looms ahead of me. Slumber
is certain to escape my reach. I know it’s down
there. It just has to be. Sleep must have finally
won 'cause the next thing I remember is my sister’s
voice and her knocking on my bedroom door. I jump
out of bed and charge past her and my other siblings,
bounding down the stairs I'm sure my bare feet never
touch a single step. Then I stop. I can't wait another
second. I have to see. I peer through the banister
and there stands my brand new blue Stingray bicycle.
The one I'd wished for, prayed for, begged unmerciful
for. My parents smile as I race over to touch the
special gift they gave me. Thanks Mom and Dad for your
love and making a little girl's dream come true on
Christmas morning 1966.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Tomorrow is another tip to give your poetry a boost.
• sight
• hearing
• smell
• touch
• taste
• kinesiology (motion)
Examples.
• "Sunlight varnishes magnolia branches crimson" (sight)
• "Vacuum cleaner's whir and hum startles my ferret" (hearing)
• "Penguins lumber to their nests" (kinesiology)
Lauber advises her students to produce fresh, striking images ("imaginative"). Be a camera. Make the reader be there with the poet/speaker/narrator.
Yes, professor, as writers we hear this over and over again. We MUST incorporate the senses into our poetry, novels and short stories. This is how we make our words sing!!! Without them, they are simply dribble on a page.
The poem I'm sharing with you today encompasses sight, sound, touch. Enjoy!!
CHRISTMAS MORNING
by nettie (4/09)
Christmas morning looms ahead of me. Slumber
is certain to escape my reach. I know it’s down
there. It just has to be. Sleep must have finally
won 'cause the next thing I remember is my sister’s
voice and her knocking on my bedroom door. I jump
out of bed and charge past her and my other siblings,
bounding down the stairs I'm sure my bare feet never
touch a single step. Then I stop. I can't wait another
second. I have to see. I peer through the banister
and there stands my brand new blue Stingray bicycle.
The one I'd wished for, prayed for, begged unmerciful
for. My parents smile as I race over to touch the
special gift they gave me. Thanks Mom and Dad for your
love and making a little girl's dream come true on
Christmas morning 1966.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Tomorrow is another tip to give your poetry a boost.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
POETRY-ACROSTICS
Here's another idea to help you create poetry. Acrostics. If by chance you're not familiar with the phrase, I've included the definition.
ACROSTIC - 1. a poem or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words. 2. a word puzzle constructed in this way.
Today I've included a couple of my acrostics for your viewing pleasure.
SUBMIT (this is for all the writers reading this)
S - Sending off our work creates in us
U - Unbelievable stress and untold strain
B - But, if you hold on to them until they’re perfect
M - Masterpieces could go unread, unpublished, unloved
I - Instead of touching someone else’s heart.
T - Take a chance – SUBMIT – imagine what can happen.
DREAM
D - Don't forget to
R - Reach out and
E - Experience life.
A - Aspire to live
M - Masterfully.
Hope you give them a try. Trust me, they're a kick in the pants (right up there with prompts).
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Check out tomorrow - more teaching is on the way.
ACROSTIC - 1. a poem or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words. 2. a word puzzle constructed in this way.
Today I've included a couple of my acrostics for your viewing pleasure.
SUBMIT (this is for all the writers reading this)
S - Sending off our work creates in us
U - Unbelievable stress and untold strain
B - But, if you hold on to them until they’re perfect
M - Masterpieces could go unread, unpublished, unloved
I - Instead of touching someone else’s heart.
T - Take a chance – SUBMIT – imagine what can happen.
DREAM
D - Don't forget to
R - Reach out and
E - Experience life.
A - Aspire to live
M - Masterfully.
Hope you give them a try. Trust me, they're a kick in the pants (right up there with prompts).
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Check out tomorrow - more teaching is on the way.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
OUTSIDE THE BOX OF SELF (PART I)
by
Donn Taylor
There is a certain sameness about much of the poetry I'm reading or hearing these days. That's because many of us are writing poems about ourselves, with the poet as both the subject and the speaking voice of the poem. That's okay if our objective in writing is self-expression, but less so if we want to interest a broader audience. Because there's no reason anyone else should be interested in me, writing about myself loses me much of that potential audience.
This is what I call "the box of the self," using the well-worn cliché to encourage writing poetry "outside the box." In my classes I teach six methods of doing this, and I'll illustrate two of these today.
The first is to let the speaking voice of the poem be someone besides the poet. The only limits here are the poet's imagination. The speaker of the poem might be a biblical or historical character, a fictional character, an animal, a space alien, a bacterium—whatever. (Yes, it might even be a whatever.) In this poem I let the raven from the biblical story of Noah's ark wonder why the dove gets all the favorable publicity. (The theologians among us will see doctrines of grace and works peeping through.)
THE RAVEN'S COMPLAINT (© 2008)
(Genesis 8)
I'm grateful, yes---he was a nice old guy---
The food and roost were fine, without a doubt
The best I'd known. And then he sent me out---
An honor: first bird back into the sky---
A chance to show my stuff---you bet I'd try
My best---I was grateful to him. ---What lout
Would do less? I flew my tailfeathers out,
Thought nothing of it, flew two weeks, kept dry
Above the flood, alone. But where's the credit
Good works and self-reliance ought to bring?
The dove flopped twice, came slinking back and took
The old guy's charity and then forsook
Him, yet he's made symbol of everything
Graceful, I of gloom---I just don't get it.
Part of the fun was putting the raven's low diction into the sonnet form.
A second method is simply to write about a subject other than the self, as I do in this sonnet about a pioneer woman:
PIONEER (© 2008)
No woods of Carolina ever bore
The weight of loneliness this prairie held.
She stood appalled: impossible to meld
This vastness to her finite flesh, ignore
Her sense of insignificance before
Such massive seas of grassy strangeness, quelled
In heart by brute immensity, repelled
That all she saw were sights she must abhor.
But then a lizard slithered in the dust
To gulp a bug and hide behind a stone.
