"3 Significant Ways to Explore Theme in Poetry" 🍂

Super excited that my article about exploring theme in poetry was published today at Women on Writing. Check it out! I’m also taking sign-ups for my fun class that begins on Friday, October 18th—more details below about that and my latest poetry book as well. Read on! 😊

3 Significant Ways to Explore Theme in Poetry

By Melanie Faith

First whirly-twirly leaf of the season. Photographed by yours truly. 😁💗

Poetry is an evocative, word-rich art. It’s compressed language that so often tells a much, much wider, deeper, bigger story about the human journey. Read on for three tips that will make discovering and deepening themes within this art form a motivating voyage for you as a writer and a meaningful experience for your readers as well.  

Write a poem where an object expresses so much more than the sum of its parts. Think for a moment of the top two or three objects that have made a difference in your life. Maybe you still own them, or maybe you’ve lost them in a move or sold them years ago, like a first car. Maybe it’s a Christmas or birthday gift you still have that someone you love gave to you, or maybe it’s something you bought with your first or last paycheck from a job, Or perhaps it’s a commonplace item, like a pencil or pen, that has nonetheless figured prominently in your life in recent years. Describe the particulars of this object.

Poetry thrives on attention to imagery, with attention to detail. Our lives are terribly rushed, even on the “slow” days, and poetry encourages us both to slow down and to notice our world. Poetry also makes us feel gratitude for what we have and where we are in our lives at this very moment. Describing objects can be as short as a three-line haiku or a five-line tanka or as long as a sonnet or even an epic poem of many pages. Word count or style of poem is not nearly as important as being as vivid, visceral, and specific about the object and its meaning to you as possible. Write about the object as if either someone who has seen this fill-in-the-blank commonplace object a million times and even owns one can appreciate it at a whole new level, or as if someone who has never seen your unique object can intuit its worth and see it in their mind’s eye clearly. The object you choose—whether a pair of roller skates, say, or a key to your first car—will remind readers of their own experiences with roller skates or their first car. That magic connection between poet and reader shines through in object poems. 

Write a persona poem. Just like fiction, poetry can be a container for speaking in another character’s voice. Just because a poem is written in first-person POV doesn’t mean it has to be from the lens of your own life experience. Wonderful poems have been written in first-person from the point of view of fictional characters, historical leaders, artists real or imagined, you name it. You can also write a persona poem from the perspective of a non-famous, everyday person. They can be set in ancient history, modern history, present-day, or even a future we’ve not reached yet. Science-fiction or fantasy poetry? Why not?! Persona poems allow the writer to explore character creation, historical or present or future time periods, the timeless struggles and joys of being human, setting, and so much more within a compact poem. 

Many of the poems in my current collection, Does It Look Like Her? are persona poems from the POV of a painter and her young son; I’m neither a painter nor do I have a son. I found, though, while exploring my protagonist’s and her son’s lives, that through these characters I could say resonant things about being an artist, caregiver, and member of a family than I likely would have explored if writing from my own limited timeline. It’s often easier to tap into universal human experience through a character than relying solely on my own lens and experiences. Readers, too, often connect quite deeply with characters—it’s ingrained in us to put ourselves into the place of characters from the first reading we experience as small children who are being read to until we can read on our own.

Write a poem to celebrate a special occasion or to commemorate a milestone, whether yours or someone else’s. Great poems have been written to honor work anniversaries, engagements, marriage anniversaries, wedding receptions, births, retirement, graduations from kindergarten, high school, college and university, grad school, and first and last days of work. The poem can be in honor of a national holiday, an international event, a religious celebration, a place-centered poem such as celebrating the opening or anniversary of the founding of a school or organization or charity. You name it. Options abound! Any person, place, group, or stage of life is well worth exploring poetically, whether you write it for your own satisfaction, share it with a friend or partner, share at an in-person or online venue, or publish with a literary journal with thousands of readers. 

