Spring has sprung
in winter’s grip.
Summer’s begs that
either slip,
as Mother Nature
nurses her fat lip.

~Sherry Rentschler  (c) Apr 2018 in honor of the wacky weather

National Poetry Month arrived April 1 and during the next thirty days I take great pleasure discussing the ins and outs of free verse, making bizarre limericks, giggling over e.e. cummings, immersed in Baudelaire or Yeats, and wishing I was in Paris during the time of the beat poets.

For most folks, Poetry Month is something they hear about on Pubic Television (and therefore avoided) or from school (and therefore avoided), or in passing on the internet or social media sites (and dismissed as done by college kids or rappers). Such perceptions are a shame too, because National Poetry Month is all about discovery and learning, finding pleasure in seeing the world in new ways. 

Because we need to read poetry and let it help us discover our world in ways news and scholars and schools do not.

I heard someone say, “Poetry. Just rhyming words about things over my head.” Such remarks remind me that poetry doesn’t reach “the common man” because we never stressed the common man poems. It was all Iliad, Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Keats. And we groaned, remember? (well, I didn’t, but my friends certainly did).

More, the above comment carries weight because poetry, once the style of telling stories has passed into the background. You don’t find it in Kohl’s or Walgreens or the grocery store. It’s not in the magazines (but once or twice a year) for April and perhaps Christmas. Kids talk about it at school just long enough to get to lunch where they can discuss “real literature” like Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Wonder, or discuss the latest comic book/graphic novel that became a blockbuster movie (Marvel, anyone?).

Sadly, the very people discussing the latest blockbusters and listening to their playlists on their phones, are missing some of the best moments in quotable literature. According to CNN, “Fewer than 7% of Americans polled in 2012 had read a work of poetry at least once in the past year — down from 17% in 1992, according to a national survey (PDF) by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. That decline in participation was the steepest found in any literary genre.”

What we need to emphasis to our children and each other, is poetry is the short, short, short, story. A poem can define a moment, bring us together in surprise or sorrow, encapsulate a thought, and help us to understand ourselves in brilliant and usually brief ways. Just look at Maya Angelou or Mary Oliver and how easily we come to share their understanding. No, you don’t need to read Dante’s Inferno (though you really would enjoy it), when you can read William Carlos Williams or even Dylan Thomas. Truth is simple. And poetic.

No, poetry isn’t mainstream anymore. But if you hang out on Twitter or Instagram and you search for poetry or poets, you’ll be amazed at the real poems being shared and quotes coming from them. Many don’t even realize the poem that originated a quote but are surprised to realize that poetry made the words quotable. Take the great poet, Alexander Pope in his An Essay on Criticism, Part II , 1711:

Ah ne’er so dire a Thirst of Glory boast,
Nor in the Critick let the Man be lost!
Good-Nature and Good-Sense must ever join;
To err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine.

Poetry is more about us than we realize. Poetry is us. We sing it and the songs we sing become markers of our lives. We quote snappy lines, sometimes not realizing the words are ancient or even Nobel Prize winning. 

Do we need to know that? Nope. What we need to do is read more poetry. We need to not “go gentle into that good night” but rage against poetry’s invisibility. Help others to see the beauty all around them. Start with a child’s poem such as the insightful Shel SIlverstein. Or even Dr Seuss.  But let us dust off our old tomes and read….and celebrate Poetry Month, every month. Let our children become the natural poets of the future. Start now.

 There are so many good poets and poems out there. Sure we need to read the classics to discover the artful phrase, to understand the development of the art form, to hear the triumph in epic verses. But does that matter in the long term? Nope. What we need to do today is introduce each other to the modern poets and create a love for common words defining life in uncommon ways. To restore our wonder and excitement. To show us that we can know profound things and be better for the knowing. Poetry does this and so much more.

Let us read some poetry. Share with a friend. Just one poem. Maybe once a week or, better yet, once a day. Don’t do it with anyone if you are nervous or shy. Read it alone. Think and enjoy.

But read poetry. It will improve you, delight you, surprise and shock you. It can enrich you and prevent the inevitable ennui that comes with time.

Be invited in. See the world through rose colored glasses. Or in the boldest colors of reality.

Poetry matters.  Check out some of the ones mentioned here or ask your friends what they are reading. Go on an adventure and allow yourself to be surprised. See your world through creative, fresh eyes and maybe you’ll be inspired to write a poem or two yourself. Share with children and let’s all be a little more free verse in our lives.