A grackle pecked nearby, and both were sure
With instinct's certainty. She watched, alone,
And thought, "I guess I'm smart as them." She must,
She knew, if never thrive, at least endure.
One other point from this poem: Words do not have to be pleasant or pretty to be poetic. Those describing the lizard and grackle are distinctly unpleasant, as is the woman's experience that the words describe. For that reason, I would argue that the words are poetic.
Next week we will look at three other methods of writing outside the box of the self.
Donn, thank you so much for sharing your poems and expertise with us each week. See you next Tuesday for Part 2.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: To preview Donn's array of poetry and fiction books, please visit his website at www.donntaylor.com.
Donn Taylor
There is a certain sameness about much of the poetry I'm reading or hearing these days. That's because many of us are writing poems about ourselves, with the poet as both the subject and the speaking voice of the poem. That's okay if our objective in writing is self-expression, but less so if we want to interest a broader audience. Because there's no reason anyone else should be interested in me, writing about myself loses me much of that potential audience.
This is what I call "the box of the self," using the well-worn cliché to encourage writing poetry "outside the box." In my classes I teach six methods of doing this, and I'll illustrate two of these today.
The first is to let the speaking voice of the poem be someone besides the poet. The only limits here are the poet's imagination. The speaker of the poem might be a biblical or historical character, a fictional character, an animal, a space alien, a bacterium—whatever. (Yes, it might even be a whatever.) In this poem I let the raven from the biblical story of Noah's ark wonder why the dove gets all the favorable publicity. (The theologians among us will see doctrines of grace and works peeping through.)
THE RAVEN'S COMPLAINT (© 2008)
(Genesis 8)
I'm grateful, yes---he was a nice old guy---
The food and roost were fine, without a doubt
The best I'd known. And then he sent me out---
An honor: first bird back into the sky---
A chance to show my stuff---you bet I'd try
My best---I was grateful to him. ---What lout
Would do less? I flew my tailfeathers out,
Thought nothing of it, flew two weeks, kept dry
Above the flood, alone. But where's the credit
Good works and self-reliance ought to bring?
The dove flopped twice, came slinking back and took
The old guy's charity and then forsook
Him, yet he's made symbol of everything
Graceful, I of gloom---I just don't get it.
Part of the fun was putting the raven's low diction into the sonnet form.
A second method is simply to write about a subject other than the self, as I do in this sonnet about a pioneer woman:
PIONEER (© 2008)
No woods of Carolina ever bore
The weight of loneliness this prairie held.
She stood appalled: impossible to meld
This vastness to her finite flesh, ignore
Her sense of insignificance before
Such massive seas of grassy strangeness, quelled
In heart by brute immensity, repelled
That all she saw were sights she must abhor.
But then a lizard slithered in the dust
To gulp a bug and hide behind a stone.
A grackle pecked nearby, and both were sure
With instinct's certainty. She watched, alone,
And thought, "I guess I'm smart as them." She must,
She knew, if never thrive, at least endure.
One other point from this poem: Words do not have to be pleasant or pretty to be poetic. Those describing the lizard and grackle are distinctly unpleasant, as is the woman's experience that the words describe. For that reason, I would argue that the words are poetic.
Next week we will look at three other methods of writing outside the box of the self.
Donn, thank you so much for sharing your poems and expertise with us each week. See you next Tuesday for Part 2.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: To preview Donn's array of poetry and fiction books, please visit his website at www.donntaylor.com.
Monday, April 19, 2010
MONDAY MADNESS - Poetry Prompts
Monday Madness is upon us once again. Today I’ve included six prompts (from Robert Lee Brewer at www.writersdigest.com) for your writing pleasure. You’ll notice Day 16 is a little over the top, but I thought the subject might produce some interesting poems.
And as always, have fun!!!!!!
Day 12: City Poem
For today's prompt, pick a city, make that the title of your poem, and write a poem. Your poem can praise or belittle the city. Your poem could be about the city or about the people of the city. Your poem could even have seemingly nothing to do with the city. But the simple act of picking a city will set the mood (to a certain degree), so choose wisely.
Day 13: Two for Tuesday
Here are today's two prompts:
1. Write a love poem
2. Write an anti-love poem
Day 14: (blank) Island
For today's prompt, take the phrase "(blank) Island," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. You could do a well-known island, such as "Treasure Island," "Ellis Island," or "Total Drama Island." Or you could make up the name of an island. Or you could even have a long drawn out title, such as "You'll never get me on an island" or "If I were on a deserted island."
Day 15: Deadline Poem
For today's prompt, write a deadline poem. You can interpret what a deadline poem is however you wish. Maybe it's a poem that laments the idea of deadlines. Maybe it's a poem about someone intentionally missing them or who never has problems with them (I wish I were that person). Regardless of how you take it, remember that you have until tomorrow before another prompt will be posted. Consider that your poetic deadline.
Day 16: Death Poem (yes, a little morbid, but could be very interesting)
Maybe it's a little too close to tax day, but today's prompt is to write a death poem. You can write about a specific death or consider death as an idea. In the tradition of Emily Dickinson (and other poets), you could even address Death as an entity. Or you can surprise us with a different spin on the subject.
Day 19: Poem about somebody
For today's prompt, write a poem about somebody and be sure to include the person's name in the title of your poem (no reason to hide the person's identity here). Write a poem about Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, your next door neighbor, your child, or the person standing behind you. I guess you could even technically write a poem about yourself (just make sure you include your name in the title).
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Remember - tomorrow is Tuesday with Donn Taylor. Be sure to tune in for more of his valuable teaching on poetry.
And as always, have fun!!!!!!
Day 12: City Poem
For today's prompt, pick a city, make that the title of your poem, and write a poem. Your poem can praise or belittle the city. Your poem could be about the city or about the people of the city. Your poem could even have seemingly nothing to do with the city. But the simple act of picking a city will set the mood (to a certain degree), so choose wisely.
