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“I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.”
― Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

“Style is not how you write.
It is how you do not write like anyone else.


* * *

How do you know if you're a writer?
Write something everyday for two weeks, then stop, if you can.
If you can't, you're a writer.
And no one, no matter how hard they may try,
will ever be able to stop you from following your writing dreams.


* * *

You can find your writer's voice
by simply listening to that little Muse inside
that says in a low, soft whisper, "Listen to this...


* * *

Enter the writing process
with a childlike sense of wonder and discovery.
Let it surprise you.


* * *

Poems for children help them
celebrate the joy and wonder of their world.
Humorous poems tickle the funny bone of their imaginations.


* * *
There are many fine poets writing for children today.
The greatest reward for each of us is in knowing that our efforts
might stir the minds and hearts of young readers with a vision
and wonder of the world and themselves that may be new to them
or reveal something already familiar in new and enlightening ways.
* * *



The path to inspiration starts

Beyond the trails we’ve known;

Each writer’s block is not a rock,

But just a stepping stone.




* * *

When you write for children,
don't write for children.
Write from the child in you.


* * *

Poems look at the world from the inside out.


* * *

The act of writing brings with it a sense of discovery,
of discovering on the page something you didn't know you knew
until you wrote it.


* * *



The answer to the artist

Comes quicker than a blink

Though initial inspiration

Is not what you might think.



The Muse is full of magic,

Though her vision’s sometimes dim;

The artist does not choose the work,

It is the work that chooses him.




* * *

Poem-Making 101.
Poetry shows. Prose tells.
Choose precise, concrete words.
Remove prose from your poems.
Use images that evoke the senses.
Avoid the abstract, the verbose, the overstated.
Trust the poem to take you where it wants to go.
Follow it closely, recording its path with imagery.


* * *

What's a Poem?



A whisper,

a shout,

thoughts turned

inside out.



A laugh,

a sigh,

an echo

passing by.



A rhythm,

a rhyme,

a moment

caught in time.



A moon,

a star,

a glimpse

of who you are.




* * *



A poem is a little path

That leads you through the trees.

It takes you to the cliffs and shores,

To anywhere you please.



Follow it and trust your way

With mind and heart as one,

And when the journey’s over,

You’ll find you’ve just begun.




* * *



A poem is a spider web

Spun with words of wonder,

Woven lace held in place

By whispers made of thunder.




* * *



A poem is a busy bee

Buzzing in your head.

His hive is full of hidden thoughts

Waiting to be said.



His honey comes from your ideas

That he makes into rhyme.

He flies around looking for

What goes on in your mind.



When it is time to let him out

To make some poetry,

He gathers up your secret thoughts

And then he sets them free.”
― Charles Ghigna

“Sometimes when I'm alone, I take the pearl from where it lives in my pocket and try to remember the boy with the bread, the strong arms that warded off nightmares on the train, the kisses in the arena.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion.”
― Chris Abani