Jenny at readsbyredriverbanks asked me to take part in the Writer’s Blog Tour last weekend, and I’ve finally taken a few minutes to sit down and type up a post.  I did a post on the same topic back in May, when the ever-lovely Tricia Drammeh asked me to take part.  That time I answered the questions with more of a focus on my fiction writing, but this time I decided to focus a bit more on my poetry.

Why do I write what I do?
I write poetry because it’s something I’ve always enjoyed reading.  I remember as a kid I spent a whole afternoon in one of the trees out at my grandparents’ place writing poems about my summer vacation as a school project.  I used to really like free verse, and sometimes I still write a bit of it, but I’ve found haiku to be an interesting challenge, and it’s really quite satisfying to be able to cram a world of emotion into 17 syllables.

What am I working on?
I’m still working on The Lokana Chronicles, but I’m also working on a follow-up to Tuesday Daydreams.  I just have to finish the formatting and have a cover done, and then I think I’ll be ready to order that proof copy.  I’m not in a huge hurry, mainly because I don’t anticipate getting much done writing-wise this month, but I do hope to have it out by March.

I’m also working on a short story in verse, commissioned by Miss Tadpole.  Rhyming is hard. 😀

How does my work differ from others in its genre?
With my poetry, I like to paint a picture with my words.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes I’m not quite sure.  For me, poetry is a test of brevity – how much can I say in 17 syllables?  Brevity is not one of my strong suits, so poetry and short stories are a great way for me to practice this skill.

How does my writing process work?
I’m definitely a pantser – I get an idea and I run with it, most often straight into a brick wall that then must be dismantled brick by brick.  With my fiction, I’m becoming a plotser (I plot a little, but only the barest of bones, and the rest is done by the seat of my pants), but with my poetry, I don’t stress about structure as much.  If it takes me more than one stanza to make something work, then I’ll tack on another.  Sometimes I take a day or two to mull over exactly how to say what I want to say – “The Western Sea” percolated for a couple of days before I finally managed to write it down – but most often, there’s no real planning involved.

With the short story that Miss Tadpole commissioned, I had no idea what to write about.  But then as I was eating lunch one day, a quatrain popped into my head that refused to leave:

Once upon a time,
In a land far away,
There lived an old woman
And a boy made of clay.

Those four little lines contain so much possibility!  Writing it in rhyme is challenging, but fun.  Finding words that rhyme and convey what I want to convey is incredibly satisfying, and I can’t wait to have this story finished.

Now, who else wants to take part?  Joleene Naylor and DM Yates, perhaps?  If anyone else is interested, do please let me know!  Reading about other writers’ processes is always interesting.

Anything else you want to know about my writing and/or my writing process?  Leave your questions in the comments!

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