Day 13: Two for Tuesday
Here are today's two prompts:
1. Write a love poem
2. Write an anti-love poem
Day 14: (blank) Island
For today's prompt, take the phrase "(blank) Island," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. You could do a well-known island, such as "Treasure Island," "Ellis Island," or "Total Drama Island." Or you could make up the name of an island. Or you could even have a long drawn out title, such as "You'll never get me on an island" or "If I were on a deserted island."
Day 15: Deadline Poem
For today's prompt, write a deadline poem. You can interpret what a deadline poem is however you wish. Maybe it's a poem that laments the idea of deadlines. Maybe it's a poem about someone intentionally missing them or who never has problems with them (I wish I were that person). Regardless of how you take it, remember that you have until tomorrow before another prompt will be posted. Consider that your poetic deadline.
Day 16: Death Poem (yes, a little morbid, but could be very interesting)
Maybe it's a little too close to tax day, but today's prompt is to write a death poem. You can write about a specific death or consider death as an idea. In the tradition of Emily Dickinson (and other poets), you could even address Death as an entity. Or you can surprise us with a different spin on the subject.
Day 19: Poem about somebody
For today's prompt, write a poem about somebody and be sure to include the person's name in the title of your poem (no reason to hide the person's identity here). Write a poem about Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, your next door neighbor, your child, or the person standing behind you. I guess you could even technically write a poem about yourself (just make sure you include your name in the title).
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Remember - tomorrow is Tuesday with Donn Taylor. Be sure to tune in for more of his valuable teaching on poetry.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
POETRY - SONGS OF YESTERDAY
Songs truly are poetry set in motion. These old hymns bring back so many happy memories of my childhood in the church I grew up in. When I hear one of them now, I can't help but smile. And, later in the day I catch myself humming the refrain.
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Refrain
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Refrain
Words: Fanny Crosby (1873)
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Remember, tomorrow is Monday Madness!!!!
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Refrain
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Refrain
Words: Fanny Crosby (1873)
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Remember, tomorrow is Monday Madness!!!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
SHARE A POEM
I don’t know about you, but I’m having fun, fun, fun with this poetry extravaganza. And as promised, today I’m featuring two more poems from fellow poets (who just happen to be my dear friends, too).
ENJOY!!!
PREPARING FOR ART CLASS
I give my penny-colored hair a final pat,
lean toward the mirror,
slick on my new lipstick, Burnished Copper.
I brush the shoulders of my blouse,
straighten the belt to my skirt,
check my front teeth
for lipstick smudges.
This is the night
I shed my role
of housewife
and mother,
hanging it up
as if it were
a favorite, old bathrobe
on a hook behind the door
and walk out an artist.
Written by: K. Franklin
HIDDEN
You may call me a fool.
I’m still learning.
Life’s a school.
When the world weighs heavy,
Where do I go?
How to escape so flawed a soul?
Hidden in Christ.
I am redeemed.
Halleluiah, I am Redeemed!
Written by R. Leverett
Thanks for helping me spread the word about poetry today. Now I'm off to write Sunday's blog, then I'll take the Lord's advice and rest.
Love ya and happy reading,
nettie
PS: If you're in the Houston, Texas area, come check out the Monday night writer's group I attend. Their website is www.writeingredients.com.
ENJOY!!!
PREPARING FOR ART CLASS
I give my penny-colored hair a final pat,
lean toward the mirror,
slick on my new lipstick, Burnished Copper.
I brush the shoulders of my blouse,
straighten the belt to my skirt,
check my front teeth
for lipstick smudges.
This is the night
I shed my role
of housewife
and mother,
hanging it up
as if it were
a favorite, old bathrobe
on a hook behind the door
and walk out an artist.
Written by: K. Franklin
HIDDEN
You may call me a fool.
I’m still learning.
Life’s a school.
When the world weighs heavy,
Where do I go?
How to escape so flawed a soul?
Hidden in Christ.
I am redeemed.
Halleluiah, I am Redeemed!
Written by R. Leverett
Thanks for helping me spread the word about poetry today. Now I'm off to write Sunday's blog, then I'll take the Lord's advice and rest.
Love ya and happy reading,
nettie
PS: If you're in the Houston, Texas area, come check out the Monday night writer's group I attend. Their website is www.writeingredients.com.
Friday, April 16, 2010
WRITING ADVICE FROM POETS
February 11, 2008
by Peter Blocksom
Though the providers of thoughts listed below are primarily poets, their advice is universal to all writers.
We asked several poets two questions: "What is the one technique that makes your work stand out?" and "What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?" Their answers follow.
Laurence Lieberman-Compass of the Dying(University of Arkansas Press)
The Technique: Some time after my first drafts are completed, months or even years, I come back to the material to look for the poems hidden in the handwritten scrawl. I turn to the typewriter when I begin experimenting with forms, usually stanzas employing syllabic or accentual count lines. I never use a computer in working on poems—I want to slow the process down, not speed it up.
The Advice: Marianne Moore wrote to me the following comment that has served me well ever since: "Protest is no match for ardor. . . . Your poems have the gift of praise."
Dana Gioia-Certain Solitudes: On the Poetry of Donald Justice (University of Arkansas Press)
The Technique: Approach revision with the same openness to inspiration with which you began writing the first draft.
Walt McDonald-Blessings the Body Gave (Ohio State University Press)
The Technique: I have the simple faith that words will show me the way. For a while, I feel totally ignorant; I have no idea what's coming. I like that silence: I can feel hair rise on the back of my neck when I type a phrase that intrigues me—a sense of immediate complicity, as if the words and I are up to something.
Karen Swenson-A Daughter's Latitude (Copper Canyon)
The Advice: I was told by Professor Kowenhaven to write 500 words a day; that quantity would lead to quality over time.
Lola Haskins-Extranjera (Story Line Press)
The Advice: My father said, when he saw me for the millionth time scrambling to please, that I needed to learn that no matter what I did, there would be people who just wouldn't like me. When I catch myself adjusting some line, not because I think the change improves the poem, but because I think some critic will like it, I remember Daddy and leave it alone.