Enjoy the exercise below, and please join me for my October poetry-writing course where we’ll explore even more themes within this thought-provoking genre.

Try this exercise: Start with choosing the type of thematic poem from the three above that most interests you. Make a quick list of three or four topic ideas. Have a friend give you an idea or two as well, to lengthen your list of options. Then pick one of your ideas and write a poem draft in fifteen minutes. I recommend setting a timer—there’s something about writing a first draft with a time limit that tends to get words flowing. You can always set the timer for fifteen more minutes to expand the time for drafting if you want. Use this list to write more poems on other days. Go! 

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Threading the Needle—Writing Thematic Poetry

Instructor: Melanie Faith

Start Date: Friday, October 18, 2024

Duration: 4 Weeks

Class Type: Asynchronous; it can be studied from anywhere in the world, in different time zones.

Location: Private Facebook group and email student provides when registering for the class.

Feedback: Weekly instructor feedback of exercises.


Description: Themes are important in vivid writing. Strong poetry often explores specific themes, from poems to celebrate special occasions and the natural world to poems that celebrate art and other beloved objects. In this class, students will read about 9 forms of poetry in our class texts (one craft book, How to Write Poetry: A Guided Journal of Prompts, and poetry books: Owls and Other Fantasies, The Optimist Shelters in Place, and Does It Look Like Her?, and one optional book: Letters to Joan), and then pick from the weekly themes to pen a poem for personalized instructor feedback on what is working well in their poem and what they might revisit/revise.

Weekly topics include: Nature Poetry, Occasional Poetry, Ekphrastic [Arts] Poetry, Found Poetry, Persona Poems, Narrative Poems, and more! There will also be an optional private class group for classmates to share shop talk and the instructor will provide posts of poetry-writing and literary links to inspire the writing process. Join us for this inspiring poetry course!

View the full listing for the curriculum and testimonials.

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Check out my latest poetry book, Does It Look Like Her? Available now at Amazon or for signed copies, check out my Write Path Productions Etsy page.

I also wrote an amazing craft book called Poetry Power with tons of exercises and inspiration to keep your poetry pens moving; available through my awesome publisher, Vine Leaves Press. Signed copies also available at my Etsy, Write Path Productions.

My Article Published: "5 Fabulous Perks of Freelance Editing" 🥳

So excited that my article about the perks of freelance editing was published at The Muffin. 🥳

My webinar on this topic this Friday, April 12th is also sure to share even more perks to freelancing. To learn more: clickety-click! ✍️

My article:

Do you love to read? Have you participated in a writing workshop or beta read for a friend? Or taken a creative writing class to learn the building blocks of prose and poetry? Have you offered suggestions for a friend’s essay or creative piece? Are you a creative writer? Are you a fan of precise or beautiful language? Do you love talking about the writing and revision processes? Do you enjoy discovering an individual author’s voice and offering encouragement?

 

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, freelance editing may very well be a wonderful fit for your natural skills, bring enjoyment, and offer some spending money or a helpful additional income to your household while doing something you already love—communicating and developing fun-to-read, page-turning literature for fellow readers.

 

Let’s look at just a few of the many perks of becoming a freelance editor. 

 

1. One of the best parts of freelancing is working directly with a motivated writer who is open to suggestions for making their manuscript clearer and more gripping to readers. We all know how hard it can be to spot errors or inconsistencies in one’s own writing, and as a freelance editor you get the privilege of offering feedback that the author may be too close to the manuscript to notice while self-editing. You work as a team to sculpt the work to optimal length, genre specifications, literary devices, pacing, character and/or plot development, and so much more.

 

2. You also will likely expand your network and build a bond or a friendship with authors whose manuscript you have the chance to review. It’s a sacred, meaningful honor to be entrusted with a writer’s work, and while bringing out the best in the writing, editors and writers work towards the same goals. Once you have offered supportive, clear feedback to an author on one project, they often return when they have other manuscripts they’d like constructive, helpful suggestions on in the future.

