Carrie On...Together!
Carrie Charley Brown, Children's Book Writer
  • Carrie On... Together!
    • Meet Carrie
    • Carrie On...Book Clubs! >
      • Contest Gallery
  • Carrie On...Writing!
    • Ongoing Resources
    • Read with Me & Review Policy
  • Carrie On...Services!
    • Picture Book Critique Service
    • Teacher's Guides
    • KidLit Video Production
    • KidLit Marketing
    • Literary Tutoring PK-4
  • ReFoReMo
    • What is ReFoReMo?
    • Schedule & Coordinators
    • Tools
    • ReFoReMo 2016
    • ReFoReMo 2015
    • Blog Submissions
  • Privacy Policy

ReFoReMo Day 28: Renée M. LaTulippe Illuminates Poetic Techniques in Prose

3/29/2015

126 Comments

 
As we round the corner to our last ReFoReMo weekend together, we are very lucky to have two valuable lessons on poetic techniques.  Monday, you will learn where ReFoReMo goes from here, and finish strong will celebration and giveaways on Tuesday.  The giveaways will only be open for one day: 12 am CST March 31 to 12am CST on April 1, so be sure to follow these last few days carefully for instruction and qualification.  Enjoy the remaining lessons and feel free to revisit them often. 

by Renee M. LaTulippe

Those who write rhyming picture books already know how important poetic techniques are to their stories, but prose writers have just as much to gain from closely examining how poetic techniques can enhance the readability of their manuscripts.


Picture
SOUND DEVICES make music of your words, rendering them more fun to read aloud. Listen to how the simple assonance and alliteration — never overdone — enhance the beauty of these lines from COME ON, RAIN! by Karen Hesse:

Mamma lifts a listless vine and sighs.
***
…fling off their shoes,
skim off their hose,
tossing streamers of stockings over their shoulders.

Picture
IMAGERY creates concrete pictures in your readers’ heads. The more specific the image, the more effective it is. Consider the exquisite opening line of BARN by Debby Atwell:

I was raised in coastal fog so thick the crows had to walk to the cornfield that morning.


Picture
REPETITION and REFRAINS make your story interactive, giving children the chance to participate and “read” along.  They also help escalate the drama, as in CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE by Doreen Cronin:

Farmer brown has a problem.
His cows like to type.
All day long he hears
Click, clack, moo.
Click, clack, moo.
Clickety, clack, moo.

Picture
RHYTHM carries your reader from word to word and page to page, giving your prose a forward momentum that makes your book impossible to put down. Consider the rhythm (and the repetition of the color word, gray) in this passage from YESTERDAY I HAD THE BLUES by Jeron Ashford Frame:
Daddy says he got the grays.
The straight shoelaces,
coffee in the car grays.
The lines between his eyes,
lookin’ at his watch grays.
The don’t ask for a new skateboard
till tomorrow grays.
Poor Daddy.

Picture
DICTION — the exact right word in the exact right spot — while particularly essential in poetry, is of course important in any type of writing. In prose, diction isn’t just about finding the best verbs; it’s about finding the words that support and enhance your plot, setting, tone, and characters. Consider this excerpt from THIS MOOSE BELONGS TO ME by Oliver Jeffers:

Wilfred was dumbstruck.
This moose was Marcel, not Rodrigo.
The old lady was mistaken and
Wilfred thought it only proper
that he correct her.

The names, adjectives, and verbs in this passage do double duty to underscore the book’s humor and tone, and are authentic to the character of Wilfred, who is no ordinary boy.
 
Prize Alert
Renée is offering a 30-minute Skype consultation/critique on a prose or rhyming picture book or a poetry collection. To be eligible, you must be a fully registered participant, comment on this post, read daily, and keep records of your progress.
Picture
Renée M. LaTulippe is a poet and editor who has co-authored nine award-winning leveled readers and a collection of poetry. She has poems published in several anthologies, including the forthcoming National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry (ed. J. Patrick Lewis) and One Minute Till Bedtime (ed. Kenn Nesbitt; Little, Brown). Renée teaches the five-week online course The Lyrical Language Lab: Punching Up Prose with Poetry and blogs on children’s poetry at No Water River.

