Writing Novels in Verse Part 2: How to Get Started: by Darlene Beck Jacobson

After reading Darlene’s middle grade book, WISHES, DARES, & HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY, which was written in verse, I asked Darlene if she could talk about how someone who wrote in prose was inspired to write a novel in verse. I asked if she could included things that would help you if you were interested in trying you hand in writing a novel in verse. If you missed reading part one last week. Click here.  Below is part two of her article:

Writing Novels in Verse Part 2: How to Get Started: by Darlene Beck Jacobson

During my previous visit to Kathy’s blog I talked about how my MG novel-in-verse WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY (Creston) came about and some things to consider if you are thinking of writing a novel using the free verse format.

Today I want to share some prompts and exercises in writing free verse, and a few poems highlighting them. These techniques are taken from the workshop I present to students and at writing conferences.

EXERCISES IN FREE VERSE

1. The difference between free verse and poetry that rhymes:

• In rhyming verse, you have to follow meter and can get stuck finding the exact rhyming word to fit into the poem.
• FREE VERSE allows you to use ANY WORDS that convey the feeling or tone you are trying to establish.

2. How is free verse different from prose?

• More WHITE SPACE on the page
• You don’t have to use quotations for dialogue.
• You don’t have to always use complete sentences.
• It “cuts to the heart” of emotion and gets right into a character without spending a lot of time on background and scene setting.
• You are also free to arrange words on the page in a different way.

(In Writing Novels in Verse Part 1, I showed the poem LONG and how it was arranged on the page.)

3. How do we write a story in free verse?

• You can begin with a CHARACTER who has a story to tell: JACK, DOG, BABY, TREE, IVAN,  (some book titles: ONE AND ONLY IVAN, BROWN GIRL DREAMING, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, LOVE THAT DOG, HATE THAT CAT, OUT OF THE DUST, ANOTHER DAY AS EMILY, BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO)

Here is the poem introducing the main character from WISHES, DARES, & HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY:

JACK

I jiggle the rod, trying

to interest a fish.

Pops expects some level of

ENTHUSIASM!!!

He gave up his day

to bring me here.

 

I wish the fish were biting

like last summer, he says.

We’d have caught a dozen by now.

In our bucket,

one sorry fish stares out.

If it was a fish that granted a wish

I’d ask it to bring

DAD home.

 

I wouldn’t waste my wish on

another fish.

Here’s another example:

KATY

My sister makes me laugh,

even when I feel like crying.

She spins in a circle,

pigtails swinging around,

and around, until she falls drunk with dizziness,

a pile of laughter in the grass.

 

This time do it with me, Jack.

She grabs my hand. We twirl and spin.

Katy remembers Dad

in a little kid kind of way.

Not the staying up late to talk and sneak ice cream

when everyone else sleeps way.

 

If he came home,

he would be like a stranger.

Katy wouldn’t grab

a stranger’s hand and take him for a spin.

 

When we land in the grass,

a thought pokes me

like Katy does with her elbow

when I try to ignore her being a pest.

 

Will Dad someday seem like

a stranger to me, too?

How many spins does

it take to make

bad thoughts go away?

• You can also begin with a WORD that evokes emotion: FEAR, HOPE, LOVE, ANGER,

ACHE

Jill forgets to ask me about

my safe place. I’m glad

because once I start talking about Dad,

I might never stop.

 

When Jill runs out of words,

she closes her eyes, snores.

I lay awake with a new ache

next to the one Dad made when

he went away.

 

It comes from knowing

bullies aren’t born, they’re made.

Can they be unmade?

 

I think about how having a Dad who’s

missing is the

awful

terrible

worst thing for me.

 

For some kids, like Jill and Cody,

having no dad

might be

the best thing.

• Begin with a PLACE that has something special about it. Maybe it’s scary, dark, lonely, quiet, unlike any place else. Maybe it’s a place a character DOES NOT want to be, or a FAVORITE place, or a place she misses.

TREE

We hide our bikes in the bushes, then

climb to the top branch of our favorite tree,

where we can see anyone who comes close,

but they can’t see us through all the leaves.

For a

L

O

N

G

time we don’t say anything,

like we forgot how to talk.

 

I listen to

leaves brushing against

each other and my heart beating like it’s

in my head. A thumping so loud,

everyone must hear it.

 

Jill breathes fast next to me.

Her hair smells like coconut,

and the freckles on her nose

are darker than I remember.

 

She pokes me with an elbow and says,

Okay, I’m ready to forget trouble

dressed up like Cody because I want to know

what happened here.

 

What makes you forget how to talk?

Her eyes are so wide.

Tell me, she says

 

• Begin with an INCIDENT or ACTION (strong verbs always move a story forward). Something that happened and sets the story in motion. A conflict or action that creates a problem or tension.

(See PUSH poem below)

• Write down some IDEAS that come to mind when you see these words. These may not stay in the poem, but are meant to spark things and get more information about what you are trying to say.

1. Don’t forget about FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Using techniques such as ALLITERATION, SIMILE, METAPHOR, ASSONANCE, ONOMATOPOEIA, REPETITON OF WORDS FOR EMPHASIS, as well as incorporating the senses, add richness to the poems.

PUSH

Things you push:

buttons

doorbells

snowballs

swings

a wagon, which you can also pull.

 

Most of the things you push

move, give way a little

loosen up with the pushing.

 

When one kid tries

to push another with

hands or words,

a kid can

move

give in

or stand tall

and refuse to take a push as the

final answer.

 

When Cody tries to push,

I figure the best thing for me to do

is take root, stay put

because sometimes

it takes more than a

push

to make something or someone,

to make me,

move.

 

I hope these examples will get you started on brainstorming your own ideas for a novel in verse.

Try a few of your own. Maybe you’ll find something worth pursuing. If you want a story that cuts to the heart of the matter and gets right down to business…try writing it in free verse.

DARLENE’S BIO:

Darlene Beck Jacobson is a former teacher and speech therapist who has loved writing since she was a girl.  She is also a lover of history and can often be found mining dusty closets and drawers in search of skeletons from her past. She enjoys adding these bits of her ancestry to stories such as her award-winning middle grade historical novel WHEELS OF CHANGE (Creston 2014) and WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY (Creston 2020).

Darlene lives and writes her stories in New Jersey with her family and a house full of dust bunnies. She’s caught many fish, but has never asked one to grant her a wish. She’s a firm believer in wishes coming true, so she tries to be careful what she wishes for.

Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts, articles on nature, book reviews, and interviews with children’s book authors and illustrators.
www.darlenebeckjacobson.com

Twitter: @DBeckJacobson

darlenejacobson13@gmail.com

Thank you Darlene for taking the time to share your expertise with us. Good job! I am sure it will make things clearer for those writers who are toying with the idea of writing in verse.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy