Hello, and welcome to the June round of Writers Reveal! This month’s topic was sent to us by Melissa of Melissa Writes. Her topic for us is: “When life gives you lemons… how do you keep on writing?” Challenge accepted! Thanks for the prompt, Melissa!
What to do when life tries to give you lemons?
Everyone knows that famous saying: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” We also understand what it means: instead of getting discouraged about life’s challenges (the proverbial lemons), one should strive to turn them into positive experiences (the proverbial lemonade). So we take that advice to heart and try our best to live with optimism, because we know deep down that life is best experienced with sweet refreshing lemonade as opposed to a pile of yucky sour lemons.
This is what “normal” people do. But not writers. We do very different things with the lemons life gives us. Not always, but often. Why? Because sour or sweet, they pose equal safety and risk to our writing. Yes, pure lemonade is great, but while it’s beneficial to real life experience, time spent making it is time taken away from the art that in many cases thrives on the lemons as well.
So what does my inner writer tell me to do when life tries to give me lemons? It depends on the situation, but she sometimes likes to take an alternative route to the traditional approach.
Throw the lemons back!
When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons! What the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!
OK, so I wouldn’t go as far as trying to invent combustible lemons, but sometimes when life drops too many obstacles at once into my course of writing, I just get frustrated. I wish I had the motivation to be optimistic all the time, to keep on creating the stories that so often themselves are the lemonade of my life. But the types of challenges I usually face actually keep me from making that lemonade and instead seem to push me into making some kind of lemon sorbet. And while I do come out of them a better person each time, how fulfilling can that truly be if they rob me of the time to put that new experience to the best use I know how?
So once in a while, when I’m tired of being bombarded with life’s lemons, I grab them and throw them back. I refuse to make anything out of those lemons. I try to forget they exist and just concentrate on writing about things completely unrelated to whatever I’m going through at the moment. Is that irresponsible? Maybe. Almost definitely, in fact. But that’s what I do. There are times when I need a break from life altogether, and more often than not, writing is just the thing to help me recharge so that when life decides to throw those lemons at me a second time, I’ll be ready to turn them into some darn good lemonade.
Make your own lemons! Whaaat?
Life isn’t really life without its fair share of challenges, but some of us are lucky enough to experience an opposite kind of existence, where lemonade is constantly handed to us free of charge and all we have to do is sit back and enjoy. I’m fortunate enough to live without major struggles that relentlessly test my inner strength and push me to a potential breaking point over and over again. I am one of the lucky ones. Life gives me more lemonade than lemons, and for that, I am grateful.
Having said that, this also poses a hazard to writing. Nobody wants to read stories where everyone is happy all the time and nothing bad ever happens, because those would be ridiculously boring. As much as they threaten our creative time, writers need lemons because they provide inspiration for the conflicts in our fiction. So what do I do when life won’t give me those lemons? I make my own.
I know it would be unwise to purposely create complications for myself (which I sometimes do anyway, but that’s beside the point). Life is going to hand out plenty of those on its own, so there’s no need to add to the burden if it can be avoided. Instead, I try to imagine challenges I’ve never personally faced… and then make my characters face them. Essentially, I play the part of life by giving out the lemons.
I’ve written stories about forbidden love, prejudice and senseless hatred. I’ve pitted characters against each other in action scenes fraught with violence. I’ve made them face all sorts of creatures from dragons to giant robots. I’ve subjected them to enough emotional stress to drive a real person close to a breakdown. But the best part of it all is making my characters take on all these challenges and overcome them. In a way, it’s reassuring to see them take all the lemons I give them and turn them into lemonade, because it’s as if my subconscious is telling me that if my own characters can make the best of an imaginary life, then I can certainly make the best of a real one.
When life gives me lemons, how do I keep on writing? Sometimes I don’t, but when I do, I do my best to turn those lemons into the most delicious lemonade ever.
What about you? What do you do with the lemons life gives you?
