POETRY TIP #3, THE LINE: LENGTH AND ENDINGS Poetry is written in lines and lines are grouped into stanzas. We can emphasize what we want to convey by where we place key words and phrases. The end of the line is the strongest position, the middle is the weakest. The length of the line influences how we read the poem aloud. In verse a traditional way to measure the line is by counting the number of stressed syllables. The kind of poetic foot (iambic, anapestic, trochaic, dactylic) establishes the meter. The meter and number of feet in the line are key factors in fixed forms such as a limerick or ballad stanza. Two feet = dimeter A flea known as Ralph Swallowed a cow (bugs, poems about creeping things) Overslept, Rain is pouring (Somebody Catch My Homework) Three feet = trimester Bradley always answers, We hate it when he answers, (Somebody Catch My Homework) To you it’s only homework, But I’m half wild with fright (Somebody Catch My Homework) Four feet = tetrameter Since Mama bought this stupid horn I hate the day that I was born (A Thousand Cousins) Bumping at the windowpane He fought against the solid air (The Alligator in the Closet) Five feet = pentameter The termite never eats the way it should, It’s not his fault, his food all tastes like wood. (bugs, poems about creeping things) I’m going to pound the cover off that ball! I’m going to blast it clear outside the park! (The Mouse was Out at Recess) Most modern verse is told in lines of five feet or fewer but now and then you may encounter a need for longer lines. Six feet = hexameter Seven feet = heptameter Eight feet = octameter Iambic pentameter that doesn’t rhyme, is known as blank verse. I’ve never seen old man McGrew in person. (People call him that behind his back.) (The Purchase of Small Secrets) Another important duty of the line is to tell the reader when to pause and when to keep reading. Punctuation at the end of a line signals the conclusion of a thought or a convenient spot to breathe or take a millisecond timeout to relish and consider the meaning of what was just read. That kind of line is called end-stopped; not very imaginative but descriptive of its duty. Said Mrs. Towers to Mr. Reeds, “Why do you water those wretched weeds?” (The Boy Who Counted Stars) Other lines are free of signals that the reader should tarry at the end so without hesitation we continue on into the line that follows. The thought being expressed is usually incomplete at the end, which further encourages us to rush ahead. Said Mr. Reeds, “Well, don’t you know That blue-ribbon weeds need water to grow?” (The Boy Who Counted Stars) Coming up next: punctuation, capitalization, and syllabic vs. accentual lines.

David

BULLETIN: I just posted my “road” poem, “The Price of Eggs.” I hope you enjoy it. My thanks to all the poets who have been entertaining us and making us think this month! I have already apologized to Laura Salas for leaving off the diary of her week, which was what the first part of her blog article prepared us to read. Laura has been most gracious and assured me that it’s okay, but you need to see the rest of her piece and here it is. if you need to get a running start from the first section, please refer to last Friday. Many of you commented then on how busy a working writer becomes but that wasn’t anything compared to the following blow by blow description of a “typical” week. Read on!

Monday

6 a.m.: Sleep in until 6! Blog about my horrific Mall of America event (which ate up 7 hours of event/driving time and about 15-20 hours of prep time—I sold 2 books. Yes, 2.). I try to keep my blog positive 90% of the time, but I don’t want to be a Polyana, either.

7:15-7:45: Make my blocked-out schedule for the week. I print out my weekly calendar and block off specific times for specific projects. Otherwise, I hugely overestimate what I can get done in a week.

7:45-8:15: Doing hourly PR work. Prepping for phone consultations with web designers. I hate phone calls.

8:15-9:00: A little bit of trade writing—yay! Randy takes Annabelle to the doctor this morning (sinus infection). Appts usually fall to me, since my schedule is more flexible. But I’m tired, and I don’t even protest once when he says he’ll take her. Start a rough draft of a rhyming picture book. I was trying a naptime topic as a collection of poems, but I wasn’t loving it. So today I try it as a zany rhyming picture book.

9-11: Aqua class at the gym. I don’t work out often during business hours, but my Mon. morning class gets me going. During class, I mentally write two lines for my naptime book. Woohoo!

11-11:30: Lunch

11:30-12: Emails regarding school visits, a guest blog post interview I’m conducting, and a few other misc biz emails.

12-3:30: Hourly PR work. Two long phone consultations with web designers.

