Poetry In Motion: My First Sonnet

As a few would already know, I am a poet that has accumulated numerous amounts of poems in my short writing career. As a novice, I still possess room for growth and improvement in the craft, not just poetry alone. Last week, I was challenged by fellow Smock member “RIVAFLOWZ” to write a sonnet by which was my first structured writing activity that possessed great difficulty, at first.

My thought process when it comes to writing is free flowing like water poured into a glass cup. Usually, when I begin inscribing my thoughts and feelings on paper, well, my Iphone rather, my poetry is birthed like ALAKAZAM! Writing a sonnet was a new challenge that I had to face. Maintaining the same analogy, I would compare it to pouring honey into a glass cup. Honey is more viscous than H₂O meaning that it wasn’t as free flowing as I thought.

Albeit I couldn’t complete my original sonnet in the presence of my fellow Smock member, I chose not to falter. I took my time later that night to construct a new sonnet and VOILA! Below, I present to you my first sonnet; I hope you like. YOU BE THE JUDGE!

“My Songstress”

Beauty is revered in my line of sight.

My gaze peers through your transparent figure.

The sounds and melodies light up my night.

My reflections are sung like a mirror.

Muse is the name that I bestow on you.

A godly figure you are to all men.

Your harmonizing song captures my view.

I gravitate towards your vibe like a friend.

We evolve beyond this relationship.

You pierced through my heart with a love arrow.

Forever, we remain a partnership.

Your love serum flows through my bone marrow.

Your voluptuous warmth is like a mink.

The marriage of our union keeps us linked.

Inspired by my Ipod Classic.

What have I learned?

Ø How to write a sonnet.

Ø Never give up on the challenges that await you, whether in writing or life in general.

Jeff L.

Smock Salute

Researching Your Going-To-Be-A-(Novel).

The absolute worst thing you could do to a novel is pull its structure from someone else's secondhand, possibly third hand, account. Interviews and word-for-word's aren't bad, however I can tell when an author's monotonous recounting comes in. I know when you've pulled your information from the pages of a historian. Usually, I let this slide for a few paragraphs, but some authors let the boredom slither in and out of their text and at that point you've lost me.

Today's question is, as you might have guessed, how do I present an accurate depiction of the time frame/people/culture/etc I'm writing about?

Well, I'm no expert on this. Yet I've seen it done tastefully and have managed to pull the wool over a reader's eyes a few times. Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" has plenty specific pieces of Dominican history sifting through it. Diaz manages to keep most of his explanations in footnote form, however even the footnotes have glimpses of his witty and arrogant banter. When I first flipped through the pages at Barnes & Noble and saw the small font at the bottom of the page, I remembered rolling my eyes and thinking, "I'm skipping all that sh*t."

It wasn't until after the first pair of footnotes that I realized the little annoying black font was crucial to deciphering most of the novel. The KEY to its awesomeness was that Diaz actually kept me ENTERTAINED while spitting history at me.

Listen, I know you just went out and bought every book possible on the Black Panther Party. (Shakes my finger at myself in my mirror.) However, you can retrieve authentic movement, discourse, and scenarios; from going to events that feature the remainder of the party. You can email advocacy groups and political prisoners that will give you pieces of information that no textbook will dare cover. You can even ask your family members, that were alive back then, what the party was like.

I caught myself in the middle of a book filled with boring historical details and I was horrified it would bore my audience. It was at that moment that I realized that I needed to go forth and hunt for authenticity.

So make your move monotonizer! Yea, I made that word up. *Pulls out creative license.*

-Riv

Smocker Deuce

Messy Monday's - The Smock Meeting that was.

This weeks meeting at Moe’s Southwest Grill was nothing short of resplendent. We all read our respective pieces on the theme of expectations. Theirry read a short story on Superman and his expectations as Clark Kent as well as his normality as a superhero. Erica succinctly read us a love poem that used metaphors riding on trains, broken hearts, and exes that never were. Jeff talked about a caged bird that flew away, never to return, but left an impression in his head, and pen. I wrote a short story of someone who I was romantically entrenched in, in my mind. She didn’t have the same sentiment of course.

Theirry found his niche in a big project – he’ll be working on creating an issue of a comic book. More insights from the man himself coming soon. Jeff will be working on a collection of the best of his hundreds of poems he’s amassed of nearly two years, and Erica brought a new manuscript idea to the table – a man who was rightfully accused in jail, and sits behind bars alive to tell the story. I have a new twist for a manuscript I’ve been working on – a book based on text message correspondence gone awry.

Next weeks big theme is on infidelity. Let’s see what the smocker’s come up with this week!

Until tomorrow.

Ralph, numero uno mother smocker.

Week One with Writer's Smock in My Life.

Before I got smocked, it seemed that writing was such a lonely pursuit. I'm exaggerating y'all; the pen nor paper talk back to me, but when they marry their talents, it talks vicariously though my voice box from when arranging a few letters to form words; words that form sentences. These sentences form the paragraphs that visualize my personal stroke.

