November 15, 2008



It's (Inter)National Novel Writing Month, and so many of you have signed up to write 50,000 words of solid story. In case you missed it, and need some extra help, try ^StJoan's excellent collection of novel-writing resources, The Gear Up: Tackling NaNoWriMo, and `PunknEra's 10 Tips for Novel Writing. In a strange twist of affairs, this month will focus on poetry, which is a result of the alternating scheme I've been using. So, um, hopefully this will be useful when you get back to writing poetry.

What you will find in this news article: Form(ing) poetry -- A list of resources on formal poetry | Recent finds | Resource news | Read this | Literature Daily Deviations: October 2008 | I need your feedback

Form(ing) poetry

Formal poetry scares a lot of people, me included. Ever since we started writing free verse, we discovered the liberty of writing lines as long or as short as we like, not being constrained by having to rhyme words and rhyme them well, of being able to write without following a particular metrical scheme. In the process, some of us forget the importance -- and benefit -- of using poetic forms like the sonnet or villanelle. Admittedly, this is not my expertise, but as *SRSmith suggested, I should try writing about things that are new to me. This would help me learn something, and hopefully reach out to others in a similar situation. First, I will talk about my own experience with formal poetry, and then I'll give you some general links. So here goes nothing.

This month I decided to write a novel in verse. Not only that, I decided to use a constraint while writing. I had heard a lot about writing constraints, about how it paradoxically liberates you, of how new and exciting patterns begin to emerge on the page, of how it forces you to be use a more precise diction by challenging your vocabulary. So I picked sestinas, one of the most difficult forms there is in poetry. So far, I've written ten sestinas, and all those wonderful things I had heard about formal poetry: all true. In brief, a sestina consists of six 6-line stanzas. In the second stanza, the six end-words of the previous stanza are reused in the following pattern: 6-1-5-2-4-3. In the third stanza, the end-words of the second stanza are used in the same pattern. In other words, you are using the same end-words throughout the six stanzas in the following order:

Stanza one: 1-2-3-4-5-6
Stanza two: 6-1-5-2-4-3
Stanza three: 3-6-4-1-2-5
Stanza four: 5-3-2-6-1-4
Stanza five: 4-5-1-3-6-2
Stanza six: 2-4-6-5-3-1

The last three lines (or tercet) form what is known as the envoi. Each of these lines has two of the end-words in it. One of the end-words should be in the middle of the line, and the next at the end of the line. The order in which the end-words should be used is variable. In the resource linked above, the order 6-2/1-4/5-3 is prescribed, but I have found other resources which suggest different orders. I used 1-2/3-4/5-6 in my sestinas and no one has complained so far.

Before you start writing sestinas, read some first. *tightwhitepants sent me a link to contemporary sestinas at McSweeney's Internet Tendency, which were great fun to read. My favourite was I'm Obsessed With My Wife by Nicole Steinberg.

What metrical scheme should I use when writing a sestina? According to `darkcrescendo, "Metre is a poetic device that allows you to consciously orchestrate the flow of rhythm in a poem by paying attention to the natural rise and fall of the spoken word, and how to align those patterns of word-emphasis in an effective way." By regulating the stresses in your poem, you produce the music or rhythm of the poem. As far as I know, all good rhyming poetry follows a metrical scheme. For example, English sonnets are written in iambic pentametre. In case of sestinas, you can use iambic pentametre or any other decasyllabic metre. Whatever you use, it should be consistent throughout the poem. (Don't worry if the terminology sounds scary. It's not that hard to pick up, and I have some excellent guides for you, with links, later in this article.) After asking a couple of people, I found that you don't need to use a metrical scheme in sestinas. If you want to, go ahead, but it's not necessary. I chose to write unmetrical sestinas, because it allowed me to vary the line length and play around with sound. (And also because I still suck at metre.)

How should I start writing the sestina? When you are writing a villanelle, people say it's best to write the final couplet first and then move backwards. For the sonnet, there is no such advice to be given. Some say you should first choose six end-words and then start writing; others say, write the envoi first. I say: experiment and see what works for you. In my case, I began with writing six lines of free verse. I made sure I was breaking after a "good" end-word. From the second stanza onwards, it was a question of structuring my lines so that the right end-word came at the end of each line.

What is a "good" end-word? Are variations allowed? It is best to pick an end-word that has variable meanings. For example, "stalk" can mean "plant stem" or "follow". It works both as a noun and a verb. As for variations, that's up to you. Since each end-word is used seven times, I prefer using variations. It allows for the repetitions not to appear obtrusive. How much you want to vary your end-words is also your decision. I go all out. E.g. "dogs", "dok", "dog-society", "doggedly", "dog-eared" and "dog-lover" are part of the same word-family, according to me.

That's it about sestinas, then. If you have any questions, ask away. Not that ten sestinas makes me an expert. Heh.

A challenge. I'd like to challenge you to use a poetic form in your writing, especially if you have never tried formal poetry before, or thought it was old-fashioned and archaic. If you're used to formal poetry, why not try a completely new form?

The first thing you need to remember is that most forms require you to write in metre. This is not an easy skill to develop, but if you remember how rhythmic your favourite nursery rhymes were, you'll see that it's worth learning this skill. Here are some guides to help you.

