In honor of National Poetry Month (April), I talk about how fiction writers can wade into the murky waters of a writing a simple poem to help find their fictional characters’ voices. Check out my article on the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers blog: “Using Poetry to Explore a Character’s Voice in Fiction.”
poetry
Repurposing Those Writing Fragments – On the RMFW Blog
If you’re like me (and every other writer), you’ve got a folder (or 12) of scraps of writing you’ve never done anything with. Writing exercises, ideas for scenes you never used, character sketches for characters you deleted after the second chapter. Those writing fragments can be mined and repurposed, turned into something new, or maybe […]
Inspiration, That Flighty Kitten
Inspiration, That Flighty Kitten by Kelley J. P. Lindberg Inspiration, that flighty kitten,is hard to keep to task.The world is so full, after all,of shine and color and ripplingsun-sparkles on fast-moving water,drawing all six sensesin every direction away.If I depend on her to getanything done, this page will remainopaque as white pixels.It’s up to me, […]
When the Internet Returns Lost Things
When I was young and in school, two poems found me and wedged themselves into my memory like a shim wedging a gap beneath a door. The first was in high school. It was written, said our teacher, by a person in a jail cell, looking out his very tiny window. I remember neither the […]
Amanda Gorman’s Poem for a New Dawn: “The Hill We Climb”
A friend of mine is an online teacher of 8th and 9th graders this year. Usually an in-classroom math teacher, this year she wanted to teach 100% online due to Covid-19, so she agreed to teach the full slate of subjects to students who opted for full-time online courses. After the holiday break, she had […]
New Year’s Resolutions: How to Douse a Dumpster Fire
The phrase “dumpster fire” seems to have been invented purely for the year 2020. With the year’s passing, most of us are looking with sad puppy-dog eyes at 2021, hoping for a smidgeon of mercy. A modicum of normalcy. An ounce of civility. And a big ol’ dollop of hope. But, of course, we all […]