Happy reading!
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

W.O.E. Is a Necessary Evil and Why you must endure it

Back in 1998/1999 I knew an aspiring writer who made and sold CDs of her books. I thought what  an original idea this was — to record your book onto a CD and sell it. Never heard of such a thing. This writer included pictures and music too, since the CD was designed for use with your desktop computer. Selling price $5-$10. Amazing! I never bought one thinking this was too expensive and was probably a personal fad.

We see now that this author was way ahead of the times (Hello Audible!) but her CDs didn’t catch on with any mainstream group. They did illustrate something I’ve never forgotten:

Listening to the words and reading the words are NOT the same. The mood, tone, nuances, emotions and even characters are different when heard instead of read. Little did I know then that this lesson would be more important to me almost 14 years later.

This brings me to W.O.E. – Writer’s Oral Edit – and why it is a necessary evil and why you MUST endure it. 

Writers today are repeatedly admonished to complete their edits by reading every word aloud. I hear the advice from every recognized authority on publishing from established authors to writing coaches, to established editors and agents. They will harp on this issue and bloggers keep posting about it. Why? Because it is probably the MOST NEGLECTED of the self-edits. And it is the easiest!

When I ask writers if they are reading their works aloud, invariably I get a shy but resounding “no.” I hear, “I want to. I know I should. I should have. I feel embarrassed. I don’t read well out loud. I didn’t have time.”  Excuses and not even good ones.

Their answers do not surprise me because I can tell from their work that hey didn’t have a WOE. I’ll explain how I knew in a moment.

• First, why is reading aloud so dang important?  Because the human speech has a modulating rhythm that has natural highs and lows like undulating water. Sometimes we are calm and other times excited, angry, scared, giddy and this rocks the smooth waters. This is how a written story moves, too, with the emotional impact of your words. But the undulation continues to flow smoothly despite the switch from calm waters. Therefore, writers must achieve a natural rhythm to the story when they write but these shifts in rhythms cannot be verified unless you hear them.
• Second, reading aloud allows the writer to hear the character voices. Not in the head where imagination can fill in the gaps, but out loud where the voice cannot hide. If the tone is wrong coming up off the page, the writer will hear it and feel it. The feeling is a critical fix. Also, each character must have a clear personality which can disappear when reading silently. But when a character is heard, it is easy to sense when elements are missing. The same goes for POV (Point of View).
• Third, reading aloud showcases overused and over extended words. Typically mine are: so, just, as, but, and, very, and perhaps (just to name a few of my worst mistakes). When a writer reads aloud escaping the frequency of the words is impossible. The words will pop up and make you hear how annoying they are when overused and how it drags the story down.
• Fourth, reading aloud lets a writer sense when transitions aren’t working. The story feels wrong because the smooth shift didn’t happen. You didn’t hear it so the reader won’t find it either.
• Finally, reading aloud tests the emotional impact of your words. If you don’t feel anything when you hear it then guess what? You have failed your readers! (and Green Arrow will put you down). Sure, we writers love our words but hearing them lays them bare and the feelings are bared too. We need to feel the whole of it and we can do that only when we hear it. 

These five reasons for reading aloud I lovingly called the Writer’s Oral Edit, my WOE, because woe to the writer who thinks there isn’t any time, that it is a silly tool, who fears the outcome will create more work (isn’t that the point?), or who claims not to read well aloud.

Okay, you have issues. So how do you fix your woe over WOE? Practice. Every day read what you write when you journal or when you do your writing exercises (because I know you are writing every single day!) Read your WIP (work in progress) aloud at the end of your writing session. LISTEN to yourself. Record yourself and play it back. Let the computer read to you. Have a friend (who reads out loud well) read to you and hear what you are writing.  Most of all — LEARN TO READ YOUR WORDS OUT LOUD. 

No matter what. NO MATTER WHAT. The WOE is critical to a writer’s success.

As I indicated earlier, many times I can tell when a writer skipped the WOE because the characters all sound alike, the book is clipped, or the sentences ramble on forever. All of those mistakes, and more, are easily heard and fixed by just one WOE.

I do at least three oral checks. One as I write. Two after the content edits and the third when all the other edits are complete and the book is considered finished. You’d be surprised at the nuances you hear when you think your work is done. Also, I read to a friend, a beta reader or my Personal Author Assistant (PAA). It is very important to have someone else give you feedback.

And here’s a tidbit — WOE is important for me because I have 12 different characters who speak in my upcoming novel. I have 12 points of view and each character must have a unique voice. You only hear the difference well when you read them aloud and then tweek them! It’s like a house full of people who need a voice that stands out from the crowd, 12 times. I need the WOE!