Ronald Wallace-The Uses of Adversity (University of Pittsburgh Press)
The Advice: Henry James said, "Write only from experience but you must be one on whom nothing is lost." Dylan Thomas said that he wrote only when he was inspired. But the more he wrote, the inspireder he got. William Stafford, explaining how he managed to be so prolific, said, "Every day I get up and look out the window, and something occurs to me. Something always occurs to me. And if it doesn't, I just lower my standards." The third quote was especially useful to me when I decided to write a sonnet a day for a year.
Lyn Lifshin-Cold Comfort (Black Sparrow)
The Technique: In the Eskimo language, the words to breathe and to make a poem are the same. Remembering that has been wildly helpful to me. It means a freeness to plunge in, almost like doing a finger painting. It's a free flow, suspending fact, meaning, sanity, then seeing, in what pours out uncensored, what can be shaped, fashioned, pared down or enlarged to become a poem.
Carol Muske-Dukes-An Octave Above Thunder (Penguin)
The Technique: Random composition—I work whenever I can, at stoplights, in doctor's waiting rooms, at 3 a.m.
The Advice: During my first year in New York City Daniel Halpern told me that being a writer meant being serious about writing. I came to understand what serious meant—an absolute commitment to the art and craft.
Ruth Daigon-Between One Future and the Next (Papier-Mache Press)
The Advice: I worked with a group of English professors in Connecticut whose favorite expression was "When in doubt, throw it out."
Neal Bowers-Words for the Taking: The Hunt for a Plagiarist (Norton)
The Advice: "Trust the process and the reader." It didn't make a lot of sense to me when my first creative writing teacher, Malcolm Glass, uttered it in 1967. His colorful metaphor of grabbing the tail of a wild hog as it runs by and letting it drag you through the thicket didn't help much. These days, though, I often look back at those unplanned and unpredictable trails my writing makes through the brush, with me hanging on, and I think of Malcolm's wild hog.
Terese Svoboda-Cannibal (New York University Press)
The Advice: Gordon Lish told me, "Don't let what you know stand in your way."
Great advice, fellow poets. Hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. Tomorrow, April 16, two of my poet friends will share their poetry with us. Stop in and be inspired.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: For more writer's tips - go to www.writersdigest.com.
by Peter Blocksom
Though the providers of thoughts listed below are primarily poets, their advice is universal to all writers.
We asked several poets two questions: "What is the one technique that makes your work stand out?" and "What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?" Their answers follow.
Laurence Lieberman-Compass of the Dying(University of Arkansas Press)
The Technique: Some time after my first drafts are completed, months or even years, I come back to the material to look for the poems hidden in the handwritten scrawl. I turn to the typewriter when I begin experimenting with forms, usually stanzas employing syllabic or accentual count lines. I never use a computer in working on poems—I want to slow the process down, not speed it up.
The Advice: Marianne Moore wrote to me the following comment that has served me well ever since: "Protest is no match for ardor. . . . Your poems have the gift of praise."
Dana Gioia-Certain Solitudes: On the Poetry of Donald Justice (University of Arkansas Press)
The Technique: Approach revision with the same openness to inspiration with which you began writing the first draft.
Walt McDonald-Blessings the Body Gave (Ohio State University Press)
The Technique: I have the simple faith that words will show me the way. For a while, I feel totally ignorant; I have no idea what's coming. I like that silence: I can feel hair rise on the back of my neck when I type a phrase that intrigues me—a sense of immediate complicity, as if the words and I are up to something.
Karen Swenson-A Daughter's Latitude (Copper Canyon)
The Advice: I was told by Professor Kowenhaven to write 500 words a day; that quantity would lead to quality over time.
Lola Haskins-Extranjera (Story Line Press)
The Advice: My father said, when he saw me for the millionth time scrambling to please, that I needed to learn that no matter what I did, there would be people who just wouldn't like me. When I catch myself adjusting some line, not because I think the change improves the poem, but because I think some critic will like it, I remember Daddy and leave it alone.
Ronald Wallace-The Uses of Adversity (University of Pittsburgh Press)
The Advice: Henry James said, "Write only from experience but you must be one on whom nothing is lost." Dylan Thomas said that he wrote only when he was inspired. But the more he wrote, the inspireder he got. William Stafford, explaining how he managed to be so prolific, said, "Every day I get up and look out the window, and something occurs to me. Something always occurs to me. And if it doesn't, I just lower my standards." The third quote was especially useful to me when I decided to write a sonnet a day for a year.
Lyn Lifshin-Cold Comfort (Black Sparrow)
The Technique: In the Eskimo language, the words to breathe and to make a poem are the same. Remembering that has been wildly helpful to me. It means a freeness to plunge in, almost like doing a finger painting. It's a free flow, suspending fact, meaning, sanity, then seeing, in what pours out uncensored, what can be shaped, fashioned, pared down or enlarged to become a poem.
Carol Muske-Dukes-An Octave Above Thunder (Penguin)
The Technique: Random composition—I work whenever I can, at stoplights, in doctor's waiting rooms, at 3 a.m.
The Advice: During my first year in New York City Daniel Halpern told me that being a writer meant being serious about writing. I came to understand what serious meant—an absolute commitment to the art and craft.
Ruth Daigon-Between One Future and the Next (Papier-Mache Press)
The Advice: I worked with a group of English professors in Connecticut whose favorite expression was "When in doubt, throw it out."
Neal Bowers-Words for the Taking: The Hunt for a Plagiarist (Norton)
The Advice: "Trust the process and the reader." It didn't make a lot of sense to me when my first creative writing teacher, Malcolm Glass, uttered it in 1967. His colorful metaphor of grabbing the tail of a wild hog as it runs by and letting it drag you through the thicket didn't help much. These days, though, I often look back at those unplanned and unpredictable trails my writing makes through the brush, with me hanging on, and I think of Malcolm's wild hog.
Terese Svoboda-Cannibal (New York University Press)
The Advice: Gordon Lish told me, "Don't let what you know stand in your way."
