What Can Fiction Writers Learn from Poetry?

The following is a guest post by William Womack who also blogs at Words for Writers.

Fiction writers are scavengers. We scour daily life collecting faces and names, sharp words and longing glances, then hunker in our caves to weave tapestries from the pretty bits we’ve found. It isn’t just ideas and images we pilfer; techniques and craft are fair game too. Some of our most potent writing tools are borrowed from our poet friends.

A well-turned poem often seems close to magic in the way it telegraphs strong emotion and vivid imagery in a compact space. Fortunately for poets and fiction writers alike, magic has little do to with it. We can dissect poetry, lifting out the parts that are most useful to us. Take for example a passage from my most recent manuscript, Last Thursday. The main character has gone for a walk along the river in Portland to sort out his thoughts when (surprise!) it starts to rain.

A pellet of water slaps the bridge of my nose. I frown at the heavens. Crap. Jerking to my feet, I scramble down the path toward my bike. The brambles around me quiver with a steady piff, piff, like bullets grazing, as random raindrops fall to Earth.

One poetic device this paragraph employs is the recurring theme. Outwardly, the passage is simply describing the onset of a storm. On closer inspection, the subtext created by the choice of words indicates something more-an antagonistic relationship between the main character and fate (or life, or God). He doesn’t just frown at the sky, he frowns at the heavens. His argument with the almighty is an ongoing motif in a number of the early scenes.

Simile and metaphor offer shortcuts to understanding by comparing one thing to another (often unrelated) thing. This is no simple rainstorm beginning, but a personal affront. Somebody’s out to get him! His choice of simile, like bullets grazing, underscores his belief that he’s being targeted by an uncaring fate.

Although it’s subtle, there’s also a bit of assonance, the repeated use of a vowel sound. Crap, scramble, path, brambles, random, the a’s set up a backbeat that draws the eye along. It’s fun to read aloud, too. A little alliteration also rears its head with random raindrops. As with any of these techniques, a dollop goes a long way.

Another thing you might notice on reading this bit aloud is the rhythm. The first two sentences are structured in deliberate groups of three syllables da da da - da da da - da da da - da da da. Again, this is subtle, but it makes for sentences that roll along at a pleasing pace.

And finally, there’s a bit of onomatopoeia, that clunker for words that sound like their meaning. My favorite from above is slaps. Not only is it visceral and sharp, but it repeats the persecution theme. I’ll make the case for the non-word piff as another example, although it invokes a bit of poetic license.

I’ve only slightly scratched the surface with these examples. There are countless other ways we can raid the poet’s toolbox to build fiction. The next time you’re casting about for an inspirational novel to get your head set for writing, try grabbing a book of poems instead.

About the Author

William Womack is a writer and graphic designer living in Portland, Oregon. He is currently working on his second novel, Last Thursday, a tale of murder and intrigue set against the backdrop of the Portland arts scene. For more of his thoughts on writing and the writing lifestyle, visit www.wordsforwriters.com.

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I Want to Write a Book, and Here’s Why

A few days ago, Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil asked, “Why Do You Want To Write A Book?” While commenting on the post, I started thinking about all of the reasons I want to write a book. What is it that drives us to do what we love? What moves us to reach for certain goals? No person can answer such questions for another, but I can share my own desires and the motivations behind them with you.

Legacy

I would like to leave something here on earth that will be around long after I’m gone. I believe that throughout the course of our lives, we gain wisdom and knowledge (at least I certainly hope so), and writing a book presents a unique opportunity to share such knowledge with others. Fiction writing goes a step further because it has a special ability to capture the essence of humanity and the human experience in an engaging and creative manner.

Ideas

I have so many ideas for books, both fiction and non-fiction, that it would be a waste to never see them realized (in print). Interestingly enough, this is also one of the reasons I haven’t written a book yet; I have so many ideas that I tend to jump from one to the next without finishing. I am constantly barraged by characters, plot ideas, and scenes. I think it would be a shame to keep them all to myself, because some of them are actually pretty good.

Wisdom and Experience

I think going through the process of writing a book, from start to finish, will be a wonderful and enlightening experience. I also feel that there is much wisdom to be gained from that process. Exploring characters, for example, will certainly lead to greater understanding of human psychology and relationships. Any non-fiction project is sure to increase expertise and knowledge about the topic at hand.

Career

I’d like to have my own career, which means I won’t be dependent on some company to see to it that I have a job and steady paycheck. I’ve worked for two start-ups that went under, and while I’d probably join a start-up again if I ever had to take another day job, I very much prefer bearing the responsibility for my own financial fate. I also like being my own boss. Can I take a vacation? Why of course you can! How about a raise? Most definitely! It’s pretty nice. Now, if I can turn freelancing and blogging into becoming a published author, that will be some career!