This has been a special topic post for Writers Reveal, a monthly blog swap among several talented writers. Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the event. Thanks for reading!
English is a complex language, as many of its non-native speakers are well aware. Among the several confusing aspects of its grammar is the issue of plural forms. While those who grew up speaking English tend to take them for granted, I know several people still learning the language who find it odd that “houses” can be infested with “mice” or that North America has “moose” and “geese”. Most unusual plural forms are common knowledge to us, but even native English speakers can be thrown off by some lesser known plural forms.
Just for fun, here are three plural forms that are uncommonly known to be correct. Enjoy, and be careful not to get them wrong!
1) Fishes
There are three fish in this picture, but only two fishes! (Finding Nemo, 2003)
This may be my favorite uncommon plural word because it’s one I see all the time in my field of study. As a Marine Biology student, I’m constantly reading papers and book chapters containing the keyword “fishes”, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel smart for knowing why this plural form of “fish” is correct.
We were taught as children that the plural of “fish” is the same as its singular form, while fewer of us have been exposed to its other plural form in scientific contexts. But here’s the catch (no pun intended): “fishes” is used to indicate multiple kinds of fish (as in “Fishes of the Caribbean”), while “fish” is used to indicate multiple individual fish (note that “fishes” was once used in this sense too, but has since fallen into disuse).
So yes, you’ll probably still be using “fish” most of the time, but at least you now know why the famous phrase “sleeping with the fishes” isn’t entirely wrong!
2) Octopuses
I bet you’ve gone most of your life thinking that the plural form of “octopus” is “octopi”. Don’t worry; so have I. When I was a kid, I had a Math book titled “How Do Octopi Eat Pizza Pie?”, and ever since, I’d been walking around thinking more than one “octopus” should be called “octopi”. Turns out, until last month, I’d thought wrong.
Similar to the previous example, we were taught at a young age to follow a specific rule when creating the plural form of certain words, but without really understanding why. We just know that several words ending in -us are pluralized by replacing the last two letters with -i. However, this mostly applies to some words derived from Latin, such as “cactus” (which, despite being Greek in origin, counts as an example of botanical Latin). “Octopus”, on the other hand, is etymologically Greek, and thus does not obey this rule. This is why “cacti” is correct (though “cactuses” is also acceptable), while “octopi” is not. Instead, pluralize “octopus” as “octopuses” or “octopodes”, and if anyone ever tries to correct you, you’ll know how to explain why your way is correct!
3) Dwarfs
Fans of The Lord of the Rings and other fantasy stories by J.R.R. Tolkien may be overly familiar with the word “dwarves”. What many may not realize, though, is that this is actually a newer plural form of “dwarf” that was popularized by the author (though it seems to have originated elsewhere). The standard plural form is actually “dwarfs”, and is the correct spelling for most contexts. However, “dwarves” seems to have become increasingly acceptable in fantasy fiction to indicate multiple individuals of a race of little people, so it shouldn’t be disregarded completely. The important thing is to know the difference, especially if you write a lot in the fantasy genre. Whether you’re referring to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” or the “elves” and “dwarves” of Middle-earth, make sure you know when to use which form!
What are your thoughts on these unusual plural forms? Any more you would add to this list?
If you read my post about VOCALOID last week, you probably saw this coming. If you didn’t, I strongly recommend you take a quick look at that one in order to understand what I’m about to show you now. All caught up? Great, then let’s get started!
This may seem rather bizarre since my last Motivational Music post featured classical music, but I guess that just goes to show how diverse my musical taste really is, and more importantly, how many different styles can inspire my writing (and hopefully yours). Ready for a taste of music from Japan? Then allow me to dig just a little deeper into the aforementioned love of mine by sharing music that features the voices of my three favorite Vocaloids: Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka and KAITO.
