WRITE TIME AND AGAIN

Types of Poems

Posted on February 26, 2023March 1, 2023 by L. M. Montes

Here are a few types of poems I thought you might be interested in. There are more, but I went with some common types that people enjoy writing more often. They range in difficulty. For more information about each, you can go to www.Google.com

Type	Definition	# of Lines	# Syllables Per line	Rhyme Scheme
Haiku	An ancient form of Japanese poetry. Small in size	3 lines	line one has 5 line two has 7 line three has 5	none
Limerick	Are funny and sometimes rude. They have a set rhyme. The subject is a short, pithy tale or description	5 lines	none	AABBA
Sonnet	A poem expressing a single, complete thought, idea or sentiment. There are two types: Petrarchan and Shakespearean	14 lines	10 (Iambic Pentameter)	Petrarchan Sonnet: ABBA, ABBA, CDECDE Shakespearean Sonnet: ABAB, CDCE, EFEF, GG
Free Verse	A popular style of modern poetry. It has a great amount of freedom when it comes to number of lines, cadence, and rhyme (if any)	varies	varies	varies
Villanelle	A short poem of fixed form, written in tercets, usually five in number followed by a quatrain.	19 lines	varies	ABA for the first 5 tercets. Line 1 from the first tercet gets repeated in line 3 of tercets 2 and 4. Line 3 from tercet 1 gets repeated in line 3 of tercets 3 and 5. In the stanza 6 (the quatrain at the end), lines 3 and 4 are lines 1 and 3 from the first tercet in order).
Blank Verse	Poetry written with a precise meter, often in iambic pentameter but doesn’t rhyme.	varies	10 (Iambic pentameter)	none
Sestina	A poem of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy, originally without rhyme, in which each stanza repeats the end words of the lines of the first stanza, but in a different order, the envoy using the six words again, three in the middle of the lines and three at the end.	39 lines	Iambic pentameter is optional. Otherwise there is none.	Line 1: ABCDEF Line 2: FAEBDC Line 3: CFDABE Line 4: ECBFAD Line 5: DEACFB Line 6: BDFECA
Tanka	A Japanese poem that means “short poem”	5 lines	lines 1 and 3 have 5 syllables. All other lines have 7 syllables.	none

Theme

Digging Deep

Posted on February 26, 2023March 1, 2023 by L. M. Montes

How often have you read a book with great mean hidden deep within its story? I truly believe anyone can find meaning in just about anything they read. We don’t always look for it though. Why? Because we are so engrossed with what is going on in the story that we aren’t focused on what we can learn from it. In these instances I think anything learned goes straight to our unconscious mind. Now, I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist or anything, but to me it’s only common sense.

ParticipantKSC-20190228-PH_KLS01_0050s in NASA Social Briefing Learn About SpaceX Demo-1 Mission by NASAKennedy is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0

As an author, I want my readers to gain meaning from what I write. As I mentioned above, not everyone will on the surface. This doesn’t mean we don’t create meaning in our stories. After all, the stories we write have to have some kind of meaning to them in order for there to be a story. Actually, we call it Theme. Finding a theme to center your story around can be daunting at times. Seriously, you can be sitting there in front of your computer wondering what theme to use. In the meantime your story is dying to be written.

The solution is simple. Just start writing your story. The theme will develop itself or will unfold in your mind, and you will have an “A-ha!” moment. This is how I write. I know that sounds backwards, but it works for me. Once you have your theme (a meaning your story centers around), put it down on paper. Yes, literally, write it down. Then go into more detail about it. For example, how can you develop your characters around your chosen theme? In which direction can you take your story now that you have your theme? Will your settings connect to it in any way? What about dialogue? How can you use your theme to increase tension?

Continue to ask yourself these questions. Then answer each of them. Again, do this on paper, not your computer. The act of writing helps it to stick in your brain better. At least it does for me. When you feel you’ve developed your theme enough, go back to your story and continue writing. All the while, you will be using what you wrote down about your theme in various parts of your story.

When I was half way finished with my second book, I realized I didn’t have a theme. As a result, it was becoming increasingly difficult to continue with the story. Then it dawned on me what the problem was. Lack of a theme. It didn’t take me long to figure out what it should be because I knew the direction I wanted my story to go. Plus I knew my main character well. All I had to do was go back and look at his character sketch. The answer was right there. It smacked me in the face, so to speak. Without that theme, the story fell flat.

Once I found it though, I had to go back to the beginning of what I had already written and insert story elements that developed that theme. It wasn’t hard to do. It was just time consuming. But I loved every minute.

Poetry

Villanelle IV by L. M. Montes

Posted on February 25, 2023 by L. M. Montes

Hindsight gives agonizing birth to regret,
all the while walking forward getting hit,
so turn around, live life, and don’t forget.

Blunders born from stupid in a net,
ensnared one’s being then reality bit,
when hindsight gave agonizing birth to regret.

Mistakes equal life’s learning one must get,
but not when thought’s not given nor learning lit,
so turn around, live life, and don’t forget.

Talking kicks up dirt when as an outlet,
but ends up hurting innocents with grit,
as hindsight gave agonizing birth to regret,

Wicked words like daggers thrown with threat,
ricochets when dark minds do not submit,
so turn around, live life, and don’t forget.