But now, I have strength in numbers. I got Jeff writing poetry and being a burgeoning writer in his own right. Theirry learning how to hone his craft for public consumption (and doing a great job with the spotlight on), and Erica, my constant companion in volleying fresh ideas when hitting the writer's wall.

Here is a sum of the writing week that was for me:

1. Got focused on reading. Reading only enhances your skill as a writer and here are some of the selections that I devoured:
- Waiter Rant by Steve Dubilanica
- Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan
- Thinkertoys, Second Edition, by Michael Michalko

This jumpstarted my creativity, and got my imagination running wild. I learned many pertinent nuggets within the texts and look forward to reporting them on the smock blog and my own blog as well.

2. Erica taught Jeff and I the foundations in performing poetry slam. Slam's are when you perform an original work and you have a grand total of 3 minutes to use mannerisms, your voice box, your mind, and your thoughts to convey the message. To say we got thrown into the fire is an understatement. Our first performance is April 13th. Yikes.

3. Made a dent in my first crack at a novel, Muse of a Maneater. Seems so close but yet so far.

4. Wrote numerous short stories, for myself, and for public posting

5. Learning the basis of Spencerian Script, a technique developed by Platt Rodger's Spencer, who wanted an easy uniform script system that was inspired by the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I had a good first week, where I learned half of the lowercase letters. I'll report my progress as time elapses.

At the very least, smocking it out as got me focused.

Until Next time. Our next meeting.

Ralph - Numero Uno Mother Smocker.

The Yellow Impurity

  Every boy at some point had a favorite super hero. Some would wear a towel as cape and pretend to be Superman. Some decided that Batman was cooler and created their own utility belts and fought pretend mobsters. I loved Green Lantern, yep, the guy with the power ring. For those less "comically inclined" a Green Lantern is a sort of intergalactic cop that carries only one weapon, a ring that uses the force of his or her will to create anything that the Green Lantern can think of. Pretty cool right? As a young boy who spent most of his time alone, creating stories and writing them in my journal, a hero who could create something out of nothing appealed to me. 

  I read and reread the adventures of Green Lantern a.k.a. Hal Jordan for years and as I grew older, I started to see a change in my favorite character. He grew more tentative; he started to really question his decisions all the time and oddly enough, he started to grow more and more gray hair. It was weird for me, I hadn't anticipated my favorite hero growing old but here Hal was doing just that. Finally he faced the ultimate tragedy. His city; Coast City was destroyed by an enemy named Mongul. Hal fought him....and lost. He lost because Mongul's skin was yellow and for all his ring's power, it could not harm anything that was yellow. The Lanterns called this "the yellow impurity". By now you're probably like "what does this have to do with writing?"

  The reason Hal's ring couldn't impact anything yellow, was because yellow represents fear. A lantern has to use his will to overcome fear in order to be successful. That was a very important lesson that was lost on me as a young boy. I wrote so many short stories as a youth that I never shared. I succumbed to fear every time.As an adult, it occurs to me that in order to become a good writer or a good ANYTHING for that matter, you must overcome the myriad fears that you may have. Stop telling yourself that you can't do it or that someone else is better than you. Instead, just hone your craft and be open to criticism that can make you better. After his defeat, Green Lantern completely succumbed to fear. He hurt those closest to him and became a shell of his former self. We can learn a lot from his fall from grace. Until next time.....

C.T.H.

Resident Smockick book collector

Drudgery Of Indelible Thoughts

Whether you are studying for your midterm, drawing a picture on paper or learning how to ride a bike for the first time, the inquiry that is commonly asked subconsciously is, “HOW DO I START??”

The same thing goes for writing by which is the bane of initial embrace between indelible ink and paper. Metaphorically, the marriage between the two inanimate objects can be conducted in many ways. It all depends on how the writer chooses to start the relationship stage before taking that big step towards something eternal, “til death do we part”.

HERE IS MY PROCESS

I am always excited to portray these ideas into life for the reader to imagine for their viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, the beginning stage of writing is irritable. I always sit down on my seat with writing utensil in hand, if not, laptop on desk, constantly staring at the piece of paper or screen, thinking of how I’m going to translate all my scattered ideas into ink or font.

As long as they stick to the thesis of the story, I allow all my convoluted thoughts and ideas marinate inside my mind. I stare at the screen or paper and I ask myself, “how do I start?”

Naturally, I start writing / typing my initial thoughts down to establish a flow that races through my mind. As the number of texts augment, the more fluid my translation of thoughts inject into material. I can never convert a hundred percent of my ideas into something concrete (very aggravating!), but as long as I capture the theme and captivate the reader, including myself, I am satisfied. The progression of ideas is imbued and creativity is born!

HERE IS A RECOMMENDED SOLUTION

Considering that I am a novice, conclusively, following these steps should minimize the drudgery of indelible thoughts.

Ø THEME: Write down the theme of your potential body of work. It will help you gravitate all these ideas based on the thesis.