3:30-4:30: Freelance web updating work. I’m glad I do this work for Children’s Literature Network and Winding Oak. This means all the emails I send back and forth are with children’s writers and illustrators, or at the very least, children’s lit lovers!

Tuesday

5:30: Blog about One Book I Love.

7:15-9:30: Meeting at school plus two quick errands.

9:30-10: 30 minutes is all I get for trade writing today. Dang.

10-10:30: Order Christmas gifts.

10:30-11: Return my new Clarion editor’s phone call to talk about my book that he’s taking over. SO happy to see it moving forward after a long hiatus.

11:35-12:40: Work on Christmas ABCs. Shortened my work for hire time by an hour because of school meeting & Christmas stuff. But this book is going faster than the Zoo ABCs one. Yay!

12:45-2:15: Freelance PR work. Another phone consultation re web design. Did I mention I hate phone calls?

2:15-3:15: Web editing.

3:15-4: Wrapping the front door with one daughter. Making dinner for the other daughter, who’s going to work at 4.

4-5:15: Web editing.

Wednesday

5:15-5:45: Blog.

7-7:30: Work on Napping book.

8:30-9: Work on Napping book.

9-10: Finish rough draft of letter text for Christmas ABCs.

10-11: Visit nearby school to drop off donated books in hopes this will spur book orders ahead of my January school visit. And stop by grocery store for soup ingredients. (The soup turns out awful. Might as well not have bothered.)

11-12: Hourly PR work. This wasn’t on my schedule, but something has come up, so I’ve stolen some time from my Christmas ABC block for today. Call me Scrooge.

12-12:30: Lunch.

12:30-1:15: Answering emails. Where do they all come from? I get close to 100 emails a day that require actions or responses. I wonder how overflowing the inboxes are for famous writers?

1:15-1:45: Working on lesson plan for January young authors conference.

1:45-4:00: Winding Oak web editor work.

Thursday

5:30: Blog.

6:15-6:30: Make a few changes on my Napping ms from good ideas people shared on my blog. Flying jellybeans. Love it!

7:30-8:15: Frantically change and reorder a photo album Christmas gift. Crap.

9-1: Downtown Minneapolis for my crit group meeting, then lunch with Randy. With windchill it’s 11 below zero, the roads are a mess, and I’m exhausted! On the way home, I brainstorm image ideas for my PR client.

1-1:30: Household stuff/phone calls.

1:30-2: PR work.

2-2:30: Clear the worst of the main level clutter for someone coming over to the house that night. The house is always a mess.

2:30: Leave for weekly dr’s appt.

I usually try not to do writing work at night and on weekends. But when things get too crazy, I have to. Tonight, while sitting at Barnes & Noble, I work about 45 minutes on Christmas ABC to make up a little bit for not getting to the hour and a half of it I was supposed to do this morning.

Friday:

5:15: Blog an original poem. I’m so behind on blog reading and commenting. Because Dec. is so busy, I’ve changed my morning routine, and I kind of post and run. The rest of the year, I get up and do my morning pages. Then I post on my blog, read and comment on some other blogs. Then I read five poems and I also write a daily poem. This is kind of my morning routine and none of it counts toward my “work” time. But December is really stressful to me, and I usually need extra morning time to do stuff like start dinner in the crockpot, make artichoke dip for a get-together (today), or wrap some gifts (this coming Monday morning before my crit group meeting that day).

7:45-8:40: Work on Christmas ABC. Also reply to editor re revisions of Zoo ABCs. They want LESS zoo info and more animal info. Ack.

9-12:45: At aqua class and then holiday get-together. Ack again. I had planned to be home by 12. I am SO behind.

12:45-1:15: Writing 10 Things You Don’t Know About Me for a table piece for an author event in February. It’s hard to come up with things you don’t know about me that you might want to know about me. Two totally different things!

1:15-2:30: Write glossary and citations and then polish Christmas ABCs. Turn in to editor. Yay!

2:30-3:10: Daughter’s home. Catching up after school and opening mail.

3:10-3:40: Web editing phone call.

3:40-4:05: Biz emails.