Great advice, fellow poets. Hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. Tomorrow, April 16, two of my poet friends will share their poetry with us. Stop in and be inspired.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: For more writer's tips - go to www.writersdigest.com.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
HER MOTHER'S HOPE
by: Francine Rivers
From the beloved, best-selling author of Redeeming Love comes a powerful epic that spans continents and generations in an unforgettable story about family and faith, dreams and disappointments, and ultimately the resilience and tenacity of love.
And today, Francine Rivers is here to tell us about her newest book, Her Mother's Hope, and answer questions about her life, writing, and her journey with the Lord.
How did you get started as a writer?
From the time I was a child, I knew I would be a writer. Because I didn’t know what I would write, I majored in English (emphasis in literary writing) and minored in journalism (emphasis on who-what-when-where-why). My parents had always been non-fiction readers. Rick’s family loved all kinds of books – and lots of fiction. Mom Edith loaned me novels and I loved them. On a dare (from Rick) I decided to write a combination of my favorite genres and wrote a “western-gothic-romance”. Romance novels were booming in the general market, publishers were on the look-out for new writers. My first manuscript sold and was published. I was hooked! I followed with eight or nine more (of what I call my B.C. (before Christ) books). They are all now out of print, are never to be reprinted, and are not recommended.
When I turned my life over to Jesus, I couldn’t write for three years. I tried, but nothing worked. I struggled against God over that because writing was my “identity.” It took that period of suffering “writer’s block” to bring me to my senses. God was trying to open my eyes to how writing had become an idol in my life. It was the place I ran to escape, the one area of my life where I thought I was in complete control. (Hardly!) My priorities were all wrong and needed to be put right. God first, husband and children second (we had three children by then) and third-- work. I prayed God would change my heart. My love for writing and reading novels waned and my passion for reading and studying God’s Word grew.
Rick and I began hosting a home Bible study. I began working with Rick in his business. The children came along and played in the office, hiding in the shipping popcorn. Writing ceased to matter. I was in love with Jesus and my husband and children. God never stops with the transformation process. We began studying the book of Hosea, and I sensed God calling me to write again – this time a romance about Jesus’ love for each of us. Redeeming Love was the result. It is the retelling of the Hosea story, set in Gold Rush-era California. After I turned it in, I wasn’t sure whether I would write anything more. I had so many questions about what it means to be a Christian, how to live for God, different issues that still haunted me. I felt God nudging me toward using my writing as a tool to draw closer to Him. I would ask my question, create characters that would play out the different viewpoints and seek God’s perspective. I began work on A Voice in the Wind. Writing has become a way to worship the Lord through story – to show how intimately He wants to be involved in our lives.
Which is your favorite book of those you’ve written?
My favorite book is Redeeming Love. It was my first as a born-again Christian, my statement of faith, and the most exciting year I’ve spent writing anything. I felt God’s presence throughout the months of work, as though He were telling me His story through thousands of Scriptures as well as explaining the inner heart-ache and quest of each “my” characters.
Which book was the hardest to write and why?
The Atonement Child was the most personal and difficult to write because I had to face my own abortion experience. Added to the considerable research I did, and women who shared their experiences with me, I went through an intensive post-traumatic stress Bible study for post-abortive women at our local pregnancy counseling center. Reliving all aspects of my abortion decision and experience was excruciating – but healing. After twenty-six years of being imprisoned by guilt and shame, I was free through the power and love of God. Though the book was the most heart-wrenching to write, it also proved to be the most life changing. I’ve received countless letters from other post-abortive women and have learned my experience is not unique. Our nation is filled with wounded men and women. The character of Hannah is based on my story, Doug is based on Rick’s, and Evie is based on my mother’s.
Christian fiction continues to boom. What would you like to see happen in the field?
I want to see Christian fiction speak to the hard and real issues that tear people’s lives apart. We need writers who are willing to ask the hard questions and go through the soul-searching and agonizing to find answers – and present these stories with skill that surpasses the general market. Some of the greatest works or art and literature were rendered by Christians. I believe God is at work in these areas now. I would also love to see more Christian stories make it to the big screen and into the world of television, and to have the Christian worldview presented fairly. Much of what comes out of “Hollywood” appeals to the basest side of mankind and crushes the spirit. Right now, with war and a failing economy, people are hungry for stories that inspire them, lift them and give them hope. People need to know there are solutions and we can have peace and an abundant life -- even in the midst of trials.
What advice would you give to a new writer?
Write what you need to read. Write from your heart and. Write truth. Sometimes it hurts to peel away the layers of self-deception and see ourselves in the mirror, but it will also draw us closer to Jesus. And your work may minister to others struggling with the same issues. Read the Bible every day so that it will flow naturally into the story. Study the Bible from beginning to end. It is the most exciting reading in the world. It is also alive – and will help you recognize when you are entering into sin and need to realign yourself with the Lord. Keep your focus on Jesus.
Can you tell us something about your Christian testimony?
I was reared in a Christian home. My parents were active in church, my father an elder, my mother a deaconess. I attended Christian summer camps, youth group and said grace at every meal. I thought being born into a Christian family and raised in the faith made me a Christian. It didn’t. Each person makes their own choice, and it took me years to surrender to Jesus – not until after I’d gone through college, married, had children and started a writing career. Rick and I went to church, but came away dissatisfied and knowing there must be something more. We both had personal issues that brought us close to divorce several times. We wanted our own way and to have control over our own lives. Having control is an illusion. As a child, I’d asked Jesus to be my Savior. What I didn’t understand is I needed to surrender my life to Him and allow Him to be LORD of my life as well.
Our marriage was on the verge of collapse when Rick started his own business. We moved to northern California to be closer to family. We made many outer changes, but no change of the heart. As we moved into our rental house, a little boy came over to help and said, “Have I got a church for you!” We weren’t ready to listen. The lady on the other side of our fence also invited us to the same church. Out of desperation, I went a few weeks later. It was my first experience with “expository teaching.” The pastor taught straight out of the Bible, explaining the historical context, what the scriptures were saying, and what they had to do with me in the present. I drank it in! I took my three children to church. They loved it. Rick resisted (after having a somewhat disheartening experience with a denominational church in Southern California). I asked the pastor if he would be willing to teach a home Bible study. He agreed -- if Rick agreed, which he did. Studying the Bible changed our lives. Our hearts and minds opened to Christ. We both accepted Jesus as Savior and LORD and were baptized in May 1986. Since then, God has been changing our lives from the inside out. The Lord also healed our marriage. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this year.