Ø OUTLINE YOUR THOUGHTS: Grab a piece of paper and outline all your thoughts and ideas to establish some type of structure towards the unpainted portrait.

Ø START TYPING: With a thesis and outline of ideas in hand, it’s time to transform them into a beautifully transposed written artwork.

The drudgery of writing is an inevitable process that even the greatest of writer’s must succumb. It requires patience and love for the art to bare such a burden. Once creativity is set in place, the end result is well worth the pain.

“Writing is sweat and drudgery most of the time. And you have to love it in order to endure the solitude and the discipline.” ~ Peter Benchley

Jeff L.

Smock Salute

Stop Copying Me! (Characterization)

I am constantly battling with my characters. Whispering, praying, and hoping that they won’t tell my deepest, darkest secrets. They glare at me from the page, dressed in black font and an inflated sense of grammatical perfection. I fear them immensely because they are bits and pieces of a broken me.

Egypt Hummings—a protagonist in my current manuscript—wants to be a writer. She has recollections of reading with her mother (my mother) and working in a bookstore (my teenage dream job). My characters become that conforming friend: A clone that moves and speaks as I do. The friend who you begin to avoid for fear she might consume your entire identity.

The problem is you can’t avoid her. To complete your project you must confront the characters who bear your shattered resemblance.

Eventually, I had to treat my protagonists/antagonists as if they were my children. I had to rear them so that they would grow a voice of their own and bloom unique traits.

Here’s how to do it:

1) Dialogue/Actions: Listen to the conversations of others. Even though you might have your novel plotted from start to finish, no sort of extra research can hurt. Immerse yourself in a surrounding similar to your setting and listen to how the people around you converse. Incorporate sayings that wouldn’t be exclusive to you or any discourse you frequently hear. Also take note of their actions. What do they do differently from your typical reaction?

2) Traits: Just as in the theatre, your characters clothing and appearance says a lot about their persona. Try not to stereotype when formulating the depiction of your protagonist. Step out of the box. You can use the same directions above for this development, or you can also research this.

3) Voice: The banter between two characters should also exemplify a personality. No two characters should sound exactly alike. Wording and grammatical tricks are handy here. Want to give your character a st-u-tt-t-t-er? Go ahead. Elooongaaaated words? Be my guest.

4) Other characters reactions towards them: I usually use situations with my friends to determine the outcome of character action. You can do this, or write the complete opposite of what you’d do in that situation.

I am no longer afraid of my protagonists. I confront my character sketches without fear or procrastination. The world is your oyster, make that KEY character your pearl.

-Rivaflowz

Smocker Deuce

Introducing....

Introducing Writer's Smock, a unique blog that covers all-things writing, human and supernatural. Our aim is simple: like all writers, we strive to be the best we can at all times, whether it be picking the write word (did YOU catch that?), or the best way to transition to the next paragraph, or the best way improve writing productivity. Easier said than done - authors, poets, screenplay writers, anyone that has ever held pen to paper, or finger to keyboard can relate in the painstaking process necessary to make art through arranging words.

Contributors come from all different strokes of pen. We have strength in diversity with two professional writers, (one being a teacher on the side, the other a personal trainer respectively) a novice who birthed prose from a the loss of an iPod, and another who's been keeping a diary for over two decades and boasts fortifying his diction through comic books.

Our Goals?

Humanize the act of writing - Readers only see the aesthetically pleasing polished piece, where the writer places no emphasis on the process. The nitty-gritty is not only overlooked, but seldom discussed. That's where we come in - to document the mundane, and report the ugly truth.

Sharing the ever-evolving 21st Century Writing Landscape - Typing on a Tablet device? Writing with a digital pen? Touching on topics that didn't exist last year? We'll highlight our findings, successes, and blunders in a not-so-foreseeable future kind of world.

Share our Success - The contributors here at Writer's Smock are successful in their own right - but nowhere near where we want to be. Learn about our personal projects, our objectives, and opinions as we strive to be better writers, and more importantly, better citizens of the world.

OUR FORMAT:

Count on us to post consistently on business days, Monday through Friday. This will include:

Messy Monday – The smock’s attempt to document and clean up the mess we made from our weekly Sunday meetings – that is, a discussion on our projects and progress; our writer’s block and breakthroughs; or our suckiness or awesomeness – all in the vain of being better writers.

Tackling Tuesday – Join Ralph and Riva as they flow through their days as writers that strive to take their craft to the next level.

Wednesday Writing with Jeff – The smock’s very own poet will give you his latest take on his evolution as a writer.

Theirry on Thursday – Our resident comic book freak gives you an update on his learning curve and transition from being a trapped-in-the-journal personal writer, to his words being consumed in the public domain – among other scribbles.

Freedom Writing Friday – A smock slam of our rants and raves of the week that was.

*Disclaimer – The smock may smatter around different topics on any given day. Smocker’s may also shift when they contribute. Be forewarned: we’re a mess! But at least we’ll be consistent.

In any event, we hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

Ralph, numero uno mother-smocker.