Popularly known as “everyone’s favorite digital diva”, Hatsune Miku has been a national celebrity in Japan for years and more recently seems to be making quite an impact in the Western world. She was designed to represent the future of music (reflected in her name, as “hatsu-ne-miku” means “first sound of the future”), and by now has likely been used to sing in every genre of music imaginable (and I mean every genre, from opera and Broadway to heavy metal and dubstep). I often think of Miku as the Jack-of-all-trades of the Vocaloids; she has a voice suited to all types of music, but she isn’t always the best choice of vocals for a given song (case in point, virtually every other popular Vocaloid has a cover song that’s arguably better than its corresponding Miku original: “A Single Red Leaf” as sung by Luka, “Electric Angel” as sung by Rin and Len, “Poetaster and Singing Dolls” as sung by Gakupo, “My True Self” as sung by Kaito and Meiko, etc.). That being said, the songs that are well-suited for her are awesome.
Because most of her popular songs are upbeat, I’ve found Miku to be great inspiration for cheerful themes and stories with happy endings. At the same time, she sings a variety of songs that make good inspiration for other types of writing, including romantic, melancholy, terrifying, and just plain bizarre. Even if all you need is motivation to create, Miku is very good at cheering her listeners on and making them feel special. The subject matter of her songs covers everything from the meaning of life to vegetable juice, so whatever you plan to write, chances are there’s a Hatsune Miku song out there that may inspire you!
For some awesome music featuring Miku’s vocals, I recommend looking up songs produced by ryo, Hachi, livetune, wowaka and Mitchie M. Of course, great Hatsune Miku songs are never in short supply, as evidenced by the fact that she dominates Nico Nico Douga’s Hall of Legend. What can I say? She’s clearly everyone’s favorite digital diva for a reason!
My other favorite female Vocaloid, Megurine Luka‘s most notable quality is her ability to sing in both Japanese and English (hence the name “meguri-ne”, which translates as “round sound”). Unlike Miku, Luka is best known within the VOCALOID fandom as a ballad singer for her low mature-sounding voice, and most producers famous for using her have her sing slow, sad songs. That isn’t to say she only excels in this genre, though; in fact, some of her biggest hits are the type of songs that make you want to get up and dance (would you believe me if I told you I know the whole choreography to this song?). Her soft soothing vocals also make her an excellent choice for songs with romantic themes, so she’s definitely a potential favorite of fans who enjoy those types of stories!
Luka has been great inspiration for some of my more dramatic writing, such as romance and tragedy. Some of her best ballads are written by fatmanP and Yuyoyuppe, while Circus-P is famous for writing original songs for her in English. Luka is a popular choice among various producers, though, so your best bet to find great music featuring her voice is to check out her music page on the VOCALOID wiki. She may not be as famous as Miku, but you’ll find that she too has a wide variety of great songs to enjoy!
Kaito (also known by his fan-given name Shion Kaito) is my favorite male Vocaloid. In a franchise that consists mostly of female voices, it’s refreshing to enjoy a lower register of vocals once in a while (plus a cute face to match, *wink*). Being one of only two Japanese voicebanks for the original VOCALOID engine (the other being Meiko), he is actually older than Miku and Luka (who were both released for VOCALOID2), but took considerably longer to become as popular. Due to his standing as a veteran Vocaloid, Kaito has a tendency to sound more “electronic” than his successors, but the best producers who use his voice know how to play this to their advantage. Because of this, many of Kaito’s best songs don’t try to hide the fact that he isn’t real, but instead use him to create a unique sound or theme that a human singer couldn’t pull off.
Most of the songs featuring Kaito at his best come in the form of traditional folk music or electronic tracks that showcase his original sound, though he’s also frequently used to sing rock (usually in the visual kei band VanaN’Ice with Kamui Gakupo and Kagamine Len). He’s also very good at singing duets with other Vocaloids; one of the biggest shipping wars I’ve ever come across in the fandom is about whether he makes a better couple with Miku (as in “Cendrillon“) or with Meiko (as in “A Pair of Wintry Winds“), and his cover of “Magnet” with Gakupo proves he has excellent chemistry with female and male Vocaloids alike. Since his V3 update, Kaito has become even more versatile, adding softer tones to his voice and even gaining the ability to sing in English, so good music sung by him isn’t likely to run out anytime soon!