A Story to Tell and a Message to Spread (Expression)

I have a story to tell, several of them actually. Some of my stories are just glimpses into the reality that we all know. Other stories contain cleverly woven messages or ideas about the workings of our world and the threats and dangers that we may (or may not) someday face. In general, writing allows us to express ourselves, our stories, and our ideas. Writing a book, to me, is a huge accomplishment in self-expression.

Creativity and Accomplishment

Speaking of accomplishment, having a book published is an enormous one. Writing the book is an achievement in its own right. Getting it published means that someone out there believes in your work, and feels it’s worthy of an audience and has the potential to make money. It’s not always desirable to connect creativity with money because the two are often at odds with each other, but it’s a wonderful thing to make a living doing something you love!

Fantasy

Most of my book projects are in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. What other medium allows you to fly a dragon, soar through outer space, or blink through time? Writing opens up new worlds, and it’s a way that you can create worlds of your very own. I love that! Sure, video games and movies let you escape into strange fantasy worlds, too, but you don’t get to create those worlds and all the people and creatures that live in them!

It’s What I’m Good At

Writing is what I’m good at. So good, in fact, that I know the previous sentence does not adhere to the rules of proper English. I have a knack for written communication, a passion for reading, and a voracious appetite for all things word and grammar related. I even like styling and formatting written content.

I Think I Should Listen to My Mom

She’s been saying it for years: you should be a writer. Shortly after I started freelancing and blogging, she said, I always knew you’d be a writer; I just had this feeling. She went on to explain that she thought I’d be writing books, not copy and web entries. My mom is wise when it comes to things like this, so I’m pretty sure I should heed her advice, and that’s exactly what I intend to do!

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Mutiny! (A Meditation on Characters)

This piece was featured on The Writing Show podcast over the summer. Please visit www.writingshow.com, or subscribe directly through iTunes. You can hear my reading of this piece toward the end of the episode titled “Writing Fiction Organically,” which aired on 7/29/07.

Some of you know that I’m a blossoming writer. That is to say, I started out writing super-cheese poetry back in junior high, and then during my college years, (which extended into my late twenties) I evolved to a higher class of internal rhyme schemes, alliterations, and topics above and beyond broken-hearted pubescent crushes through the excellent tutelage I received as a creative writing major at the University. Poetry was my schtick, and writing fiction didn’t seem to come naturally to me although I had a persistent feeling that I was destined to write a novel one day.

At some point in my early thirties, which was really like, yesterday, while working in offices amidst rows of gray walled cubicles, surrounded by people whose dreams were founded upon white picket fences and promotions to middle management, I decided that I’d better get busy writing that book. I needed a real career, one that ran thick with creativity, peppered with adventure, and breathed in a world that could only be called fantasy.

I set out to accomplish this task in all confidence. With my long history as an avid reader, my degree in creative writing, and years of poetic explorations of language under my belt, I felt certain I could crank out a novel in a year or less.

Boy, was I mistaken. My first venture was a novel about a group of friends, who well into their thirties, still attend a yearly “girl trip.” This tale of female bonding over three day long annual slumber parties fueled by tequila shots, vodka crans, and several cases of Pacifico and Corona left me feeling dry. Living it was one thing, and since I’d already lived it, I found I really didn’t want to write about it.

I thought hard about my goals as a writer, and wondered at how I could have been so absent-minded. Sure, I like a little chick lit every now and again but what I really love to chew on is some hardy sci-fi fantasy. Give me flying dragons, worlds dominated by E.S.P. (aka laran), children who can travel through their sibling’s veins and arteries, talking barnyard animals, little boys who are surprised to learn that they are in fact, wizards, and oh yes, do please, give me superheroes.

I crafted a couple of characters, gave them certain “special abilities,” and set them against a background world fraught with corporate travesty, political upheavals, and highly evolved technology.

But then one of my characters decided to go off on some other adventure. He wanted to explore the Mayan ruins, and find there an ancient codex, which holds the key to a great unknown - wait, that’s way too much research for a first novel, I said to him. The Mayans? Do you know how many books I’d have to read? A little research is fine for a first novel, but let’s not get carried away.

The character heeded my plea and returned to the world from whence he came but he didn’t stay there long. Next thing I know, he’s running off to join some underground organization that studies psi abilities and is at war with another underground organization that works to manifest psi abilities and I said, wait, this isn’t Heroes, why are you doing this to me?
I turned to his daughter, and begged her to move the story along but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She wanted to save the world, one animal at a time. She started to hear the thoughts of abandoned pets in the shelter where she works and begged for her own self-starring series.

So instead of a tightly-written, highly engaging, fantastical and complete first novel, I am buried in notes, outlines, character sketches and plots that have as many branches as a forest of trees.

Yes, it seems my characters have declared mutiny!

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