Tell us about your current work.
I have just completed the second in a set of two books about mother-daughter relationship over four generations. This was intended to be one long novel dealing with the different ways generations have lived out their faith – but became so long it needed to be divided. Her Mother’s Hope was released on March 16, 2010. Her Daughter’s Dream will follow in September. There are numerous family and personal details woven into both books and I plan to share those things on my blog. You may find out more about my new book and more by visiting my web site at www.FrancineRivers.com.
Francine, thank you so much for stopping to chat. You're welcome to come back anytime.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: PLEASE NOTE: A complimentary copy of this book was provided to the me as a blog tour host by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for posting this interview on my blog. Please visit Christian Speaker Services at www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com for more information about blog tour management services.
From the beloved, best-selling author of Redeeming Love comes a powerful epic that spans continents and generations in an unforgettable story about family and faith, dreams and disappointments, and ultimately the resilience and tenacity of love.
And today, Francine Rivers is here to tell us about her newest book, Her Mother's Hope, and answer questions about her life, writing, and her journey with the Lord.
How did you get started as a writer?From the time I was a child, I knew I would be a writer. Because I didn’t know what I would write, I majored in English (emphasis in literary writing) and minored in journalism (emphasis on who-what-when-where-why). My parents had always been non-fiction readers. Rick’s family loved all kinds of books – and lots of fiction. Mom Edith loaned me novels and I loved them. On a dare (from Rick) I decided to write a combination of my favorite genres and wrote a “western-gothic-romance”. Romance novels were booming in the general market, publishers were on the look-out for new writers. My first manuscript sold and was published. I was hooked! I followed with eight or nine more (of what I call my B.C. (before Christ) books). They are all now out of print, are never to be reprinted, and are not recommended.
When I turned my life over to Jesus, I couldn’t write for three years. I tried, but nothing worked. I struggled against God over that because writing was my “identity.” It took that period of suffering “writer’s block” to bring me to my senses. God was trying to open my eyes to how writing had become an idol in my life. It was the place I ran to escape, the one area of my life where I thought I was in complete control. (Hardly!) My priorities were all wrong and needed to be put right. God first, husband and children second (we had three children by then) and third-- work. I prayed God would change my heart. My love for writing and reading novels waned and my passion for reading and studying God’s Word grew.
Rick and I began hosting a home Bible study. I began working with Rick in his business. The children came along and played in the office, hiding in the shipping popcorn. Writing ceased to matter. I was in love with Jesus and my husband and children. God never stops with the transformation process. We began studying the book of Hosea, and I sensed God calling me to write again – this time a romance about Jesus’ love for each of us. Redeeming Love was the result. It is the retelling of the Hosea story, set in Gold Rush-era California. After I turned it in, I wasn’t sure whether I would write anything more. I had so many questions about what it means to be a Christian, how to live for God, different issues that still haunted me. I felt God nudging me toward using my writing as a tool to draw closer to Him. I would ask my question, create characters that would play out the different viewpoints and seek God’s perspective. I began work on A Voice in the Wind. Writing has become a way to worship the Lord through story – to show how intimately He wants to be involved in our lives.
Which is your favorite book of those you’ve written?
My favorite book is Redeeming Love. It was my first as a born-again Christian, my statement of faith, and the most exciting year I’ve spent writing anything. I felt God’s presence throughout the months of work, as though He were telling me His story through thousands of Scriptures as well as explaining the inner heart-ache and quest of each “my” characters.
Which book was the hardest to write and why?
The Atonement Child was the most personal and difficult to write because I had to face my own abortion experience. Added to the considerable research I did, and women who shared their experiences with me, I went through an intensive post-traumatic stress Bible study for post-abortive women at our local pregnancy counseling center. Reliving all aspects of my abortion decision and experience was excruciating – but healing. After twenty-six years of being imprisoned by guilt and shame, I was free through the power and love of God. Though the book was the most heart-wrenching to write, it also proved to be the most life changing. I’ve received countless letters from other post-abortive women and have learned my experience is not unique. Our nation is filled with wounded men and women. The character of Hannah is based on my story, Doug is based on Rick’s, and Evie is based on my mother’s.
Christian fiction continues to boom. What would you like to see happen in the field?
I want to see Christian fiction speak to the hard and real issues that tear people’s lives apart. We need writers who are willing to ask the hard questions and go through the soul-searching and agonizing to find answers – and present these stories with skill that surpasses the general market. Some of the greatest works or art and literature were rendered by Christians. I believe God is at work in these areas now. I would also love to see more Christian stories make it to the big screen and into the world of television, and to have the Christian worldview presented fairly. Much of what comes out of “Hollywood” appeals to the basest side of mankind and crushes the spirit. Right now, with war and a failing economy, people are hungry for stories that inspire them, lift them and give them hope. People need to know there are solutions and we can have peace and an abundant life -- even in the midst of trials.
What advice would you give to a new writer?
Write what you need to read. Write from your heart and. Write truth. Sometimes it hurts to peel away the layers of self-deception and see ourselves in the mirror, but it will also draw us closer to Jesus. And your work may minister to others struggling with the same issues. Read the Bible every day so that it will flow naturally into the story. Study the Bible from beginning to end. It is the most exciting reading in the world. It is also alive – and will help you recognize when you are entering into sin and need to realign yourself with the Lord. Keep your focus on Jesus.
Can you tell us something about your Christian testimony?