Because of his range as a singer and a character, I find Kaito to be great inspiration for various types of writing, especially romance, humor and poetry. Most of my favorite songs featuring his voice were written by Shigotoshite-P (Japanese folk music), Shinjou-P (electronic) or natsuP (rock), so if you’re looking for some great Kaito songs, I highly recommend starting with music by any of these talented ladies. They really know how to make him shine!
Bonus: Want to hear a song performed by all three of these amazing Vocaloids? Try “ACUTE“; yes, it’s a tragic story about a love triangle, but the music is great!
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about my three favorite Vocaloids, and that you have fun listening to the music I’ve shared with you! Thanks for reading/listening!
VOCALOID is a product of Yamaha. Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka and KAITO belong to Crypton Future Media. All official artwork is displayed for illustrative purposes only. I own nothing!
Those familiar with my blog know that Wednesdays are dedicated to topics regarding creative writing. Today, I’m going to step a little outside the box (not too far, don’t worry) to share a little more of my nerdy side and talk about my newest obsession: VOCALOID. There’s a lot I could tell you about this newfound love of mine (enough to fill another series of posts, in fact), but the point of bringing it up now is simply to focus on what I consider the most interesting aspect of the fandom: creativity through collaboration. So just sit back and listen while I take you on a brief journey through this incredible musical world. Enjoy!
What is VOCALOID?
Before I answer this question, let me ask you one: have you ever heard of a Japanese singer named Hatsune Miku? If not, take a minute to listen to one of her most popular songs: “World is Mine“.
Pretty neat, huh? Now what if I told you that the singer in the video doesn’t actually exist, and what you just heard was nothing more than a computer program synthesizing a human voice? Here’s another video of her singing the same song, but this time in front of a live audience:
Yes, that’s a full house cheering for a hologram! Seriously, how cool is that?
VOCALOID is a software from Yamaha designed to synthesize singing vocals, intended to serve as a substitute for real singers. Each package consists of a character name, a voicebank comprised of phonemes recorded by a real person, and (in most cases) a basic character design. Voice synthesizing is achieved by typing lyrics and melody into the program.
The Vocaloids started being released in 2004 with moderate commercial success, but the software exploded in popularity around 2007 when a Hatsune Miku cover of the Finnish folk song “Ievan Polkka” went viral on Nico Nico Douga (a Japanese video-sharing website similar to YouTube). Since then, VOCALOID has had a tremendous cultural impact, drawing fans from Japan and the Western world alike. To this day, Miku remains the most famous of the Vocaloids and NND plays an essential role in the collaborative creation and sharing of VOCALOID works.
Today, there are dozens of official Vocaloids available in at least six languages (mostly the original languages of Japanese and English), hundreds of fanmade voicebanks (known as UTAU), thousands of VOCALOID-related songs, and tons of derivative media ranging from video games to live concerts. There’s no doubt about it: VOCALOID is a global phenomenon.
Why is VOCALOID so popular?
Honestly, I’ve been asking myself the same question ever since I became a fan. I heard my first VOCALOID song (“World’s End Umbrella“) in 2010 through a reference from a friend, and YouTube must have remembered that because it gave me a recommendation for my second song (“Witch Hunt“) in mid-2013. The funny thing was, though I absolutely loved the latter, I had no clue yet what I was listening to. It was only in November 2013 that I really got into the fandom and started to learn more about the Vocaloids. Fast-forward half a year: I now have days’ worth of VOCALOID videos logged in my YouTube history and a playlist consisting of over 300 songs. Yeah.