Embrace your WOE. Let this be a lesson for you here and now. When you practice this and embrace the WOE you’ll enjoy a better quality novel and so will your readers (who are also reading aloud whether you realize it or not).

One last thought about reading aloud in general. If you hope to be published (or are published), you must engage in live author events like book signings or panels. You will be asked to read aloud from your novel. Unless you are a hermit, you cannot skip this moment. You don’t have time to be shy, feel silly or awkward. You must step up and become the voice of your book and do so comfortably. What you give the readers in that moment stays with them forever. You are the book’s voice — so practice until you read aloud well and with confidence.

Now, go write. I’ll be listening.

Thank you for coming by.
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

I struggled with this post for Memorial Day. Today, we should be remembering our fallen servicemen and women, those young and old men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of freedom and protection. I smile with pride as I hear the national anthem played during sporting events and as I see tributes to servicepersons on television. There are parades and fireworks and I see active duty personnel being welcomed everywhere.

I am proud of these images and moments. But I am sad, too. Most of today’s youth, even the middle age population do not really understand the military or what it means to serve. Yes, there is a much more open and accepting view of the military (unlike how we treated our servicemen and women after Korea or Vietnam), but when you ask a teen about war, most only have a video game reference. I shudder and cringe when I think how war is seen as “shoot-em, kill-’em, get up and shoot again.”  Few understand that when you get shot while servicing your country, most never get up. Those that do, are never the same and many will never be whole again.

Too few of our youth are visiting military museums, going to memorials or even places in this country where battles were fought. There is something sobering and heart stopping to stand in a field where your own countrymen fought and died against other of your countrymen over a need for all men and women to be free. Now imagine that feeling on a foreign beach as you watch your brother and sister service members shooting at an unseen enemry only to fall into the mud or the sand and never to move again. 

There is nothing video game-ish for me about war or the heroes who serve and do so in order to prevent it. So what can we do to help enlighten our children, our peers, our populace?

As an author, I understand not being able to actually go where wars were fought and won. Or lost. I understand not being able to have the money to experience a live truth. But as an author there are other ways to shed this video-game-parade-happy view of those who have fought and died. There are road trips and History movies. There are walking trails and there are books.

There are so many memorials that are free. I would encourage everyone to try a memorial cemetery and read the names of those who have served and died. There are free military museums everywhere, in every state. And there are some who charge only a nominal fee to view real history from still living people.

I’ve been overseas and have walked in the shadows of terrible battles. I’ve been where Jews were indiscriminately cremated or where service members were slaughtered just because they were Americans. I have walked Arlington and Gettysburg and watched a dogfight between warring nations. So I have that experience.

And I’ve also read. There is a huge amount of military literature available that can give a variety of viewpoints about those who served. Not the salacious stuff you see out there with half naked, helmet wearing guys (ala Fabio) on Indie covers about romance (sorry fellow Indie authors). Those books are great for escape but not what I’m talking about here.

In fact, you’ve probably read military fiction and didn’t realize it. Much of it is historical, speculative and even military science fiction. Some of it was satire and even black comedy. But much of it was based on fact or knowledge and worth your time to understand the depth of service. You can’t write what you know unless you gleam some knowledge. You don’t have to have lived it to understand or know about it.

There’s fun stuff like H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds (1898), or Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1869). How about Slaughterhouse Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut? Don’t forget the famous 1961 novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller or a personal favorite, King Rat by James Clavell (1962). There is a terrific historical military fiction in The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1952) by Pierre Boulle, and even something very special in The Hunt for Red October (1984) by Tom Clancy. A personal favorite is Starship Troopers (1952) by Robert A. Heinlein (and no, it has nothing to do with giant bugs on alien planets).

If you want something a little more “today” try Dauntless by Jack Campbell, Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose, or Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden (the book is a definite must read over the movie). Or try Flyboys by James Bradley, or a most moving account by Jake Tapper in The Outpost.

Memorial Day is a good day to hold your families close and cherish your ability to have that cookout, go to that parade or watch those fireworks. It is a good day to kick back with a game of golf or a quiet lounge by the pool. It’s also a good day to read a truly important book.

Whatever you do on this Memorial Day I urge you to shed your make believe views of war and of those who died in them. I hope you will have your bbq and remember you do it freely because somewhere some man or woman in uniform, voluntarily served and died for us, so we could have the ease and choice to choose chicken or hamburger, a movie or a boat ride.

And take your familities to see the real remnants of war and battle. Help them to see the reality that was and is war and what sacrifice actually means. And when you hear the National Anthem again, let it fill your heart with words that mean so much to me, “land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

Because of those who died.

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry
Proud to be a retired, US Air Force non-combat veteran.