 

3. Freelance editors have freedom of time and freedom of project-choice. Freelancers set up a schedule and a deadline that mutually work for both writer and editor. Freelance editors also enjoy the freedom to pick the kinds of projects and the genres of writing that most excite us. Do you love reading thrillers and fantasy but dislike mysteries and dystopian work? As a freelancer, you can pick and choose the projects that you feel most excited to offer feedback on and that most inspire you.

 

4. Most freelance editors begin their small businesses as part-timers, so whether you are working another job, serving as a caregiver, raising a family, running another small business, or juggling multiple life stages and vocations, freelancing offers the flexibility to work from home or a café or shared office space at times that work best for you, your schedule, and your life circumstances. I’ve worked with freelance editors and students of all ages—from their twenties through their retirees—who start editing, and these editors have found that freelance editing fits into their lives around other life events and responsibilities with a little organization and planning.

 

5. You can work with clients from your local neighborhood or from all around the world at a time that is best for you and your clients’ needs.

 

Clearly, freelance editing offers countless perks and the satisfaction of adding quality, entertaining, meaningful books to the literary landscape. If you have any interest at all in this exciting, flexible field, it’s well-worth looking into and giving it a whirl. 

Image courtesy of WOW! Women on Writing

"Four Tips for Mixing Music into Your Fiction" 🎶🎹

Super excited that my craft article was published in Women on Writing’s newsletter today. Read on to learn some tips for integrating music into your prose as well as a prompt to give a whirl. 😊🎼

“Four Tips for Mixing Music into Your Fiction”

By: Melanie Faith

 

Music plays in so many milestone moments in our lives: from proms and graduations to weddings, anniversaries or divorces, first dates or last dates, funerals, reunions, and many other ceremonies. Music (or variations of it) may even be playing in an elevator near you on the way to the job interview you’re hoping to ace or to a doctor’s appointment you don’t want.

 

We don’t need to wait until milestone moments to savor sound, however, as songs suffuse everyday life as well. I listen to music numerous times a day, from a streaming speaker, from my laptop, on the radio in the car or in the kitchen, on TV or episodes of shows online, even on records, tapes, or CDs in my players now and again.  The importance of music doesn’t end with youth, but keeps giving back throughout our lives.

 

Music is often an important facet in fiction, too. Let’s delve into some wonderful ways that we writers can weave music into our plots, characters, and more!

 

Layer references to the same or similar song(s) or artist(s) within the same work. The context can be different for each listener/character. Your protagonist might listen to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as a high-school student in 1991 when it was released and have one experience while your protagonist’s twenty-something daughter might listen to the same song in 2024 and have entirely different reflections as she remembers that her dad always played the song while making breakfast during her preschool years.  Music is reminiscent of the era it was made, but it’s also timeless. Music can connect one generation to another, or divide one generation or listener from another.

 

Braid musical and nonmusical events within the same story to shed light on both elements of the story. If your protagonist is a second-chair violinist in the community orchestra, you might include not only the conflicts involved with her determination to move up to first chair this year, but also another element of her private life (from her day job and coworkers to her relationship with her love or her friends or her frenemies) to develop her character both on the stage as she practices and performs as well as offstage in her personal life.  Another idea: even characters who aren’t musicians or singers frequently jam when at a party or alone in a room or a car when a favorite song comes on. What song will get your protagonist’s toes tapping (or busting out the lyrics into a pencil or hairbrush or karaoke microphone, as the case may be)?  

 

Consider a melodic medley. Shake it up with intention. Many listeners enjoy several genres of music. Musical allusions can denote mood and tone as well as conflict within the plot or within your protagonist or antagonist. References to particular album titles or songs may even be used to foreshadow events later in the tale or become titles for chapters. 