126 Comments
    Picture
    Illustration by Lori Nawyn

    ReFoReMo

    March 1-31
    The ReFoReMo Challenge, or Reading for Research Month Challenge, was developed to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching picture books.  Challenge registration opens February 15.  To find out more or to subscribe to the Reading for Research Blog for weekly posts year round, visit our new exclusive site at www.reforemo.com.

    ALL DONATIONS FILTER BACK INTO THE ReFoReMo CHALLENGE & BLOG
    Picture
    Carrie Charley Brown, Founder & Coordinator
    Picture
    Kirsti Call, ReFoReMo Co-Coordinator

    Archives

    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    2016 Schedule
    Aaron Reynolds
    Alayne Kay Christian
    Ame Dyckman
    Amy Krouse Rosenthal
    Andrea Davis Pinkney
    Angie Karcher
    Ask Carrie Questions
    Assessing A Mentor Text
    Author Educators
    Author-Educators
    Author Interview
    Author Study
    Back Matter
    Ben Clanton
    Bold Beginnings
    Bonus Links
    Carol Gordon Ekster
    Carrie Charley Brown
    Carrie Gelson
    Character Driven Picture Books
    Corey Rosen Schwartz
    Correspondence Structure
    Current Picture Books
    CYBILS
    Debbie Ridpath Ohi
    Deborah Underwood
    Dialogue
    Diversity
    Editor Brett Duquette
    Elaine Kiely Kearns
    Emily Arrow
    Emma Walton Hamilton
    Fiction Books
    Fiction Picture Books
    Giveaway
    Historical Fiction
    Illustration
    Illustrator Perspective
    Interplay
    Janee Trasler
    Janie Reinart
    Jennifer Cole Judd
    Jennifer Swanson
    Jodi Moore
    Josh Funk
    Joyce Sweeney
    Julie Hedlund
    KidLit 411
    Kirsti Call
    Kristen Remenar
    Kristy Dempsey
    Language
    Laura Purdie Salas
    Layered Text
    Library
    Linda Ashman
    Liz Garton Scanlon
    Lori Degman
    Lori Nawyn
    Mac Barnett
    Marcie Colleen
    Marcie Flinchum Atkins
    Marcie Flinchum-Atkins
    Maria Gianferrari
    Matthew Winner
    Melissa Stewart
    Mentor Texts
    Minimal Word Count
    Miranda Paul
    Mira Reisberg
    Monthly Challenge
    Mo Willems
    Narrative Nonfiction Picture Books
    Non-fiction Picture Books
    Nonfiction Picture Books
    Pat Miller
    Pat Zietlow Miller
    Paul Czajak
    Penny Klostermann
    Peter Brown
    Picture Book Biographies
    Picture Book Structures
    Picture Book Summit
    Picture Books With Heart
    Prize Drawings 2016
    Read-Aloud-Ability
    Reading For Research
    Reading For Research Month
    Reading List
    Reflection Questions
    ReFoRe Author Educator
    ReFoRe Author-Educator
    ReFoReMo
    ReFoReMo 2016
    ReFoReMo Goals
    Registration
    Renee LaTulippe
    Research Tools
    Revealing ReFoReMo
    Rhyming Picture Books
    Russ Cox
    Shari Dash Greenspan
    Sharing Contest
    Strong Girl Characters
    Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
    Support For Writers
    Susanna Leonard Hill
    Suzy Leopold
    Sylvia Liu
    Tammi Sauer
    Tara Lazar
    The Brothers Hilts
    Tom Lichtenheld
    Top Picture Books
    Tracey M. Cox
    Travis Jonker
    Uncomfortable Subjects
    Voice
    Writing Tips
    Yvonne Mes

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.