Throw a radiant smile so to offset,
the evil undertow that won’t transmit,
hindsight giving agonizing birth to regret,
so turn around, life life, and don’t forget.

Prompts

Listen

Posted on February 25, 2023 by L. M. Montes

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

I would most definitely tell my teenage self to listen, understand, pay close attention what your parents and sisters tell you. If you don’t, you will regret certain things happened that could have been prevented had you followed their advice.

Poetry

Villanelle III by L. M. Montes

Posted on February 24, 2023April 30, 2023 by L. M. Montes

Waves whisper a cadence soft and free,
gliding forward, lingering, rolling back,
as sun beams dim and fold beneath the sea.

Seagulls swoop white wings so feathery,
dipping downward, soaring, as black
waves whisper a cadence soft and free.

Shadowed palm trees sway in the breeze,
bowing down, billowing, and whack
as sun beams dim and fold beneath the sea.

On horizon’s bed a ship sails carefree,
buoyantly bouncing, gliding, as off-track
waves whisper a cadence soft and free.

Gray cloudy wisps stretch in mystery,
languidly looming, searching, but lack
as sun beams dim and fold beneath the sea.

A gate clinked open amidst a rocky lee,
beauteously inviting, summoning, while black waves whisper a cadence soft and free
as sun beams dim and fold beneath the sea.

Prompts

Bordum

Posted on February 24, 2023 by L. M. Montes

What bores you?

Nothing bores me more than a lecture going no where.

Plot/Story

Creating Empathy

Posted on February 23, 2023 by L. M. Montes

On October 6, 2021 I wrote a blog post entitled Connections. Toward the end of the article I talked about a character, Mary, who was in a heated argument with her boyfriend as they were walking along. They had come to an area or clearing where the sunset could be seen much better in all of its glory. The boyfriend didn’t notice it. He could’ve cared less, but Mary noticed it and enjoyed it so much that for a moment she forgot about the argument. In this post I said that the sunset itself had nothing to do with the issue at hand, which was the argument. It was a random occurrence. But it had everything to do with creating empathy for the character of Mary. Add to this the dialogue between the two. Maybe Mary’s boyfriend said something nasty to her. The reader will be affected by these words to in that they will feel for her/have empathy for her. Mary may not be hurt by his words, but the reader will feel for her anyway. Well, most readers anyway.

Creating empathy for your characters is what draws your readers further into your story. Feelings, as we all know, have a strong connection to empathy. The two go hand in hand. As a side note, not everyone feels empathy, so don’t worry if your characters don’t connect with some readers. It’s just the nature of the beast.

Empathy, or even lack thereof, also gives incite into your character’s personality. In the above scenario we come to understand that Mary loves the beauty of sunsets even in the face of angst. It also hints towards her sensitivity. In addition, deep down she doesn’t let something like an argument with her boyfriend get to her. This indicates strength to get through it and not dwell on it. It could also indicate she feels as though the situation between her and her boyfriend will get resolved. The point being, in the ugly face of an argument, she saw beauty.

What drives the feelings within your characters? The situations they are thrust up against. Let’s say we have a character named Jack. He’s 31 years old, a successful corporate lawyer, and married with one child. He finds out his wife is cheating on him. Over the eight years they’ve been married, he has given his wife everything. He supports her in all that she enjoys doing. There isn’t anything that indicated to him that she had been unfaithful. Until he walks in on his wife and her lover when he comes home to surprise her (I know. This is a typical scenario, but it works for the point I’m trying to make). Already the reader feels empathy for him, and we haven’t gotten to how he is feeling yet. Although, his feelings will be interspersed throughout the scenario anyway.

Everything, the feelings and situations, even the words characters say to one another can create empathy within your readers. They will be pulled into your story. You want this. Of course, there are other ways besides creating empathy that can pull a reader in as well. Here again, that’s another blog post.

Writing

Life Long Learning

Posted on February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 by L. M. Montes

The years spent writing my first novel weren’t just spent writing. What I discovered early on was that I didn’t understand how to put a book length story together. To be specific, I needed to learn story structure. Thus, great care was taken to spend time learning about the craft of writing a book. Much trial and error occurred, and through all of that I discovered what worked and what didn’t work for me.

Other story elements I had to brush up more on were story flow, word flow, grammar, plot, character development, dialogue, character emotions, the list goes on and on. This all takes time, yes, but it is well worth it. While I was learning and brushing up on these skills, I wrote as well. There were times of frustration, when I had to delete part of my story and start over. But the more I wrote and learned, the easier the whole process became.

The Moment of Meditation by Louis Surugue is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

You won’t be the best straight out of the gate. No one ever is. But the more you learn and learn continuously, and practice what you learned, the better and easier it will become. So where do you start? Start with your weakness. What areas of writing and grammar are you weak in? Start there and move forward.

Now, two books later, the ride has become more fluent. The words flow more, and I know way more about story structure than I did years ago when I first started. This doesn’t mean there isn’t anything else to learn. I still continue to learn. Learning is what keeps us going and maturing and moving to the next level.