Metre Learning Guide by `darkcrescendo, posted at ~PoetryLibrary
Lesson 1 - Basics of Meter by ~Professor-Flare
Handout 1 - More on Scansion by ~Professor-Flare
Lesson 2 - More Meter by ~Professor-Flare

Now, to help you pick a form, here is an extensive (though not complete) lists of poetic forms that you can try out: The Acrostic (Greek origin), The Ballade and Chant Royale (French origin), Ballads (Unknown origin), Bref Double (French origin), The Cinquain (American origin, Japanese influence), Clerihew (British origin), The Conachlonn (Irish origin), A Memo On Elegies (Greek origin), The Ghazal (Persian origin), The Glosa (Spanish origin), A Memo On Kyrielle (Unknown origin), The Luc Bat (Spanish origin) (Vietnamese origin), A Memo On McWhirtles (American origin), Palindromes (Greek origin), Pantoums (Malaysian origin, popularised by the French), Ottava Rima (Italian origin), Rannaicheacht Ghairid (Irish origin), The Rictameter, Rondel Rondel Prime (French origin), Sapphic Verse (Greek origin), Sestinas (French origin), The Sonnet (Italian, British, other), Terza Rima (Italian origin), The Tetractys (British origin), The Triolet (French origin) and The Villanelle (French origin).

If you take this challenge up, do write to me (by note) about your experience. I'd love to know what happened. Good luck!

Recent finds

Poetry

Punctuation and Poetry by ~LaMonaca
A Memo On McWhirtles by =Keraness
Haibun: Introduction, Structure, Linkage and Modern Renga by `Laurence55

Prose

Guaranteed Popular Writing by *phantom-inker
Voice... For and About Kids by *simplyprose
Storylining Technique by ~frostbain

Critique/Revision

How to Revise or Critique by `SparrowSong
A Guide to Positive Critiques by *PoetryPlease

Grammar

Common Errors: Lose and Loose by *simplyprose
Common Errors: Lead and Led by *simplyprose

Publishing

Cover letters: the why and how by ^lovetodeviate

Resource news

As part of Staff Appreciation Day (October 16), `breaking-reality interviewed ^LadyLincoln (here) and me (here). I also found an interview of ^StJoan from last year's series here. Please note that we are now known as Gallery Moderators, not Gallery Directors.

Continuing with interviews, last month, I interviewed ~wordworks. You can read the interview here. This month, I will be posting an interview with `fllnthblnk, so look out for that.

Resource Central: Part One and Resource Central: Part Two have been updated. Once more, I discovered that there is not enough space for my resources in the first journal, and I don't know what to do.

The Lit List: Bi-weekly newsletter has information on recent contests, prompts, workshops and other lit activities.

Read this

Visual Poetry Today by Geof Huth

"Few visual poems these days function as poems do. Instead, they encompass a wide range of verbo-visual creations that focus on the textual materiality of language. The form includes poems written as mathematical equations, collage poems, xerographic pieces that include no words but concentrate on the meaning that has built up within the shapes of letters, and even asemic writings in invented scripts created to mean through shape rather than word. Visual poetry is written for the eye, but its methods and intentions, even in those works most limited in their verbal content, are always poetic, always compelling the reader forward into the transformative power of language, always entranced by—and entrancing through—the text that is before us."

Read this feature of visual poetry at Poetry Magazine.

Literature Daily Deviations: October 2008

Poetry - Fixed

Full Fathom Five by *crowhesghost (Horror & Macabre)
How to Write a Sestina by ~LadyEponine (General, Sestina)
Modern Magic by *tightwhitepants (Spiritual)
M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H> by =WarthogDemon (Transgressive)

Poetry - Haiku & Eastern

affection drive by *oldest-boy (Urban)

Poetry - Open

Seasons of Violet by ~clockwork-aristocrat (Narrative)
Paper Moth Wing by *ColdContactKiss (Other Romance)
All His Milestones On Film by ~dentalplan (Family Life)
Shame, shame + a lousy nickname by ~discocabrado (Transgressive)
moth-eated curtains by *Effamay (Human Nature)
Role Reversal by ~itsnotmeyousee (Open)
Passenger by ~kaujot (General)
glass jars by ~Miss-Deathwish (General)
transformation by ~r-mitchell (Spiritual)

Prose - Fiction

Braille by ~alice-ophelia (Perspectives)
Under the Umbrella by ~chugglepuff (Perspectives)
A Tasty Treat by =DarcKnyt (Horror)
Letter to Santa, From Johnny by *deZtornmind (Transgressive)
Piltdown Man by ~elephant-ears (Transgressive)
The Umbrella Letters by ~ementhal (Sociopolitical)
emotions with longer names by ~FriedPickles (Teen Romance)
Synchro-City by *Queen-of-Marigold (Science Fiction)
Never Hit a Lady by `RetroZombie (Occult)
Oxford by ~wordworks (Mystery)

Prose - Non-fiction

Make Him Breathe- Revised by ~ParaKisses (General)

Resources

Top Ten Grammar Errors by *phantom-inker

Some of these Daily Deviations were suggested by `Amberlouie, ~dimerization, =Evanescenceheart, ~fm-vorassi, `GaioumonBatou, ~Iscariot-Priest, ~LineCount, =LittleLottexo, *Negated, *rottenpeeches, *sfm, *WordCount, *xxLadyBugxx, =yourpleasantdarkness and ~Zneak.

_{Sorry if I have missed anyone out. It was not intentional. Let me know and I will rectify the mistake.}

Previous Write news articles: Write #1: Proof it! | Write #2: Why haiku? | Write #3: To publish or not to publish | Write #4: Figuratively speaking | Write #5: Caricature vs character

I need your feedback.

How can this news article be improved? What topics should I tackle next? Is my resource central missing certain articles? Have you a question or answer for me? Note me! -- ^lovetodeviate