Tips for Writing Free Verse Poetry

I've been in a poetic frame of mind lately--partly due to my poem, "Reaching for the Stars" in this month's HIGHLIGHTS magazine, but also because I've been working on a classroom project to help some 5th graders explore poetry.

"Reaching for the Stars" is written in Free Verse Poetry. This is one of the easiest types of poetry to write. Why?

                                                                                         

• It sounds more like regular speech.
• There is no set length to lines.
• There is no rhyme or meter or counting of syllables.
• It lends itself to any subject matter--serious or silly.

Tips for Writing Free Verse Poetry:

• Remember to use rich words (juicy nouns, powerful verbs, original phrases)
• Create unique similes and metaphors that make an instant connection with your readers
• Appeal to all five senses
• Orchestrate a lyrical flow to your poem with your word choices and placement
• Speed it up or slow it down with the length of your lines and of your words
  
• Use line breaks to punctuate your poem
• Evoke a mood with your poem
• Stop when you're stuck. Take a walk, shoot some hoops, let your mind float free and that's when you'll discover just the word or the idea you needed.                                                 

One of my favorite poetry how-to books is from Scholastic publishers. It's called HOW TO WRITE POETRY by Paul B. Janeczko. You can find this book at your independent bookstore or library. 

I hope these tips for writing Free Verse Poetry make you want to grab your pen and give it a try. 
                                                                             

WOW Words!

Today author A. LaFaye took us through an exercise on WOW Words. What is a WOW Word, you ask? Words that appeal to the senses. They should be concrete and have a unique quality.

Like pifflesquat. Or acrobat. Or rhinoceros. Or fluttered. Or mesmerized.

WOW Words energize writing. They are great to use in poetry and wonderful for prose. Writers, of course, need to surround themselves with WOW Words. To collect them like dazzling jewels to make their stories sparkle.

Teachers in the classroom can help students recognize and utilize WOW Words. Ms. LaFaye suggested creating a funky jar of WOW Words which the students can draw from. She recommended introducing this topic over a five day period. At the start of the instruction, have students select 5 WOW Words and then use them in a poem or a short story. On the next day, the students may only draw out 4 WOW Words and must provide the additional word themselves. On the third day, they select 3 words and provide 2 of their own. On the fourth day, they select 2 words and provide 3 of their own. And on the fifth day, they can only select one WOW Word or perhaps even challenge them to provide all 5 WOW Words themselves.

After each day’s session, the teacher can collect the new WOW Words—written on index cards—then discuss with the class some of the new words and why they work. The teacher can add these words to the WOW jar for future writing exercises.

Here are a few highlights from Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s presentation on writing nonfiction.

It doesn’t have to be written in chronological order.
It needs to have rising and falling action just as fiction does.
Too much information shouldn't be given at once.

Ms. Bartoletti showed us a page from her book, BLACK POTATOES: THE STORY OF THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE. She pointed out the 8 literary devices she used to make the material more appealing:

SETTING (quickly established)
SCENE (a specific instance)
CHARACTERS (quickly drawn so the reader can identify)
DIALOG (which can NEVER be made up in nonfiction)
PLOT (rising and falling action)
NARRATION (mixed in with the showing)
VIVID WRITING (active verbs, sensory words)



Be sure to tune back in here because Nikki Grimes comes tomorrow to share her expertise with us. I can't wait!

A Wonderful Website for Children's Authors

Robyn Opie--Author, Children's Books (an Australian author with more than 70 books to her credit) has a great website for children's authors. She offers numerous how-to articles on writing children's stories from picture books to YA. In her online Writing Tips, she shows all the ways to "make your story sparkle." I especially liked her article, "How to Edit Your Children's Book." She explained all the ingredients for writing a winning story-- pace, word choice, transitions, endings, and more. And in her presentation on "Plotting a Children's Book," she provides a plot map--a visual on how she plots her stories. Another of my favorites was her article, "Creating Ideas for Children's Books." Ms. Opie explains the way to never run out of story ideas is to be always on the lookout for them--open to new possibilities at every turn in your everyday life. It means "thinking and behaving as a writer" in every moment.

Ms. Opie's site was chosen as one of Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for 2008. You can learn more about her at this YouTube interview. She offers online writing courses, as well.

And for more writing helps, visit my TIPS FOR WRITERS.