The Ink Splat is our monthly activity letter filled with inspiration sparking challenges and resources guaranteed to inspire your creativity. Did you know April is national poetry month? Included in this Ink Splat are poetry prompts and poems written by young authors and an interview with Tamera Will Wissinger, author of Gone Fishing, a novel in verse. Submit a response to a challenge and you may have a chance to be published online!
The Challenge: Spontaneous Poetry
Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes, and is inspired by many sources. Here are a few prompts with examples by young poets that may spark a poem for you!
Submit your poetry prompt and response for a chance to be published online HERE.
Steven’s Prompt: Make up a character with an alliterative name and write a story about something that he or she refuses to do.
Xavier Xanthia Xaneo
Xavier Xanthia Xaneo
Never took a shower, bath or washed
He said, “I hate that trio”
He ran and in doing so squashed
All the hope his parents had
That he would take a shower
He got so dirty, he called it a new fad
When he walked, everybody would cower
For he smelled worse than a skunk
No one dared aggravate him
Or call him a punk
His smell could cut off a limb
Finally he learned his lesson (At last!)
When his school caught fire
No one would save him because of his shower free past
His situation was dire
He did survive
But after that he always took his showers
Since he wanted to survive
Sometimes they took hours!
That is the tale of Xavier Xanthia Xaneo
Who never took a shower, bath, or washed
-Steven
Eliza’s Prompt: Write a poem that is an exaggeration of a good thing or a bad thing. Exaggerate this crazily.
The Most Frightening Nightmare
I was walking down the street and I tripped in front of Joe
No, I was walking down the street and I fell flat on my face in front of the football coach whose team I wanted to play for
No, I was walking through Times Square and I tripped and fell in front of a TV reporter even if I was only in the background
No, I was walking out on the field for a halftime show with my soccer team in front of 30,000 people and I tripped and fell
No, I was walking down a street with goblins all around and I tripped and fell and the goblins killed me
No, I was walking through a spidery mansion and a wicked witch grabbed me and chained me to the palace walls for three centuries and then I died a long terrible death
No, I spontaneously combusted!
-Eliza
JJ’s Prompt: Make a list of about twenty crazy words and then write a poem about how you feel (or might feel) using those words.
I Feel Like A…
I feel like a…
Stupendously mashed potato
A frozen shooting star
A polka-dot snowflake thief.
I feel like a…
Diagonal bubblegum kaleidoscope
An eccentric silk lightning
An aquamarine velcro puddle.
I feel like a…
Glitter zipper flip-flop
An absurd chalk comet
A secret phantom magician.
I feel like a…
RHINOCEROS WITH A HUGE NOSE HAIR!
-JJ
Interview with Tamera Will Wissinger, author of Gone Fishing, A Novel in Verse:
1. Why did you choose to write Gone Fishing as a novel in verse?
Gone Fishing didn’t start out as a novel in verse. Believe it or not, it began as a picture book with about twenty poems. Once I began to work with my editor, she helped me imagine it as a longer story, and it grew into a novel in verse from there. I did make a choice to write the story using poems. That choice came from my own love of rhyme, rhythm, and stories written with poetry.
2. You wrote in a variety of poetic forms. Why did you choose to vary the styles of poetry through the book? Do you like a particular form of poetry better than others?
Poetic forms are fascinating to me. I have always liked to read rhythm and rhyme and stanza patterns, and the more I investigated and learned about poetry techniques and poetic forms, the more intrigued I became. When I began to write using poetic forms, it felt as though I was solving a puzzle. Since each form has a specific framework and guidelines, those acted as clues. As the poet, I got to choose the best words that followed those guidelines, simultaneously building the poem and solving the puzzle!
I don’t have one particular form that I love the best. I do enjoy finding those “just-right” words or phrases that are important to poetry, and I also love that each poem plays an important role in telling the overall story.
3. Do you like to go fishing? If so, are you more like the brother or the sister character?
I do like to go fishing. I used to fish with my family when I was young and now I fish with my husband, and my parents when they visit. I don’t even mind the days when we don’t catch anything. Just being near the water is interesting to me – it’s so peaceful on calm days and can get so stirred up on windy or rough days. I also love to watch nature – around water there is always something new and different to see.
As far as Sam and Lucy, the characters in Gone Fishing, I am a little like both. I like to have a plan, which is similar to one of Sam’s traits, and I like to bring along way too many things when I’m taking a trip, which is similar to one of Lucy’s behaviors. Since I’m the middle child of three kids, I know what it’s like to be a little sister, and also what it’s like to be a big sister. As I wrote from each character’s points of view, I used what I remembered from my own experiences.
4. Your book isn’t only an engaging story, but it is also cleverly put together. Do you normally start with a concept for a book’s structure when you write, or do you normally start with the story idea? Or is each book’s writing process different?
Thank you! I usually start with a bit of a story idea – maybe it’s an image or an event. In the case of Gone Fishing, I wrote the opening poem, Night Crawlers, first, before there was a fully formed story. That poem bubbled up from my memories of hunting for worms with my family before a fishing trip. Since Gone Fishing was a novel in verse, I worked with my editor to develop story elements, and then I would choose the poetic forms and write new poems that helped tell the story.
Whether it’s a picture book for very young children, a story in poems, or a middle grade novel, I usually begin by kicking around that nugget of an idea and just write for a while to see what comes out. As I write, the story’s shape usually begins to emerge.
5. What advice do you have for young writers who’d like to write a novel in verse?
First, have a good story to tell. A story in verse is one way of telling a story, so in my mind the structure, while important, has to help support the story in some way.
Second, know why you’re writing a story in verse – if you’re writing for younger children, this format might be a lighthearted way to deliver a story. If you’re writing for older students, the format might have something to do with the story. In other words, the main character may actually write poetry or journal in poetry as part of the story.
Third, read a lot of poetry stories and see what the authors of those stories are doing to make their stories verse novels. To really be a verse novel, the story will need to have rhythm (and rhyme if appropriate), poetry techniques, and/or poetic forms.
6. Do you have a favorite story in verse that you can share?
There are many novels in verse that I like. Here are some favorites broken down by reading age:
For Early Grade Readers: Emma Dilemma by Kristine O’Connell George; the Danitra Brown books by Nikki Grimes. (These books are written for younger children to read, but they are good examples for writers who want to learn how to tell a story in verse.)
For Middle Grade Verse Novel Readers: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech; May B. by Caroline Star Rose
For Middle School/High School Verse Novel Readers: Shakespeare Bats Cleanup and Shakespeare Makes The Playoffs by Ron Koertge; Carver: A Life In Poems or A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson
7. Since April is National Poetry Month, do you have suggestions for how young writers can participate in the month-long celebration?
There are many ways to join in the fun. One simple way is to celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day on April 18, a day where you select a poem and carry it in your pocket, ready to pull out and read. If readers feel like it, they might even want to ask their librarian to help organize a pocket poem reading. I’m planning to attend a reading that day at my local bookstore with a group of student authors and I’ll read one of my own poems that I’ll carry in my pocket.
Here is a link to the Academy of American Poets – the organization that started National Poetry Month! They have a full list of events and activities for students.
Thank you for inviting me to join you for Ink Splat! I wish you all good writing and a Happy Poetry Month!
Tamera Will Wissinger
Visit the author’s website.