 

Use poetic and precise language. Just as songs have rhythm and lyricism, you can pay particular attention to diction choices to develop music descriptions.  Onomatopoeia/sound effects might mimic the high-pitched tweet-tweet of a piccolo or flute, the mournful twang of a mandolin or guitar string, or the zingy ping of a hi-hat cymbal.  Consider using words with softer sounds, such as sibilant /s/ and quiet /m/ and /n/, for descriptions of acoustic performances and words with stronger, louder sounds, like the staccato and punchy /t/, /d/, /b/, /k/, and /z/ for summer rock concerts or heavy metal.

 

Whether your protagonist is a musician, a fan of a particular singer or band, or not, you can use these tips to integrate music—whether center stage, backstage, or as background—into scenes and character development to deepen your writing. You can even weave more than one of the tips within the same scene or chapter. Rock on!

 

Try this exercise:

Take a scene you’ve written recently with your protagonist during a time of strong emotion, such as doubt or great joy. Jot a list of three or four songs that mirror the emotional intensity the character is experiencing. Pick one to drop into the scene in a sentence or two to make it the soundtrack of the scene. What resonance does this reference add to the character, setting, or plot? Add extra dialogue or narration around this reference if the muse so moves you.   

 

 Want to learn more? I’d love to have you in my February class. Clickety-click to learn more and sign up! 🎸

 

Reach 🤩

Reach

Sketch in colored pencils & black felt-tip pen.

I haven’t shared a doodle in a while, so I figured it was about time to break out my sketchbook and play a bit.  

I was thinking yesterday, too, about swing-arm lamps. The kind architects often have on their desks, but sometimes also students and offices. I didn’t know that they were referred to as “swing-arm” lamps until a quick search-engine search delivered that little golden nugget into my life, which I now share with you. 😉

Speaking of innovation and knowledge, I read a book two or three years ago about the Bauhaus, a German school of design, arts (including theater, sculpture, pottery, stained glass, wooden toys, and poster design), and architecture in 1919-the early 1930s. Fine arts and crafts and some very sharp-looking designs were created by young students and their professors which continue to inspire designers of furniture and architecture. They made innumerable creations in their carpentry and metal-working workshops, from chairs and swivel lamps and photography and arts posters for theater performances given at the school to coffee-and-tea sets and glassworks and weaving and you name it. If the design was geometric, spare, innovative, and functional during that time period, it was probably cooked up and refined at the Bauhaus.  

I’ve never owned a swing-arm lamp, nor a gooseneck lamp (which I think of as their fanciful second cousin), but I’ve often admired both. There’s something very appealing about the way they’re designed—form and function working hand-in-glove. They don’t just sit there stationary, but offer instant flexibility for the user. Wherever the light is needed, le voilà! Here we go; instant warm spotlight. Then, economically pushed back when not in use—until the next time.

Continued growth as a writer often requires a reaching process that combines a hearty blending of the initial sizzle of the imagination intermingled with the stability and support of consistent application, mixing the heat of creating with the cooler temperatures of refining and editing the vision into new forms for sharing.

This end-of-year time gets all of our gears turning with goals we’ve finished and those we haven’t and those we’d like to dream up for next year. Without putting pressure on ourselves (because nobody needs more of that!), it’s a good season for this kind of if-you-can-imagine-it-you-can-make-it-happen reflection.

It’s a good time for downshifting, daydreaming, and putting some plans into action for the coming months.  I have the kind of mind that needs no encouragement to cook up a project or ten and imagine the endless permutations and exciting possibilities. I also have the kind of mind (and enough experience as a writer and creative) to know it takes time, organization, trial-and-error patience, and planning to see a project to its conclusion so that it’s ready to share. I try to give my imagination free reign for a while, and then I begin to organize that wide expanse into a series of steps (accounting for setbacks and a learning curve along the way).

I’m cooking up some fun projects for 2024 that I can’t wait to share. At the moment, one project in particular is very new, wobbly, interesting ground for me, stretching what I already know with the many, many things I don’t. It includes a-million-and-one steps that I’m learning (and reading about and trial-and-erroring and trying-again-and-againing).  Stay tuned!

