Tag: poetry
Language-Speaker Does Not A Writer Make
“Just because everybody uses language, that doesn’t mean that they can write even tolerable prose.”
― Stephen Jones
Share this:
Want to Write a Sonnet?
[found on livingapex.com; by Josh Rueff]
“Less is not less but more, more is not more but is less – unless less becomes less by becoming more. That being said, this is the formula for a sonnet:
The Shakespearean Sonnet
3 Quatrains + a Couplet = Sonnet.
Quick definition:
A quatrain is a set of 4 lines.
A couplet is a set of 2 lines.
It’s almost that simple. The sonnet is composed of nothing more, however, there are two more rules to follow while composing the sonnet:
Iambic Pentameter and
Sonnet rhyming pattern.
Each line of the sonnet contains 5 sets of “iambs”.
The Iamb
Quick definition:
One unstressed syllable, one stressed syllable.
Don’t get hung up on strange words – an iamb is simple – it sounds like this: baBOOM.
And looks like this: the CLOCK, or com PARE.
Iambic Pentameter
Quick definition:
Iambic Pentameter is 5 sets of iambs.
Iambic Pentameter looks and sounds like this: baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM.
Example: When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME
Sonnet rhyming pattern
Quick definition:
ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG.
Example:
First quatrain
Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? A
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: B
Second quatrain
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C
And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d; D
And every fair from fair sometime declines, C
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d: D
Third quatrain
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade E
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; F
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, E
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: F
Couplet
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, G
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G
So a sonnet consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet, following the sonnet rhyming pattern and iambic pentameter.”
[found on http://www.livingapex.com/how-to-write-a-sonnet-like-shakespeare]
Share this:
More Rhyming, and I Mean It!
“When you’ve got a thing to say,
Say it! Don’t take half a day.
When your tale’s got little in it
Crowd the whole thing in a minute!
Life is short–a fleeting vapor–
Don’t you fill the whole blamed paper
With a tale which, at a pinch,
Could be cornered in an inch!
Boil her down until she simmers,
Polish her until she glimmers.”
― Joel Chandler Harris
Share this:
River Boat Writer
“The process of writing a novel is like taking a journey by boat. You have to continually set yourself on course. If you get distracted or allow yourself to drift, you will never make it to the destination. It’s not like highly defined train tracks or a highway; this is a path that you are creating discovering. The journey is your narrative. Keep to it and there will be a tale told.”
― Walter Mosley, This Year You Write Your Novel
Share this:
Big Game Writer
“Writing is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big. The entire process is beyond intoxicating.”
― Kate Braverman
Share this:
Guts, Not Talent…Necessarily.
Finishing A Book…
“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.”
– Truman Capote
Share this:
Tell a story
“Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.”
– Anne McCaffrey
Share this:
Poetry Tools
Even writers of novels will run across the need to write a poem. Take J.K. Rowling for instance—how many poems and lyrics lace the pages of her hit series Harry Potter?
Here are some quick links to help poets on their journey:- RHYMES: Perhaps, you need to find a rhyme that has three syllables, and rhymes on the last two? Even if you just need a quick rhyme for a simple word—this tool is what you need: RhymeZone.
- THESAURUS: Have you been searching for a different word, it’s on the tip of your tongue, but you just…can’t…reach it? An online thesaurus is what you need: Thesaurus.
- DICTIONARY: Do you suddenly wonder if that word means what you think it means? Inconceivable! Use an all-encompassing online dictionary: MoreWords.
-
ACROSTIC: Poe used poetry that was mathematic, and shaped. He used acrostic form to a new level. The typical definition is “a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.” Poe used this form to hide the names of his mistresses within his art.
- Here is a dictionary to find certain letters within the words you need (i.e. you need a seven letter word, and the fourth letter has to be an R): Acrostic Dictionary.
- Crossword Cheats can be used in reverse to build an intense acrostic: Crossword Reverse.
Editing Addict, LLC 