I was reared in a Christian home. My parents were active in church, my father an elder, my mother a deaconess. I attended Christian summer camps, youth group and said grace at every meal. I thought being born into a Christian family and raised in the faith made me a Christian. It didn’t. Each person makes their own choice, and it took me years to surrender to Jesus – not until after I’d gone through college, married, had children and started a writing career. Rick and I went to church, but came away dissatisfied and knowing there must be something more. We both had personal issues that brought us close to divorce several times. We wanted our own way and to have control over our own lives. Having control is an illusion. As a child, I’d asked Jesus to be my Savior. What I didn’t understand is I needed to surrender my life to Him and allow Him to be LORD of my life as well.
Our marriage was on the verge of collapse when Rick started his own business. We moved to northern California to be closer to family. We made many outer changes, but no change of the heart. As we moved into our rental house, a little boy came over to help and said, “Have I got a church for you!” We weren’t ready to listen. The lady on the other side of our fence also invited us to the same church. Out of desperation, I went a few weeks later. It was my first experience with “expository teaching.” The pastor taught straight out of the Bible, explaining the historical context, what the scriptures were saying, and what they had to do with me in the present. I drank it in! I took my three children to church. They loved it. Rick resisted (after having a somewhat disheartening experience with a denominational church in Southern California). I asked the pastor if he would be willing to teach a home Bible study. He agreed -- if Rick agreed, which he did. Studying the Bible changed our lives. Our hearts and minds opened to Christ. We both accepted Jesus as Savior and LORD and were baptized in May 1986. Since then, God has been changing our lives from the inside out. The Lord also healed our marriage. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this year.
Tell us about your current work. I have just completed the second in a set of two books about mother-daughter relationship over four generations. This was intended to be one long novel dealing with the different ways generations have lived out their faith – but became so long it needed to be divided. Her Mother’s Hope was released on March 16, 2010. Her Daughter’s Dream will follow in September. There are numerous family and personal details woven into both books and I plan to share those things on my blog. You may find out more about my new book and more by visiting my web site at www.FrancineRivers.com.
Francine, thank you so much for stopping to chat. You're welcome to come back anytime.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: PLEASE NOTE: A complimentary copy of this book was provided to the me as a blog tour host by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for posting this interview on my blog. Please visit Christian Speaker Services at www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com for more information about blog tour management services.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
POETRY-A GLIMPSE INTO A PERSON'S SOUL
When something happens in my life, whether happy or sad, I write a poem. Poems help me express my true feelings about a situation. (YES,I’ve actually had to burn a few after reading them.) But in the end, I’ve learned something valuable about myself. And, if I allow others to read what I’ve penned, I believe the person has been given a glimpse into my soul.
But, before you think all of my poems are serious and soul searching. You are mistaken. Some tend toward humorous (surprise, surprise). My mother loved the one I wrote for her 80’s Birthday. “Elvis” did come and sing to her. Another one I wrote graced the wall in a little boy’s room. “Little Cowboy” came with a set of spurs. I even created a fun poem after my husband told me about his fantastic golf shot that day. “Pure Joy” brought a smile to R’s face.
Life brings us so much to write about. I’m beginning to wonder—do we need prompts? HA!!
PURE JOY
His family and friends call him Mr. Ray.
He prefers Tiger Jr., but he’ll answer to T.J.
Each and every week, he and his golfing buds at T.S.A.
head to yet another course. A round of golf they play.
Today, they reach the 10th hole – a complicated par three.
Just 100 yards separates the hole from their tee.
T.J. fires with his most powerful and mighty swing.
Twenty-five feet from the hole, the tiny golf ball did cling.
He pulled out his trusty pitching wedge and zeroes in on the hill.
Knowing if he makes the shot, it would be his greatest thrill.
He shoots and to his delight the ball gracefully lands in the hole.
WOW! Unbelievable! A birdie. He’s achieves one of his goals.
At the Wedgewood Golf Course on July 28, 2004,
T.J. hears his friends cheer and the mighty crowd roar.
He bows and picks up his now-prized ball.
Tiger Jr. wonders if the P.G.A. will ever give him a call.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Drum roll please!!! Remember to check in tomorrow, I have another treat in store for my faithful readers.
But, before you think all of my poems are serious and soul searching. You are mistaken. Some tend toward humorous (surprise, surprise). My mother loved the one I wrote for her 80’s Birthday. “Elvis” did come and sing to her. Another one I wrote graced the wall in a little boy’s room. “Little Cowboy” came with a set of spurs. I even created a fun poem after my husband told me about his fantastic golf shot that day. “Pure Joy” brought a smile to R’s face.
Life brings us so much to write about. I’m beginning to wonder—do we need prompts? HA!!
PURE JOY
His family and friends call him Mr. Ray.
He prefers Tiger Jr., but he’ll answer to T.J.
Each and every week, he and his golfing buds at T.S.A.
head to yet another course. A round of golf they play.
Today, they reach the 10th hole – a complicated par three.
Just 100 yards separates the hole from their tee.
T.J. fires with his most powerful and mighty swing.
Twenty-five feet from the hole, the tiny golf ball did cling.
He pulled out his trusty pitching wedge and zeroes in on the hill.
Knowing if he makes the shot, it would be his greatest thrill.
He shoots and to his delight the ball gracefully lands in the hole.
WOW! Unbelievable! A birdie. He’s achieves one of his goals.
At the Wedgewood Golf Course on July 28, 2004,
T.J. hears his friends cheer and the mighty crowd roar.
He bows and picks up his now-prized ball.
Tiger Jr. wonders if the P.G.A. will ever give him a call.
Love ya,
nettie
PS: Drum roll please!!! Remember to check in tomorrow, I have another treat in store for my faithful readers.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN POETRY
TUESDAYS WITH DONN TAYLOR - PART 2
Mr. Taylor is visiting with us again today. He is going to help us add sounds to our poetry and I'll guarantee his tips will make your poems stand up and shout.
One of the greatest distinctions between poetry and prose is poetry’s emphasis on the sound of words and the accumulation of sounds in sentences. Paradoxically, though, sound is probably the most neglected aspect of poetry writing today. Consequently, many poets deprive their work of an entire demension of meaning. Poetry should either be read aloud or else the reader should pronounce each word in his mind as he reads through the poem. Only by those means can he experience the beauty of sound.