The eight most popular (and my favorite) Japanese Vocaloids. In order from left to right: KAITO, MEIKO, Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka, GUMI, Kamui Gakupo, Kagamine Len and Kagamine Rin (Source unknown; image found on Zerochan)
So what is it about this fandom that’s kept me and countless others hooked for so long? Is it the endless assortment of awesome music? Is it the variety of characters with unique voices and personalities? Or is it the originality of the whole idea? If I had to bet on it, I’d say it’s a combination of all three, plus something extra special.
My theory is that what keeps VOCALOID going strong is the amount of creativity it takes to sustain the fandom. What starts out as a “singer in a box” becomes a character in stories told through music, a subject of visual art and a virtual presence on the stage of a sold-out concert. But what makes all this truly amazing is that the entire fanbase is built on a foundation of collaborative effort. In other words, to keep the Vocaloids “alive”, their fans usually work together.
Creativity, Collaboration, Empowerment
If there’s one song that sums up what the VOCALOID fandom is all about, it’s probably “Existence Imagination“. This is the product of the collaboration of 13 people using nine Vocaloids. The song showcases them at their best individually, in pairs and as a chorus, and the lyrics are essentially the characters happily saying they will always be there to give their voices to the creativity of their beloved songwriters. It’s all-around awesome. Hear for yourself:
The success of a VOCALOID producer is generally measured by the popularity of their uploaded works on NND, and this often relies on more than just good music. Because of this, many of the best VOCALOID videos are born from the combined effort of at least two people. One of my favorite teams of producers consists of three people: Hitoshizuku-P (music and lyrics), Yama△ (mixing) and Suzunosuke (illustration). Pretty much every project to which all three of them contribute is gold. Here’s a great example, the first video in a popular series of theirs using the famous “Vocaloid Eight”: Bad∞End∞Night.
The fun thing about VOCALOID is how interactive it is, in that it leaves about 99% to the imagination. Absolutely nothing is canon, right down to whether or not the Kagamine twins are actually related. All the developers provide is a voice and a basic character design; everything else (personalities, relationships, etc.) is left entirely up to the fans. And this opens the door to a flood of creative ideas.
So many possibilities have been constructed around the Vocaloids that it’s easy to forget they’re each nothing more than a voice and a drawing. Fans collectively build their personalities through music and visual art to create the characters we know and love, and I believe there’s a sense of empowerment to be found in that. The developers may have created the Vocaloids, but the fanbase brought them to life. I imagine that the real fun of attending a VOCALOID concert is knowing in the back of your mind that the lovable turquoise-haired girl smiling and waving from the stage only exists because you and everyone else around you helped make her real, and for those couple of hours, you feel special in the belief that she is singing to you. So in a way, even the fans who simply enjoy the music created by others are working together to keep the domain thriving.
Obviously, VOCALOID isn’t for everyone. Most people understandably prefer the voice of a real person to that of a machine, and many just don’t get the novelty of virtual singers. But where VOCALOID lacks in the reality department, it certainly makes up for in originality, creativity and inspiration. Sure, several fans of the Vocaloids claim to wish they were real, but honestly, I’m sure deep down we all love them for exactly what they are, and even more for what they give us. Producers and fans alike, everyone in the fandom is united by a mutual love of VOCALOID. And doesn’t that make it just as special as any other form of art?
Thank you for following me on this tour! I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the Vocaloids and the power they have to inspire creative collaboration. As always, thanks for reading, and if you really enjoyed the music featured in this post, welcome to the wonderful world of VOCALOID!
Welcome to another round of Writer’s Reveal! This month’s topic was sent to us by Rhianna of A Parenting Life, who suggested the prompt “a tale about siblings with a magical twist”. Here’s a short story I wrote based on that idea. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the topic, Rhianna!
Playing with Magic
“My turn, my turn!”
Amy reached her arms out for the toy in her elder sister’s hands, but she pulled it away.
“Wait! Just one more.”
“No, Brenda! You had him a long time! It’s my turn!”
“Fine…”
With a sigh, Brenda handed over the toy. It was an old plush rabbit, covered in gray fur that had once been white and sporting a blue ribbon around its neck. The younger girl laughed as she squeezed it with all the strength a five-year-old could muster.
“Careful, Amy!” Brenda frowned at her little sister. “Don’t hurt him! Remember what Grandma said.”
Amy seemed reluctant to loosen her hold, but she obeyed nonetheless. After rising to her feet, she closed her eyes, whispered into the rabbit’s ear, and spun around once on her toes. When she opened her eyes, she was draped in an opulent pink dress. Brenda rolled her eyes.
“A princess again?” the eight-year-old sighed. “Pick something else already!”
“But I like being a princess!” said the younger girl. “It’s my favorite!”
“Don’t you wanna try something different?”
“Like you?” Amy pointed at the fairy wings on her big sister’s back. Brenda nodded.
“Yeah! He can make you anything you want!”
“OK, show me something better than a princess!”
The five-year-old handed the toy back to her sibling and sat back in her seat at the tea party table. Brenda rose from her chair and followed the same procedure as her sister, closing her eyes and whispering in the rabbit’s ear before spinning on the spot while hugging it tight. When the older girl stopped and opened her eyes, Amy fell into a fit of giggles at the sight of the furry ears and tail that had appeared out of nowhere.
“Kitty!” she laughed. “That’s funny! I wanna try too!”
Brenda took a bow as her sister applauded. Before she could return the rabbit to Amy, however, there was a loud click and the front door started to open. The girls froze, knowing this could only mean one thing: their mother had come to pick them up early!
The sisters glanced at the door before turning to each other with panicked looks on their faces. What would she say when she saw them? There was no time to wish themselves back to normal; they would just have to face her and hope their grandmother could explain everything.
Brenda dropped the rabbit and stood up straight with Amy just as their mother appeared in the doorway. The woman immediately looked her daughters up and down as she walked in, but to their surprise, she didn’t seem to mind the dress or the cat ears at all.
“Hello, girls!” she said with a smile. “Did you have fun with Grandma today?”
The children nodded, maintaining innocent expressions while secretly trying to make sense of their mother’s indifference. Just then, their grandmother walked into the living room with a tray of cookies in her hands and a smile on her face.
“Oh, hello, Martha!” said the old woman brightly. “We weren’t expecting you yet.”
“Hi, Mom”, Martha replied, walking across the room to greet her mother with a kiss on the cheek. “Meeting finished early. Sorry to surprise you like this.”
“Don’t be silly; it’s always a pleasure to have you here! Right, girls?”
Both women turned to Brenda and Amy, who once again nodded without a word. They were still waiting for a reaction to their bizarre appearances.
“So what have you been up to?”
It took the girls a moment to register their mother’s question, but before they could reply, their grandmother spoke up.
“They were just playing with Cottontail. He was keeping them company while I was in the kitchen.”
“How nice!” said Martha as she glanced at the toy rabbit lying beside the tea set. “You know, your Aunt Sara and I used to play with him all the time when we were your age. I hope you’re having just as much fun with him as we did!”
While the children exchanged looks of surprise, their grandmother invited her daughter to stay for tea and cookies. Brenda and Amy enjoyed the rest of their tea party as casually as they could in cat ears and a princess dress, until at last their mother told them it was time to go home.
“Oh, I forgot the tablecloths in the car”, said Martha. “Say goodbye to Grandma, girls. I’ll be right back.”
The moment their mother was out the door, Brenda and Amy turned to their grandmother, and the elder sister asked the question on both their minds.
“Grandma, why can’t Mommy see us?”
The old woman smiled. “For the same reason only Mommy and Aunt Sara could see each other, or why only my brother and I could see each other. That’s just how Cottontail works. Now you should change back before your mother gets here.”
