Rest assured that this page will fill out considerably over the course of the coming year. To get things started, here are a handful of very helpful links for beginning your self-directed writer’s education program here at BCPaW-U!
What Is Poetry? – A scholarly article that does a good job of describing how poetry differs from prose.– “[Poetry] …may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader’s or listener’s mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry…”
The Elements of the Story – A solid article on the process of creating the “traditional story,” by Todd James Pierce. “Only a few stories, such as Madame Bovary, attempt to cover a character’s complete life. Most stories, however, limit themselves to a year, a week, a day, even an hour. A story, for example, might begin the first day of Spring and end the first day of Summer. Most stories focus their attention on a limited time. In such a story, pattern is important…”
The Best Advice I Ever Received – Another terrific article from Todd James Pierce. The advice? “Become the character, and then write… To become the character, you must understand the character and his world. The traditional technique of Strasberg focuses on sensory detail, hoping by an accumulation of particularly information that the character’s world will open up and the actor, or conversely the writer, will be able to inhabit this fictional world and become the character….”
PoeWar Article Page – Literally hundreds of short, clear and useful articles on every “how to” aspect of writing, in categories including Poetry, Essays, Fiction, Freelancing, MFA Programs, Publishing, Book Reviews, Technical Writing and General Writing. Heaps of information communicated in brief, no-nonsense prose, lots of bulleted lists, etc. Brought to you by John Hewitt.
How to Submit a Short Story – “I’m astonished by how many are terrified to have others read their work. I’ve found that many people are happy to have a few readers. Some writers will post work on their myspace or web pages and let 100s of people read it, but they are afraid to get 1 rejection from an editor. This is silly…”
How do I format my manuscript? – “Here is a 10 part easy to follow checklist that we feel answers most questions people have when they are submitting a manuscript to a publisher.”
Finishing Your Novel – A long and instructive meditation on the process of finishing that half-formed novel, with lots of practical advice from Timothy Hallinan, writing instructor and author of 11 published novels. “I’ve been writing novels (and teaching about writing novels) for twenty years, and one thing I’ve learned is how to finish. I’d estimate that 98% of all the novels people begin are never completed. Every person who abandons a book feels that he or she has a good reason, but my experience suggests that most of those books could have been finished – the writer just came up against something he or she couldn’t handle…”
Poetry Writing: Top 10 Tips – by Kara Ziehl. “Know Your Goal, Avoid Clichés, Avoid Sentimentality, Use Images, Use Metaphor and Simile, Use Concrete Words Instead of Abstract Words, Communicate Theme, Subvert the Ordinary, Rhyme with Extreme Caution, Revise, Revise, Revise…”
Poetry is for the Ear – by Dennis G. Jerz. “Whatever poetry you write or read, learn to listen with the ears of your audience…”
Tina Blue’s Article Index – A ton of really terrific articles on reading, writing and understanding poetry, from Tina Blue, English professor at Kansas University. Here are the titles: If You Want to Be a Writer, Be a Reader, A Trap for Unwary Poets, How Literary Allusion Is Used in a Well-Known Poem by Robert Frost, An Introduction to Prosody: Part I, An Introduction to Prosody: Part II (Meter), Plato Was Right:–Poets Are Such Liars!, An Introduction to Prosody: Part III (Blank Verse), An Introduction to Prosody ; Part IV (Anglo-Saxon Accentual Meter), A Poet Is Made, Not Born, White Space and Broken Lines (Free Verse), Entrances: How Do We Get into a Poem When the Front Door Seems Barred?, Eavesdropping on a Poem: How to Understand What You Can Understand, Traditional Themes and Motifs in Literature, Don’t Be Afraid–I Mean You No Harm, Analysis of Poetic Strategies in a Free Verse Poem by Rebecca Henry Lowndes, Further Analysis of Rebecca Henry Lowndes’ “Song for a Seeker”, Why an Autobiographical Poem Is Not Autobiography, Literary Criticism Is about Analyzing and Understanding Literature Not about Criticizing It, Midway in Our Life’s Journey, Never Say “Nevers”, A Mind of Winter, Occam’s Razor: The Principle of Parsimony in Analyzing Poetry, You Can’t Just Make Stuff Up When Analyzing Poetry, Guide Sheet for Quoting Poetry, Oh, but It Is Translucent!”
Naropa Audio Archive – An ever-growing audio collection (826 individual files at the time of this posting) of classes, lectures and readings across a wide spectrum of poetics-related topics, recorded at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado. Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman and the memory of Jack Kerouac, Beat poetry and its legacy exert a heavy (but not exclusive) influence on the direction of “Naropa Poetics,” so if that is your area of interest, you’ll be in heaven on this site. If not, it is still worth digging through this massive audio collection for surprise titles, like this great 1983 reading by Gary Snider.
The Internet Archive Audio Collection – This collection is far too vast to catalog here, so just click the link and begin your exploration! At the time of this posting, there were 329,844 items in the IA collection, all searchable, and all free. The key here is to start with the “search” box near the top of the screen. Put in any key word you think might lead to you something interesting, make sure the “media type” shows “audio,” then click “go.” Some good key words to try are “writing,” “novel,” “short stories,” “poetry,” literature,” “writing class,” the names of your favorite individual poets or authors, etc. You will be amazed what is available!