Done with work for the day. Looking at my week’s calendar/schedule and my to-do list, I definitely didn’t get to everything because of my extra social outings and school appointment. So…I’ll probably need to do 3-5 hours of work this weekend to stay on schedule. Next week is just as filled with distractions:>)

And there you have it. Way more than you wanted to know about a week in the life of a working writer. I love writing for kids, but I must admit I’d like to mix in a few more days with long writing sessions at coffee shops or by those elusive rushing streams. Ah well. Something to add to my 2010 Writing Goals List.

Laura, thanks again for your careful, thoughtful presentation. Now more than ever, you’ve given readers valuable insight and practical information.
David

If you want to see a creative mind at work, look at the illustrations of Rob Shepperson. Rob and I collaborated on bugs, poems about creeping things, and Vacation, We’re Going to the Ocean. When I think I’m being funny, Rob makes the situation still funnier. His quick wit and finely tuned sense for what makes kids of all ages smile make him an ideal partner. There’s a lot to know about Rob and it will be my pleasure to introduce him to you in an upcoming guest blog.

As of yesterday we have already received a dozen poems by adults who have accepted this month’s challenge to write a poem inspired by a single word: road. Thanks to all of you for sharing your work. I know your poems will inspire others to join the fun. We’ve been visited by many readers, several of whom have left comments, and you can be assured that your poetry will be seen by a growing number of friends and fans before the month is over.

 

I had the pleasure of introducing Word of the Month Poetry Challenge during my presentations in Denver at the Colorado Council of International Reading Association, one of the truly fine conferences in America. I asked teachers who attended my sessions what they thought of this project and the feedback was strongly positive. I hope to see students in Colorado sharing their poems with us in the near future.

My thanks to Mary Nida Smith for her response to my query about what you think good, bad, or indifferent about this blog. The question is still before the house for anyone who wishes to offer constructive advice.

 

For those who check the monthly Teaching Tools on the Teacher page, the February addition is up, thanks to Kathy Temean. Also thanks to Kathy, the new word puzzle is up on the Kids page. It’s one of the best yet so check it out.

David

Do you have a poem about your first job? Mine seems so long ago now. It was! Thomas Market was a small grocery story by today’s standards but it had a bakery in back and sold fresh bread and pastries each day. Cleaning up after bakers was a lot more work than I had ever imagined. The market is long gone. Now it is occupied by a Panera restaurant, which I frequent for coffee and fresh pastries. Oh, the memories I have when I bite into a blueberry muffin and recall those mouse tracks in the flour.
David

Hello from Denver everyone,

Yesterday I spoke at both of my presentations about Word of the Month Poetry Challenge and received good input. I’ll report more about that next week when I’m home and get to it. I’m also behind on my plan to post a poetry tip on Wednesday so I’ll try to do better on that too.

Right now I’m looking back over the months since last August when Kathy Temean helped me start this blog, and I’m wondering how you feel about it? A lot of my writing friends ask why I’ve been spending so much time on it and I’ve been telling them that I enjoy the challenge but don’t have a clear notion of where I’m going or whether I’m accomplishing what visitors and participants would like to see happen.

So maybe this is a good time to simply ask you. Are there elements of this blog that you like or don’t like? Things you would change, delete, add?

This is a genuine request for input. Someone needs to tell me if I’m taking us in the wrong direction. I need to know if I’m spending too much time on poetry and not enough on fiction and nonfiction.

I hope at least some of you will find the time to give me your take and suggestions. I will appreciate hearing your thoughts.

David

What strikes me about these guests on my blog is that they are all so BUSY! Busy in all sorts of ways. Getting things done. Taking care of business. And every one of them has to deal with all manner of interruptions, inconveniences, obligations, and care giving. Yet they all somehow manage to work at their craft no matter what. For a perfect example of what I mean, read on!

No Typical Week

When I worked various office jobs, I always thought it would be so cool to “be a writer.” I’d sit by rushing streams or in coffee shops, dreamily jotting great thoughts.

Hardly. Now I’ve been working full-time as a freelance writer/editor/web editor for a few years and reality has sunk in. The dreamy poet’s life, unconcerned with deadlines and royalty checks, is not going to be mine. Instead, I juggle a million things daily.

So, I thought I’d share my reality with you. I’ve already shared the income side of things (http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/109047.html and http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/167313.html) for people who are wondering if all writers are rich (to which I say, “Ha!”). But I do manage to earn a somewhat livable income from my writing and related work, and I’ve had lots of people wonder how I structure my days. So I thought I’d share.

