Poetry, Donations & Eco-events

 -- Quote of the Day --

“By stepping outside my personal situation, I was able to reflect and see the truth of it. …I learned to conquer my fear by embracing and understanding that life is difficult and challenging, but there is beauty in the difficulties because it makes us stronger.” 

~ Brenda Shoshanna, author of Fearless

 

-- Conscious Celebrations --

Drop by the Fresh Outlook Foundation's events happening between Nov 15-18 in the Kelowna, BC (Canada) region: www.FreshOutlookFoundation.org  

**We donated 8 copies of first edition of our book Trash Talk to these events - so if you are able to participate, you may just win yourself a copy! :)

-- Poetry --

As many of you are already aware, we love to feature thought provoking interviews, articles and poetry from fellow writers in the industry. Today we have Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of Tracings (poetry) and several how-to related books and articles for those in the writing industry. Carolyn and Magdolena Ball have co-authored Celebrations, a series of poetic chapbooks -  include She Wore Emerald Then with a mothers theme; Imagining the Future with a fathers theme; Cherished PulseBlooming Red, a chapbook with a Christmas theme. They are now working on a chapbook for folks to give to the independent women in their lives. 

 

Carolyn and I have been networking for a few years now and we are pleased to have her here with us today to share her top 12 tips for poets. Learn more about Carolyn via:  www.howtodoitfrugally.com , and you can also find her @ www.Twitter.com/FrugalBookPromo

Perfecting Poetry: 12 Tips for the Beginner

1.    Try free verse (no intentional rhyming).

2.    Write dense, poetic prose, then divide it into lines—or not. If you don't, you'll have a prose poem.

3.    Break lines after important words. If you scan down the last words in each line of a poem, you should get a good sense of what the poem is about.

4.    Eliminate as many adjectives and adverbs as you can and strengthen your verbs. You poem will be more powerful.

5.    Eliminate as many of the clutter words as you can. Articles, conjunctions, even some prepositions.

6.    Try making different pictures on the page with the words. Your poem can be in triplets, couplets, indented unusually, even be set up in shapes. Try to make the design fit with the subject of your poem.

7.    Avoid long, Latinate words.

8.    Use images rather than explaining.

9.    Know metaphors, similes, assonance and alliteration. Play with them. Don't strain.

10. If you want to rhyme, try to use uncommon ones. No moons and Junes.

11. Read and write poetry even if you don't think you want to. You may be surprised at how much you like it. It’s changed a lot since your high school English Lit days.

12.   Buy a poetry book or chapbook at least once a year. It’s a way to support the arts. That gesture supports your learning curve and the arts!

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blogs, and more at: www.brummet.ca 

* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or purchasing a book - each book sold raises funds for charity as well!