Rhyming Picture Book Month Starts Today!     Day 1

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Can you believe it’s time for RhyPiBoMo? I Can’t!

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I am SO glad you are here! Thank you for all the support over the past few months! You guys rocked the Facebook Group with nearly 180 members as of today!

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You BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN with the Critique Groups as we have 9 groups with 8 people in each!  That’s a lot of rhyme and poetry being perfected! Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting people into the critique groups on Facebook as Dawn and I need to focus now on the event.

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If you are still looking for a critique group please click the tab above that says “Need a Critique Group.” Follow the directions and then you can add your name and email address to the comment section there. Hopefully, you will find a critique group or partner there.

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Unfortunately, we can not help facilitate those groups as we are running the ones on Facebook and with the event starting, it would be too overwhelming and time consuming.

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As of today we have 148 writers registered for RhyPiBoMo. Don’t forget…if you are not registered go to:

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https://angiekarcher.wordpress.com/rhypibomo-registration/

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and register right now! Registration closes at midnight on April 16th. You will not be eligible for daily prizes or the poetry contest if you are not registered for the event.

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But, mostly I want to thank you for your dedication to writing rhyming picture books and poetry for children. They are the ones who will benefit from April 2014!

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I will caution you in advance…I am a new blogger, only 3 months old  in blogger years, so that’s like a 3 month old baby. I will do my best to keep all this running smoothly!

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Please bear with me and I apologize in advance for typos, strange things appearing on the blog and mostly for the spacing of my text. If my internet shuts down I promise to find the nearest wifi friendly hangout and post asap! I don’t have a clue how to write code so if my paragraphs are spaced by these cute little asterisks * it’s because my spacing is being weird and I don’t have time to figure it out.  It’s not why we are here…It’s really not my thing! Rhyme and poetry are my thing! Thank you in advance for your understanding!

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So, without further ado, I’m honored to present

our first

Golden Quill Guest Blogger

Kevan Atteberry!

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In honor of Kevan’s adorable bunny ears and spring-like attire, I am writing his post in purple!

Kevan graciously agreed to participate after I saw his awesome cartoon on Facebook about writing in rhyme. I am thrilled to tell you that Kevan is working on several manuscripts, some in rhyme and some not, but he does have a 2 book deal coming out in January called BUNNIES!!! from Katherine Tegan Books.

 

He is illustrating both books and the second book that is currently untitled will come out in January of 2016.  I fell in love with Kevan’s Monsters and I am thrilled to have him here!

 

Here is his hilarious cartoon that I can totally relate to…

 

 

To be terse,
being versed in verse
is a curse.

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My tendency towards rhyme and alliteration when I write is, I’m certain, the number one obstacle between me and the bestsellers list. No matter how I try when writing, my mind wants to rhyme things and repeat sounds. Sometimes (most of the time) they are quick ditties, 4 lines, 8 lines, quick, fun to say, fun to repeat vignettes. Occasionally, one of those will stretch out to a book length story. When they do, no matter how much I love it, an inner voice—or an outer voice, I’m not sure—will chastise me for torturing a fun little rhyme into something arduous. Even if it is not arduous. The voice will insist that I try rewriting it as prose. No matter how I try, I nearly always like the rhyming version better. Which should be okay, right? I mean, I write picture books for crying out loud. And no matter how often they warn us that editors do not want to see rhyming stories, all you have to do is go into any children’s section of a bookstore and take note of all the face out or featured picture books and you’ll see that is a myth. So. Screw it. I’m gonna do it.

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Bio:

Kevan is an illustrator/writer living in the Seattle area. He has been drawing since he was knee-high to a crayon. He has designed and illustrated many things including award-winning children’s books. His biggest claim to fame is creating Clippy the paperclip helper in Microsoft Office which still annoys millions of people every day.

   We all know who Clippy is and he is totally not annoying!

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More amazing images of Kevan’s…

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Please visit:

http://oddisgood.com

Thank you Kevan Atteberry!

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RhyPiBoMo Daily Lesson:Sunday March 30th

By Angie Karcher © 2014

Lesson 1

 

 

These daily lessons are broken up into different categories of poetry at first and then later in the month we will venture over into picture book writing. Remember, everything you must do to write a picture book in prose must now be done while following lots of rhyme and poetry rules. We will go step by step through the various parts of poetry explaining each in detail. As this is my first time writing these lessons, I am learning what works and what will work better for next year. I already have a list of things I will change. Please keep a list of suggestions and I will ask for these at the end of the event! We learn best from our mistakes! = )

Here we go!

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Are You a Versifier?

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Definition of versifier:
noun: a writer who composes rhymes; a maker of poor verses
(usually used as terms of contempt for minor or inferior poets) (Rhymezone.com)

 

 

A versifier is someone who writes the stinky poetry that editors hate. Versifiers give rhyme a bad name. RhyPiBoMo is about being brutally honest about what works and what doesn’t. This is like Rhyming Picture Book Boot Camp! Grrr… Professional writers for children know that writing a successful picture book takes years of dedication to the process. Get your B.I.C “Butt in chair,” as our wonder-poet Jane Yolen says.

If you want to be a successful children’s picture book author, first, be a successful student of writing. You must master punctuation, sentence structure, elimination of passive voice, writing drafts, revising, re-writing, hook, story arc, voice, characters, plot, and, and, and…
Basically, you MUST be a prolific picture book writer before you ever think about writing in rhyme!

This is a book I found very helpful when learning how to write picture books!

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WRITING PICTURE BOOKS by Ann Whitford Paul
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Picture-Books-Hands-On-Publication/dp/1582975566

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This was a blog I came across in my research and found it very helpful and easily understood. It is a post written on the Writetodone Blog by Tara Lazar called 6 Tips on Writing Picture Books.

Please read her words of wisdom now.

Writetodone.com Mary Jaksch, Chief Editor: writetodone

http://writetodone.com/six-best-tips-writing-childrens-picture-books/

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This was the comment I added at the end of that blog post.

My comment:
“Tara, Thanks for sharing how most folks think writing for kids is a breeze! Many of these same jovial people think that writing in rhyme is equally breezy! The breezy part is really how quickly the rejection letters fly into the mailboxes of those blissful writers.
Being a wonderful, professional, well-read writer must come first. And then…if you can stand on one foot, rub your tummy, pat your head and whistle Dixie backwards…only then should you consider writing in rhyme. Because a rhyming picture book, when well written, is done with hours of dedication to rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, scansion, and magic…all after the PERFECT story arc is complete.”
So, first follow Tara’s tips 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6. Then, if you are confident in your balancing ability on one foot…go for the rhyme and make it sing!

So…here is the RhyPiBoMo Challenge!

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If you are ready to work incredibly hard, read HUNDREDS of rhyming picture books, study poetry, take classes in writing poetry and rhyme, join a rhyme/poetry critique group, read and write poetry every day then you are ready for RhyPiBoMo.

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Are you a Versifier?

Let’s find out if you are a Versifier!

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QUIZ

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Thanks to Mandy Yates from Mondays with Mandy and Mira for sharing this brilliant insight with us on whether you are ready to write in rhyme.

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http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/4/post/2014/02/resources-for-writing-rhyming-picture-books.html

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Take the following quiz to find out!

1. If you take the rhyme away, do you still have a good story? (With multidimensional characters, a structured plot, good pacing, and a satisfying resolution?)

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2. Do your sentences follow normal sentence structure (and not sentence structure used by Old King Cole or Yoda?)

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3. Have you avoided forced rhymes or near rhymes?

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4. Have you avoided common, one-syllable, predictable rhyme schemes? (cat/hat/rat.)

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5. Do you know the following terms: scansion, meter, stressed, unstressed, anapest, iamb, trochee, and

dactyl? (And no…this is not a dinosaur!)

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6. Have you read and studied hundreds of rhyming picture books?

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7. Can you identify the types of rhythms in picture books?

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8. Are you in a critique group? Or have you had a professional critique from someone well versed in poetry?

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9. Do you practice writing in rhyme consistently?

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10. Have you taken a course in poetry/rhyming picture books that will help you answer yes to all of the above?

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If you can answer YES to all of the above, then go for it! You are ready to write your picture book in rhyme.

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If you answered NO to any of the following, then take the RhyPiBoMo Pledge and together we will learn to write brilliant rhyme and singing poetry.

 

 

Today’s Writing Prompt: Make a list of the reasons why you want to write in rhyme!  We will refer to this list later this week.

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Okay, now do everything else on the pledge for today and don’t forget to comment on today’s blog post!

 

Please comment ONLY ONE TIME below for a chance to win today’s prize!

Prizes will be drawn by Random.com next Sunday for the previous week.

To be eligible for a prize you must be a registered participant and
comment after each days lessons.

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Wasn’t this fun! I’ll see you tomorrow!

                      ~ Angie