The secret is: Juggle. A million different things, if at all possible. In 2009, I wrote 12 books for the educational market, finished three trade books (one of which has an offer in on it, but the other two are unsold at the moment), and worked on five trade books still in progress. I revised a poetry collection several times for my editor, who had already bought the collection. I taught six online multi-week courses and did three weeks’ worth of school visits and young authors conferences. I wrote 10 nonfiction passages and about 25 poems for two different assessment companies. I did 200 hours of web editing on a freelance basis, and 100 hours of hourly public relations work. Add to that the vast numbers of hours I spent marketing my first trade book, Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, blogging, keeping business records, social networking, keeping my website updated, and answering emails, and you start to see why I feel just a little scattered most of the time. My multi-tasking brain is withering by the day, and sometimes I can’t even find my laptop, let alone produce anything creative on it!

Anyway, I thought I’d share a typical week with you. But first, a few definitions:

Writing books for the trade market. These “trade books” are the kind of books sold at bookstores. I would love to do this full-time! It’s when I come up with the idea, write the book, and then sell it to a publisher. And if a miracle happens, people actually buy it! But it’s incredibly hard to sell trade books. Since this is a small part of my income, it’s a very small part (sob) of my daily schedule. Many weeks, I only get to devote a couple of hours to my trade writing.

Writing books and assessment materials for the educational market. Educational books are ones I write under contract for educational publishers. Publisher’s idea, publisher’s title, publisher’s structure. This is pen-for-hire stuff. It’s still interesting and much better than any office job to me. Educational writing takes up most of my writing time when I have books under deadline.

Web editing work. I maintain and update webpages through both Winding Oak and the Children’s Literature Network. 

Teaching/Speaking: I do most teaching online now. When I started the hourly public relations work for a local company, though, I knew I’d have to choose between teaching and PR due to time limits. In early 2010, I have to evaluate and see which one I plan to continue.

School Visits: I give presentations to K-6 kids about writing. I’m trying to increase this part of my career, since it’s a convergence of connecting with kids, promoting books, and earning income.

Truthfully, I have no typical weeks. From month to month, my schedule changes a lot depending on whether it’s school visit “season” or I have lots of deadlines or sick kids or travel or what. But here’s one week from early December. Time that isn’t covered is non-work time, like family breakfast before everyone leaves for school or work, an occasional shower, etc.!

Many thanks to Laura. I hope you’ll comment or ask questions about today’s blog guest . Our operators are standing by.

David

BULLETIN: I’M OUT OF HERE FOR A FEW DAYS. SORRY I HAVEN’T HAD TIME YET TO RESPOND TO ALL THESE GOOD POEMS THAT ARE COMING IN AND WELCOME NEW POETS TO THE GROUP. I’LL DO BETTER WHEN I GET BACK!

Today it’s my pleasure to post a bio of Laura Purdie Salas. I first met Laura when she was nice enough to review a book of mine and our conversation led to an interview. The book was Pirates so naturally we both wanted to get the artist, Dan Burr, into the act. I was impressed by the way Laura handled the whole affair and looked forward to meeting her one day. I eventually had that opportunity when we both wound up on one of Marilyn Singer’s poetry blasts, which was great fun. Tomorrow you’ll enjoy Laura’s guest blog. You’ll find much to learn from her. For now, here’s her bio.

As a kid, Laura Purdie Salas devoured books. They were pieces of magic that showed her the world before disappearing down the library book drop. Since her parents constantly ordered her to “Go outside and get some fresh air,” she read a lot in her tree house or on the trampoline.

After working as a magazine editor and an 8th-grade English teacher, Laura decided to try to create some magic herself. She has published more than 60 poetry and nonfiction books, including STAMPEDE! POEMS ABOUT THE WILD SIDE OF SCHOOL and SHRINKING DAYS, FROSTY NIGHTS: POEMS ABOUT FALL. She enjoys school visits and connecting poems with kids, no matter what their age, mood, or personality.In addition to writing books and visiting schools, Laura also teaches online writing classes, speaks at writing conferences, writes materials for the educational market, does a bit of freelance PR work, and does website maintenance for a few children’s writers. And spends a lot of time trying to keep her schedule straight! You can find out more about Laura and her work at www.laurasalas.com  and laurasalas.livejournal.com .  

David

Okay, I’ve run out of time. I need to gather my thoughts before leaving for Denver tomorrow. I’m working on a set of poems. I haven’t packed and I have a lot of last minute preparations to make, including making sure that my mom, now 97, has everything she needs while I’m out of pocket for four days. We’ve already seen six good poems posted by adults in the first two days of the month. I’m in awe of the energy and talent we’re seeing here. And I’m grateful that so many of you are taking the time to come here to visit, comment, and share. I’ll do my best to get something new and interesting up while I’m in Denver. You already know that Laura Purdie Salas is my guest this Friday. We have the journal question on the table and so far only Mary Nida Smith has contributed to that. In the meantime please make yourself at home. Visit among yourselves. If someone makes a comment that appeals to you, follow up and keep it going. The door is unlocked.

REMINDER: THE WORD THIS MONTH IS ROAD. IF YOU’RE TUNING IN LATE, TIME WAS THE WORD FOR LAST MONTH. WE’LL GET THE OFFICIAL CHANGE MADE SHORTLY.

David

Yesterday I received excellent news from an old friend. Bobbi Katz has accepted my invitation to make a guest appearance here on Friday, April 9.

BULLETIN: This morning I put into a bowl the names of those who signed my website guest book for the first time during January and drew out a winner. Congratulations to Ken Slesarik. Ken has chosen to send me some of his poetry to be critiqued. I look forward to reading more of Ken’s work.

Thursday I’ll leave Springfield to attend CCIRA in Denver. Friday I’ll make a presentation on poetry and also join my friend and co-author Kathy Holderith in a second presenation. CCIRA is a great reading conference and I’m always pleased to be part of it. One of the things I’ll talk about is Word of the Month Poetry Challenge. Maybe we’ll start getting more poems from Colorado. I would like that.

This month’s teaching tool on my website (go to Teachers) is about journaling and idea files. It should be up in the next day or so. Not everyone keeps a journal but quite a few writers do and I think it might be a good conversation point.

Please let us know your thoughts and your practices of keeping ideas in some form. If you keep a journal, when did you start? How often do you write in it? What kind of entries do you make? Do you also keep folders of ideas, scraps from articles, and other tidbits that might lead to something to write about? I hope someone will get us going rght away.

On a silly note, we have uninvited guests in our attic. Raccoons are up there and by the sounds I’d say they’re bowling, square dancing, or enjoying the mating season. Sandy read on the Internet that loud music might drive them off so last night I pulled down the stairs, climbed into the attic, turned on a radio full blast, and left it there until we went to bed. I haven’t heard from the raccoons today but it can’t be this easy. I have a feeling that before this is over we’ll be fighting over which station to listen to. Stay, uh, tuned.
David

Dan Burr

and I had a terrific time creating Pirates. Dan will explain how he and I worked on the book and share numerous helpful insights into how a first rate artist thinks and approaches each project when he appears as my blog guest on March 19. I’m excited to present him to you.

It’s hard to image that we’re now entering our fifth month of Word of the Month Poetry Challenge. Each month we are joined by a large percentage of poets who take the challenge regularly and welcome several new poets who have joined us. I thought you might like a recap of our Hall of Fame Poet and Hall of Fame Young Poet winners from the first four complete months. No one can win twice during the twelve month period ending this September, but that doesn’t keep our previous winners from sharing their poetry each month and garnering their share of votes from fans old and new. Congratulations again to all winners and everyone who has become part of this monthly exercise that’s meant to strengthen our imaginative approach to writing, be it poetry or anything else.

Hall of Fame Winners

OCTOBER Word: Dirt
Adult Poet, Mimi Cross, New Jersey, Dirt Blues
Young Poet, Alyssa Kirch, Missouri, Mud Pie

NOVEMBER Word: Thanks
Adult Poet, Liz Korba, New Jersey, You’re Welcome
Young Poet, Claire Scott, Maryland, Thanks for Nothing
DECEMBER Word: Bone
Adult Poet, Linda Kulp, Maryland , Wishes
Young Poet, Priya Shah, Maryland, A Mother’s Wish
JANUARY Word: Time
Adult Poet, Steven Withrow, Rhode Island, The Time Ship
Young Poet, John Sullivan, Ohio, End

FEBRUARY Word: Road