Intro to Sonnet Building 101

So, five people expressed interest in participating in a step-by-step sonnet writing series here on the blog. I was a little torn by that, to be honest. It wasn’t as many people as I hoped, but it was enough that I wanted to do it. I really love helping people, and I feel like I have information worth sharing when it comes to writing sonnets. But I also didn’t want to ostracize my non-poet blog followers. What to do?

My solution? I’m going to do it, in honor of National Poetry Month (which I’ve rather sillilly dubbed NaPoMo), but I’m going to go a little bit further, because I think prose writers have something to gain from poetry. As an additional twist to *hopefully* include you non-poets, I’ll be turning each step of the sonnet class into a lesson that can be equally applied to prose. So even if you’re not writing a sonnet with us (and I do hope you will), please stop by to talk shop. You might be surprised at how relevant sonnets are to novels, short stories, and prose in general.

The schedule:
1 post a week (on Mondays) for 1 month

April 2- Step One: “Gathering DNA”
April 9- Step Two: “Structuring a Skeleton”
April 16- Step Three: “Filling out the Flesh”
April 23- Step Four: “Muscle Sculpting”
April 30- Step Five: “Final Dress”

So can you do it if you didn’t “sign up”? Of course you can! Please do! I don’t care when you do it. The more participants, the better. The lessons are here for you to use; jump in any time you want! Although as incentive, I might be offering a free poetry critique of everyone who completes a sonnet during the course. Optional. But free.

Still hesitant? I understand. Sonnets can be intimidating. They seem so strict and structured and stiff. That’s why I’m doing this; to help break down that barrier. But you know what? It doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s one of the best parts about writing a poem. If it sucks, no one has to know you even wrote it. 😉

If you want to follow along, don’t forget to subscribe. On my sidebar at the right, you can either enter your email address to get new posts sent directly to you, or add me to your RSS feed.

I hope to see you all here on Monday! Happy NaPoMo!

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