I am delighted to share that I have three online classes that I hope will inspire fellow creative writers and artists to invest in their own dreams and goals and talents as well as to try new creative goals that will inspire reaching into new territory as well.

If you have a friend you haven’t purchased a gift for yet or would like to invest in your own artistic process, I’d love to work with you and a friend! Mark your calendars. All three courses accepting sign-ups now 😊:

*In Tune: Writing about Music in Fiction (starting Friday, February 2, 2024; 4-week class; NEW!):

https://wow-womenonwriting.com/classroom/MelanieFaith_Music.php

*An Inside Look at Launching as a Freelance Editor (one-afternoon webinar; 1-2 pm ET; Friday, April 12, 2024)

https://wow-womenonwriting.com/classroom/MelanieFaith_FreelanceEditorWebinar.php

*Art Making for Authors (starting Friday, August 2, 2024; 4-week class; NEW!)

https://wow-womenonwriting.com/classroom/MelanieFaith_ArtMaking.php

I also have craft books aplenty that make excellent gifts, such as: From Promising to Published:

Here’s to reaching into our imaginations and cooking up the projects that will interest and sustain our creative growth both now and throughout 2024!

Write on!

 

In Tune: Writing about Music in Fiction! 🎶

I’m crafting some exciting new projects for 2024, including a delightful 4-week online writing class at WOW! for February.

Introducing: IN TUNE: Writing About Music in Fiction!

If you’re looking to treat yourself to some writing motivation or looking for the perfect holiday or birthday gift for the writer in your life, look no further! This class will rock! 🤩🎸🥁

Course description:

Fiction is filled with references to music: from high-school dances and music-school students, singers, music teachers and lessons, garage bands and musical instruments to records, rock concerts and folk/indie festivals and coffee-house performances, opera and musical-theatre performances, and so much more. Many of us spend our happiest hours with music in the forefront or background of our lives as soundtrack. There’s a type of music-inspired prose for as many musical genres as you enjoy.

Whether you’re writing a scene or story about a music practice, a novel with a musician or music fan as a protagonist, or just want to know more about how musical fiction works and/or add musical references, vivid characterizations of vocal performance, or music-centered scenes or references to your writing, this course will explore how music culture, sound, setting, POV, and more are portrayed within fiction to enhance and inspire your own rhythmic, compelling prose. Knowing how to read musical notes isn’t required for this class—just the desire and sincere appreciation for both music and literature and to add another tool to your literary toolkit.

Students will choose one novel with a musical plot to read independently, and the instructor will provide excerpts from music novels as well as handouts and a weekly writing assignment to get the muse melodically flowing! Join us for this new course that’s sure to strike a chord.”

To the great joy of writing and music! Sign-ups open now! Clickety-click: IN TUNE: Writing About Music in Fiction!

My Photography Chosen for J. Mane Gallery's Juried Exhibition: "Eat" 📸

I’m so pleased that 5 of my photos were chosen as part of J. Mane Gallery’s latest juried exhibition. The theme is “Eat.” Among them are these 2 photos that were so fun to take and make. 📸😊

See my other 3 photos and all of the amazing art by talented artists at: J. Mane Gallery “Eat” Exhibition.

If you’re in the market for an awesome online writing class, check out my similarly themed Food Writing for Fun and Profit (starting Friday, October 6th).

To art and food!

"Four Reasons Food Can Spice Any Genres You Write" 🍝

Wonderful news! 🥳My article was published by Women on Writing today! Check it out, and then give the writing prompt a whirl. 📝


Four Reasons Food Can Spice Any Genres You Write

By: Melanie Faith

 

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash.

It’s just about autumn in the US, which is an important weather shift in the seasonal states. Humidity dissolves as leaves turn into a crayon-box bonanza of shades while it remains sunny, bright, and crisp enough for a walk in a cozy, knit sweater and a mug of steamy tea after.  Another signal of the time shift is the shortening of days and the lengthening of my appetite.

