Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Curse of the Opening Verse




Ok, so it's 9:18 pm...my older son (almost 5) is fast asleep on the floor in the living room with a spoon in his hand. (Don't ask.) My youngest son (3 and a half) is right next to me drawing...um...some sort of world of...heart monitor readings and skyscrapers? I'm drinking half a cup of old coffee and working on a work-in-progress that is raging forward with the fantastic pace of a stopped hamster wheel.

Put it all together, and you guessed it!! It's BLOG POST TIME!! YEEHAW!!

This one is all about the opener.

Your first stanza becomes the template for all subsequent stanzas. It establishes the rhythm and meter for your entire story and if you don't nail it right out of the gate...you may as well forfeit the race.

That's all I'm gonna say right now. Well...that and- send us your first stanzas. The opening verses of the rhyming PBs you are working on, and lets make sure they are a 10. Because if you can rock the opener, you're WAY ahead of the game. But if it falls flat...or even worse...totally rocky...the editor is probably never going to see verse 2.

Don't be shy! Send em in, and let's shape em up! (all fines waived) :-)


Tiffany & Corey