As Lawrence Perrine explains in his book Sound and Sense, some words actually imitate the sounds they represent (snap, bang, hiss), while the sounds of other words seem to suggest their meaning (flicker, whisper, moan, slush). And the rhythms of poetry can also suggest meaning. The poet can use all of these elements to achieve a dimension rarely found in prose.
Perrine points out the importance of sound in this short poem (“Upon Julia’s Voice”) by Robert Herrick (1591-1674):
So smooth, so sweet, so silv’ry is thy voice,
As, could they hear, the Damned would make no noise,
But listen to thee (walking in thy chamber)
Melting melodious words to Lutes of Amber.
Perrine also provides an example of words and rhythms reinforcing meaning in these lines from a longer poem (The Princess) by Tennyson:
Myriads of rivulets hurrying through the lawn,
The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
These sound-and-sense effects are usually momentary, but once in a while sound and rhythm can combine as prominent elements in poems of moderate length. This happens in "Panhandle Dust Storm," the lead poem of my book Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond (© 2008):
Barn-battering blast of wind and dirt, this three-day storm
Brings terror to tin-roofed sheds, scours paint from walls,
Makes kites of aluminum siding and leaves them bent,
Bow-tied on telephone poles. It stings our skin
With pellets flung in our faces, buries our eyes,
Turns trees into train-whistles mourning their loneliness
In a visible universe shrunken to fifty feet.
Our ears grow exhausted with sound, with skirling and crackle,
Scratch and spatter of gravel against our house--
A snapped antennae wire's whiplash, flaying the roof--
The stutter of fluttering shingles about to take flight.
This swirling of gray-brown dust has stolen the sky.
The stars are all fiction now, the planets extinguished--
Sun and moon dull silvery disks too feeble to glow.
The law of gravity's gone--the earth's in rebellion,
Dissolving itself into space as an ocean of dust-motes.
Sea-surging, this wind comes in waves, assaulting the house
With breakers that pound and recede, then hammer again–
This house now a ship lost at sea, and leaking all over
While dust-streams puddle in corners in every room.
No weapon at hand, no way to fight back at this wind--
We've nothing to do but wait it out inside.
How long? Who knows? Till God grows tired of it all,
This showing a bit of His strength--decides to rest--
Restore repose.
Then soon, in quiet dawn
With winds quiescent on the settled earth,
We'll wake to stillness and a tranquil sky.
To summarize: Sound is essential to the full meaning and value of poetry, so in the reading we should sound each word and line in our minds.
Thank you, Donn. Your contribution is much appreciated. See you next Tuesday for more helpful hints in the world of poetry.
And, as always, check in tomorrow for POETRY-A GLIMPSE INTO YOUR SOUL.
Love ya,
nettie
Mr. Taylor is visiting with us again today. He is going to help us add sounds to our poetry and I'll guarantee his tips will make your poems stand up and shout.
One of the greatest distinctions between poetry and prose is poetry’s emphasis on the sound of words and the accumulation of sounds in sentences. Paradoxically, though, sound is probably the most neglected aspect of poetry writing today. Consequently, many poets deprive their work of an entire demension of meaning. Poetry should either be read aloud or else the reader should pronounce each word in his mind as he reads through the poem. Only by those means can he experience the beauty of sound.
As Lawrence Perrine explains in his book Sound and Sense, some words actually imitate the sounds they represent (snap, bang, hiss), while the sounds of other words seem to suggest their meaning (flicker, whisper, moan, slush). And the rhythms of poetry can also suggest meaning. The poet can use all of these elements to achieve a dimension rarely found in prose.
Perrine points out the importance of sound in this short poem (“Upon Julia’s Voice”) by Robert Herrick (1591-1674):
So smooth, so sweet, so silv’ry is thy voice,
As, could they hear, the Damned would make no noise,
But listen to thee (walking in thy chamber)
Melting melodious words to Lutes of Amber.
Perrine also provides an example of words and rhythms reinforcing meaning in these lines from a longer poem (The Princess) by Tennyson:
Myriads of rivulets hurrying through the lawn,
The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
These sound-and-sense effects are usually momentary, but once in a while sound and rhythm can combine as prominent elements in poems of moderate length. This happens in "Panhandle Dust Storm," the lead poem of my book Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond (© 2008):
Barn-battering blast of wind and dirt, this three-day storm
Brings terror to tin-roofed sheds, scours paint from walls,
Makes kites of aluminum siding and leaves them bent,
Bow-tied on telephone poles. It stings our skin
With pellets flung in our faces, buries our eyes,
Turns trees into train-whistles mourning their loneliness
In a visible universe shrunken to fifty feet.
Our ears grow exhausted with sound, with skirling and crackle,
Scratch and spatter of gravel against our house--
A snapped antennae wire's whiplash, flaying the roof--
The stutter of fluttering shingles about to take flight.
This swirling of gray-brown dust has stolen the sky.
The stars are all fiction now, the planets extinguished--
Sun and moon dull silvery disks too feeble to glow.
The law of gravity's gone--the earth's in rebellion,
Dissolving itself into space as an ocean of dust-motes.
Sea-surging, this wind comes in waves, assaulting the house
With breakers that pound and recede, then hammer again–
This house now a ship lost at sea, and leaking all over
While dust-streams puddle in corners in every room.
No weapon at hand, no way to fight back at this wind--
We've nothing to do but wait it out inside.
How long? Who knows? Till God grows tired of it all,
This showing a bit of His strength--decides to rest--
Restore repose.
Then soon, in quiet dawn
With winds quiescent on the settled earth,
We'll wake to stillness and a tranquil sky.
To summarize: Sound is essential to the full meaning and value of poetry, so in the reading we should sound each word and line in our minds.
Thank you, Donn. Your contribution is much appreciated. See you next Tuesday for more helpful hints in the world of poetry.
And, as always, check in tomorrow for POETRY-A GLIMPSE INTO YOUR SOUL.
Love ya,
nettie
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