The Creative Writing Podcast – Taught by Tom Occhipinti of AmericanWriters.com. Subtitled “Helping you write great fiction.” An ongoing podcast (26 classes at the time of this posting) offering writing tips and instruction in topics ranging from composing opening paragraphs, to writing dialog, to creating likeable characters, to writing historical fiction and more.
Writers on Writing – a weekly radio program produced and hosted by author Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, with co-host Marrie Stone. Each Wednesday at 9am Pacific, writers, poets and literary agents join her and/or Marrie. The show is broadcast from the studios of KUCI-FM. This link leads to the podcast page, where individual shows back to 2001 can be downloaded in MP3 format. Poets and novelists are included here, but this site should also be of special interest to aspiring authors of all sorts of non-fiction. Memoirists/biographers and screenwriters get some airtime, as well.
David Morley’s Slow Poetry Trail – Free Flash video poetry workshop with David Morely of the University of Warwick. Sessions include: Introduction to Slow Poetry, Wood Worms, Barden Tower, Strid and Sessile, An Abandoned Christmas Tree Plantation, Conclusion to Slow Poetry, Placing Poems- Natural Environment, Shaping Poems- Sound and Movements, Shaping Poems- Natural Forms and Shaping Poems- Natural Forms.
Writers at Warwick – Warwick Arts Centre has been hosting live literature events, known as ‘Writers at Warwick’, for over ten years. Programs available for free MP3 download on this page include Linton Kwesi Johnson, Blake Morrison, Michele Roberts, Michael Frayn, Michael Billington, Zoe Brigley, David Morley, Jacqueline Wilson and Jim Crace. Past guests include Salman Rushdie, Derek Walcott, Michael Moore, Alan Bennett, Wendy Cope, Sarah Waters, Julian Barnes and Umberto Eco.
Writing Challenges – David Morley, Director of the Warwick Writing Programme, leads you through a series of creative writing challenges designed to help you develop your creativity and talent as a writer and reader. 19 classes in MP3 format.
The Writing Show – The Writing Show provides information and inspiration for writers of all kinds, though the main focus is on fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, and publishing. A Good general writing show. Not much here for poets, though…
The Dead Robot’s Society Podcast – Writers on writing. The Dead Robots’ Society is a gathering of aspiring writers podcasting to other aspiring writers, hoping to help each other along the way to the promised land of publication.
On The Page: Screenwriting – Join professional script consultant Pilar Alessandra as she demystifies screenwriting and answers your questions about script craft and story.
Jaracanda Press Writing Exercises – A series of very cool, very useful writing exercises. Great for helping break through writer’s block, or for helping you get your feet wet in a new style of writing you’ve not worked with before. Exercises include:
Memoir Writing – Offering a collection of exercises to help you write your personal memoir.
Poetry Writing – Here are some writing exercises that are designed to call back your muse, if she seems to have gone away on vacation.
Survival Journal Writing – This six week set of lessons is designed to help you when you have come to a point in your life when you seem to have lost your way.
Toning Exercises – These are group meditation techniques that you can use to help promote world peace.
Five Poetry Writing Exercises by Stacie Naczelnik – Lists, Making Similes, Sensor Observations, Describing a Scene or Picture, and Making Metaphors.
Poetry Exercise at Ariadne’s Web – Behind this somewhat muddled web layout lie a plethora of unique and helpful poetry writing exercises, as well as smart and useful explorations in the use of a variety of poetic forms, including Skaldic Verse, Haibun, Haiku, Hay(na)ku, Rengay, Tanka, Concrete, Ghazal, Lai, Pantoum, Rondeau, Rubáiyát, Sestina, Sonnet, Terza rima, Triolet, Tritina, and Villanelle.
How to write poetry; free exercises; free reviews of great poets and books to help you write better; poetry forms you can use. – More from Ariadne’s Web. Again, the layout is bland, but there is more truly useful information here for poets than on a dozen more bedazzling websites combined. An A-Z listing of fabulous poesy info and resources.
Worksheets for Forms – Award-winning poet and author Helen Frost offer a series of easy to use worksheets that make it very simple to follow the rules for a variety of traditional poetic forms, including the Sestina, the Tritina, the Raccontino, the Villanelle, and the Pantoum. Designed to be used in the classroom by kids ages 8 and up. VERY user-friendly for adult poets as well!
How a Poem Happens – Contemporary Poets Discuss the Making of Poems – A fascinating blog by poet Brian Brodeur, in which contemporary poets answer a long series of questions regarding their writing process, in relation to a particular poem that heads each entry. Poets profiled on the site at the time of this writing include Sandra Beasley, Dan Albergotti, Richard Newman, Steve Scafidi, Ron Slate, Michael Ryan, Dorianne Laux, Daisy Fried, Adrian Blevins, Stephen Dunn and Eric Pankey. Fantastic insight and information here.
Bookmark this page and check back frequently for new links!
