Poetry Writing For Wanna-Be's^Tm: A Writer-Friendly Guidebook Including the Author's Chapbook of Light Verse, "Poems Are Such Funny Stuff."

By Sam McCarver

After reading and enjoying poetry, many of us become "wanna-be poets" wanting to develop our own skills and style by learning from experiences of others. The goal is to write our own poems in readable, entertaining form. This simple, practical, handy guide provides the background and essentials you need for writing your poems.

In Part One, "Poetry Writing For Wanna-be's", you'll learn about various poetry forms from traditional to free verse. You'll read about poetry and poets and use valuable reference lists of poetry forms and terms. You'll learn how to critique a poem and discover more about public poetry readings and getting published. And you'll be able to begin writing your poems right away, with confidence that you know the principles involved.

In Part Two, "Poems Are Such Funny Stuff", you'll enjoy and learn from the author's chapbook of 30 of his light verse poems. They include a variety of themes and structures, some poems with rhyme and meter, some in free verse, ranging from humor and whimsy to deeper thought addressing topics of today, and supplementing other examples in the text. Poetry offers an enjoyable experience, especially in its creation. Have fun!

Praise for Sam McCarver's novels:
"Wonderful fun John and Penny are emerging as a formidable team that will have readers looking forward to their next adventure." -The Mystery Reader

"Entertaining, fast-paced. McCarver does a masterful job."

"McCarver's descriptive process makes the world of 1916 England come to life " -Romantic Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 27, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595854349

Sam McCarver

Sam McCarver has taught writing workshops on general fiction, novels and poetry-writing in universities and other centers in Southern California for seven years. Of his six novels, five were published by Penguin Putnam, Inc. and one by Five Star. This handy guide offers for wanna-be poets what his iUniverse book, Novel Writing For Wanna-be's?, has provided for beginning novelists.

Book preview

POETRY WRITING

FOR WANNA-BES™

A WRITER-FRIENDLY GUIDEBOOK

INCLUDING

THE AUTHOR’S CHAPBOOK OF LIGHT

VERSE, POEMS ARE SUCH FUNNY STUFF

Sam McCarver

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

POETRY WRITING FOR WANNA-BE’S™

A WRITER-FRIENDLY GUIDEBOOK INCLUDING THE AUTHOR’S CHAPBOOK OF LIGHT VERSE, POEMS ARE SUCH FUNNY STUFF

Copyright © 2006 by Sam McCarver

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse 2021

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Lincoln, NE 68512

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-41074-3 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-85434-9 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-41074-X (pbk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-85434-6 (ebk)

Contents

PART ONE 

INTRODUCTION 

BEGINNINGS 

RHYME AND METER 

STRUCTURE 

POEMS AND POETS 

CHANGES IN POETRY 

CRITIQUING POETRY 

POETRY READINGS 

WRITING YOUR POEMS 

POETRY CHAPBOOKS 

GETTING PUBLISHED 

APPENDIX BOOKS ON POETRY 

APPENDIX SOME COMMON POETRY TERMS 

APPENDIX

PART TWO

POEMS ARE SUCH FUNNY STUFF

KIDS IN LOVE

THE PYGGY

PREFERENCES

SOUP KITCHEN

IMAGINATION

IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

METAMORPHOSIS

RAINDROPS

THE SOURCE

SOME HAVE DRAMA.

HAUNTED CASTLE

LAST STOP

THE VERDICT

THE VOYAGE

LOVE AND JOY…

FALLING OUT

DEAR DIARY

MORNING

SKIPPING ALONG THE SIDEWALK

EQUINOX

ISLAND THOUGHTS

LAMENT FOR ERIN

NO GOODBYE

EXPLORATION

Endnotes

PART TWO: THE AUTHOR’S CHAPBOOK OF LIGHT VERSE: POEMS ARE SUCH FUNNY STUFF

CONTENTS

Part Two consists of a selection of the author’s light poems, grouped around a common theme. Some are in rhyme and meter, such as iambic pentameter, some are in fixed classic forms, such as villanelles, and others are in free verse. They were chosen to illustrate various poetry styles and types and elements discussed in the text with various subjects in a variety of moods.

The 30 poems are listed at the beginning of Part Two.

PART ONE 

POETRY WRITING

FOR. WANNA-BE’S™

A POETRY GUIDEBOOK

INTRODUCTION 

POETRY IS ART

Each form of art—whether it is music, painting, sculpture, poetry, engraving, literature, drama, photography, motion pictures or other forms of art—contains many common elements: Expression, emotion, clarity, theme, point of view, and, very importantly, communication. Communication with the audience varies widely because the desire and ability to communicate the artist’s intent to the audience are purely subjective.

Some artists may not desire to communicate feelings, intent, or message at all. The work may be strictly personal, for the artist alone. Others may want to reach only a small, select audience. And still others may want to reach the widest possible audience. If the work is to be very private, it may have a low level of accessibility. If a wide audience is desired, then greater accessibility may be provided by the artist.

There are human reasons for these variations. One artist may be restricted by education, training or language or tools in the attempt to communicate intentions to others, while another artist may have a great ability to communicate clearly what it is desired. That ability is something that can be learned and developed through practice.

ACCESSIBILITY

With great ability and the desire to do so, an artist may offer great accessibility to the work, the ability to understand it. With little ability or desire to do so, another artist may offer little accessibility, and the audience must do what it can to discover meaning in the work. In no art form is this more true than in poetry. It can be very private, or very open. In the one case, readers don’t understand it, in the other they feel that they do.

CREATING ACCESS TO POEMS

As in other art forms, the accessibility of individual poems—in the case of poetry perhaps as well called understandability—results, then, from a combination of the poet’s desire and ability. The poet may want few to understand his poem or many. The intent may be to want poems to be exclusive, resonating only for a select audience, or there may be a desire to make the work accessible and understood by a wide audience. And, as in other art, his capacity to accomplish such goals may be limited by ability.

But beyond the factors or desire and ability, there can be a further limitation on the accessibility of poetry. The poet may not understand the importance or relevance of letting others grasp and appreciate the meaning of the message or feelings expressed. This area offers a challenge for every poet—the challenge of persuading oneself of the importance of others understanding a poet’s intent, realizing the essence of the poem, and appreciating the communication from writer to reader. Each poet will address this challenge and the issue of communication of the meaning of poems written, the impact being the writing