 

While I enjoy eating all year ‘round, there’s something special about the chill in the air and the darkening of the evenings that increases my appreciation for sweet and savory flavors. Bring on the ooey-gooey cakes and breads, the creamy mac and cheese, the hearty, saucy spaghetti Bolognese!

 

No matter the season, the rituals of eating; snacking; food buying, storage, and preparation; meal clean-up; and food sharing surround our days and can be integrated into our writing to enrich our work.  Let’s look at four reasons why adding food writing to our repertoire can deepen our writing:

 

Food connects us: Nothing reminds us more of our communities and the cultures we belong to than food.  References to the recipes, meals, and snacks your protagonist grew up eating and still makes can provide shorthand for so many parts of your character’s background and life, including but not limited to her family of origin’s geography, socioeconomic status, and more. Certain foods will instantly be connected in readers’ minds with a particular state, region, cultural heritage, or country, while other foods and beverages are universal to many communities—which will give your readers other insights into how your unique character fits into a larger trend or social sphere or, conversely, how they might rebel against it.  Including meals or restaurant scenes can also demonstrate how your character interacts with others, what she feels comfortable saying or not saying, what she wants to share in public compared to her private thoughts, and so much more.

 

Speaking of which, food can create both bonds and tensions:  If one of your characters loves attending a weekly potluck she organizes and hosts once a month while another character lives for a quiet dinner for one at home to get away from the stresses of his day job and rejuvenates with the radio on while preparing couscous and a salad, you’ve already set up a way to show (rather than tell) extroversion and introversion. You’ve also set up a scenario where their differing styles could create conflict if these characters become friends, coworkers, family, or romantic partners. Characters can react strongly, or they might have inner hopes or misgivings about what is being served, about their dining companions, or about where the dining takes place. 

 

Food is also often connected with larger social issues that deeply impact many people both locally and globally—such as food instability, hunger, and ever-rising grocery prices—that you can shine a light on within your writing in nonfiction, poetry, flash, novels, and many other genres.

Photo by Atie Nabat on Unsplash

 

Favorites and aversions make us each unique. Including small details about what your character loves and loathes eating can strengthen your characterizations. Just like all of us, characters can have detested foods show up in their lives and have to navigate their distaste quietly or verbally, or they can absolutely love quirky regional favorites that their friends and family can’t stand or refuse to try. Conversely, we all love to share our favorites, and sometimes these favorite foods are eagerly adopted by those we love, spreading the joy. Writing that praises, describes, humorously disses, or delights in foods can connect with your audience’s own experiences of likes and dislikes.

 

Try this exercise!  If you write fiction: your antagonist has just invited your protagonist to dinner. Where will they go? What will they talk about? What is being served for dinner? If you write nonfiction, poetry, or other genres: jot a list of five of your favorite or least favorite foods. Pick one of the foods, set a timer for twenty minutes, and describe a time when you were served or served others this particular food. Use as many sensory details as possible to denote the food and reactions to it. Go!

 

 Care to learn more? I have a few spots left in my Food Writing class that begins Friday, October 6, and I’d love to have you and a friend join in the fun. Details at: Food Writing for Fun and Profit.

 

My New Online Poetry Class 🎊

In the market for an online poetry class sure to get your pen moving? I’ve got you.

Sign-ups open for my Jump-Start Your Poetry Practice class that begins Friday, April 21st. I’d love to work with you and a friend. 😊👍

More info at: Jump-Start Your Poetry Practice class.

New Month, Continued Inspiration 🎆

Happy February!

I’m excited for all that this new month will bring, including my Leaping Worlds online creative writing class for historical-fiction and time-travel writers.

Begins Friday, February 10th. There are still a few spaces left, and I’d love to work with you and a friend. Details at: clickety-click.

Also, here’s a favorite and motivating Hafiz quote to enjoy.

To February, and sweet inspiration!