The sisters did as they were told, having Cottontail return them to normal before bidding their grandmother farewell. A minute later, Martha had returned a stack of dry-cleaned tablecloths to her mother and was ushering her daughters out the door. As they walked behind their mom to the car, Amy whispered to her sister.
“Brenda, do you think Cottontail could make everyone see us?”
The older girl shook her head. “I don’t think so. Only brothers and sisters see each other, that’s what Grandma said.”
“Too bad. I kind of wanted Mommy to see me as a princess.”
Brenda wrapped an arm around her little sister and laughed. “I’m sure she already does, Amy. I’m sure she already does.”
This has been a special topic post for Writers Reveal, a monthly blog swap among several talented writers. Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the event. Thanks for reading!
After a whole series of long posts, I think now is a good time to unwind with a short one. Lately I’ve written quite a bit of poetry, and I find it’s a format that I really enjoy working with. So continuing on the same line as my flash fiction post, here’s a brief list of reasons I believe poetry is an art that every writer should try at least once. Note that this list is based entirely on personal experience, so if you disagree with any points or would like to add some of your own, feel free to weigh in! Enjoy!
Why Writing Poetry is Good for You
1) It’s a form of free writing. True, all creative writing can be considered “free”, but even the simplest stories still need to follow a basic structure to be complete. Poems, however, don’t really come with universal rules. They can cover any subject matter. They don’t have to tell a story. They don’t have to rhyme. They don’t even have to make sense! All you need is a simple idea, and your imagination is free to run with it until it becomes a full piece. It’s wonderfully liberating to write without the restrictions of prose. And who knows? You may just learn something about yourself in the process. I usually do.
2) It’s a gateway for inspiration. Sometimes writing a short piece without inhibitions is just what you need to find inspiration for a longer work like a short story or a novel. Creating poetry has given me extra motivation for stories, and some ideas have even been converted from the former to the latter format during writing. Though many of my poems are written just for fun, they also help me break creative blocks and open the door to new and greater ideas, even if (or especially when) that was never my intention. Take note: if you often suffer from writer’s block, a good poem or two may be the spark that will get you back on track.
3) It’s an emotional release. This is one of the main reasons I write poetry. Sometimes I have so many emotions built up inside me that I just have to set them free somehow, and poetry is usually a great release for those feelings. More than once, I’ve managed to relieve negative emotions by turning them into a poem. So if you’re ever feeling down, try using your feelings as poetic inspiration. It may not solve your problem, but at least you may feel better afterwards.
4) It exercises the mind. I’m sure many prose writers who try their hand at poetry find that it’s not as easy as it may seem. Writing poems is quite different from writing stories, and that means it requires a different way of thinking. You have to train your mind to get into a rhythm, to feel the flow of the words and see the imagery in the lines. Stanza poems can be especially tricky because of the added challenge of rhyme, but even free verse poetry takes real skill to write well. If poetry isn’t your niche, you may enjoy it for the challenge of trying something different, and for the lessons it can teach you to help improve your writing in your regular format.
5) It’s relaxing. If for no other reason, write poetry because it feels good! Poems can be a lot of fun to write, especially when you don’t put pressure on yourself to make them perfect. If you like poetry simply for the beautiful art it is, then write for the fulfillment it brings you, and let the above reasons naturally make it all the more enjoyable. Have fun!
What about you? Do you write poetry? If so, why do (or don’t) you enjoy it?
J.C. Wolfe is a fiction writer, biologist, and aspiring novelist of science fantasy and romance. A natural-born American and graduate in Marine Ecology from a university in Brazil, J.C. now writes for a living in California while spending free time blogging and penning stories and poetry.
J.C. Wolfe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
This is what “normal” people do. But not writers. We do very different things with the lemons life gives us. Not always, but often. Why? Because sour or sweet, they pose equal safety and risk to our writing. Yes, pure lemonade is great, but while it’s beneficial to real life experience, time spent making it is time taken away from the art that in many cases thrives on the lemons as well.
“My turn, my turn!”
1) 
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