Cover Reveal! So You Have To Write A Poem Is Finally On Its Way!

I am very pleased to finally show off the cover of my upcoming non-fiction release, So You Have to Write a Poem: A Guide for the Non-Poetic :) This book has been a very long time coming (as it was once part of my essay guidebook, Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers). So I am very, very excited that it will finally be out in the world on Oct 6th! So....here it is :)

At some point, every student must not only learn about different poetic forms, but try their hand at penning a few. It can be daunting, even for those who enjoy poetry.

Following the same plain language, straight forward vein of Ms. McLean’s Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers, So You Have to Write a Poem gives novices an easy-to-read guide with simple step-by-step processes and fun examples while giving more advanced poets a technical guide to the rules behind all their favorite poetic forms.

This volume includes nine forms of poetry, along with overviews on poetry basics like meter and rhyme scheme, detailed, easy-to-understand instructions and “cheat sheets” that outline the rules for each form of poetry, and a section with a detailed explanation of how to analyze a poem.



(The cover was designed by my dear friend, the extremely talented author/illustrator Toni Kerr!)

To Ode or Not to Ode...

So, I've been mostly focused on fiction lately and have completely neglected my poor poetry book :) But an email from the ever awesome Christine Fonseca has it on my mind again. She asked about odes, a poetic form I generally steer clear from because every source I've consulted lists a different set of "rules" for these babies. Which bugs me :D

However, in speaking with a few students and parents, it seems these are still regularly taught in language arts classes (though again, I'm not sure who is teaching what because other than saying that odes were "usually" written in praise of something, I've never come across two sources that give you the same set of instructions on them, and every class I've taken teaches them differently. If at all. The seminar I took in grad school barely touched on them).

But this has me curious - what are the main forms they are teaching in school these days? For which forms are you googling for help? I know my writing blog still regularly gets hits on the how-to write a sonnet and heroic couplets posts. All you teachers/parents/students - what forms have you googling for instructions?

My book, Poetry Pointers, so far contains chapters on two dozen different poetic forms. But I want to make sure I'm covering the ones everyone will need :)