LDSPMA

Empowering Latter-day Saints to spread light and truth by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill

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Melody J. Williams: Finding Light Through Writing

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Melody J. Williams is a mother, author, musician, and ice cream lover who draws story ideas from everyday moments. She often pauses to write down nuggets of wisdom that could be included in a book, even when she isn’t certain how to incorporate them. “I get [inspiration] all the time, every day, from everywhere,” she says.

“I’ve learned that I don’t have to be any one thing. When I was growing up, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. And so I was kind of lost for a while. I ended up getting married, and then I quit going to college because we couldn’t afford it, and I still didn’t really know.”

Yet even before she knew what form it would take, Melody remembers wanting to create something of her own.

Today, Melody writes in several genres, even though she didn’t always want to be an author. As a child, she didn’t enjoy reading much. When her parents took her to the library, she preferred pop-up books over novels.

Melody found her love for reading while expecting her first child. Doctors placed her on bed rest, and people brought her books to help pass the time. Her love of romance novels sparked a new idea. Why not write the story of how she and her husband fell in love? She drafted the first chapter but eventually put it aside. It was a fun experiment, but she didn’t see herself as a writer yet.

Finding Joy amid Heaviness

Years later, writing became more than a hobby. It became Melody’s comfort during the hardest time of her life.

Melody and her husband had four sons; their youngest, Callen, became very ill as a baby. He contracted bacterial meningitis and had a stroke, which caused severe brain damage. He survived, but his need for specialized care changed their lives.

Callen is now seven, but as Melody explains, he has the cognitive development of a newborn in a bigger body. He relies on his family for feeding, changing, moving, and exercise. Melody calls him an amazing little spirit. While caring for him has made her life richer, it has also brought many challenges.

That’s where the writing came in.

When her three older sons began attending school, Melody spent long, quiet hours at home with Callen. She loved being with him, but struggled to know what to do with herself. Writing helped her find joy and heal from the heaviness that “was sucking away the life in me and just making me sad.”

She published her sweet rom-com Stealing Mackenzie’s Heart in 2024. “It just made me so happy,” she says. “I put a side character in there who was a version of my son Callen as an adult because I don’t know if he’s going to live to be an adult, but I can have this [story] forever, and I can share him with the world. His love and light are so unique and so special.”

Being able to act as Callen’s mouthpiece has made Melody believe even more in following inspiration. “Write your stories. They matter. They’re important. Your thoughts matter. It makes a difference. Someone will relate—someone who needs to hear what you have to give.”

​Winning a Spark Award

Still, writing comes with its own challenges. “It’s hard to get past that imposter syndrome and self-doubt,” Melody says. Rejections and negative reactions from readers felt dream-crushing. “I didn’t know if I was good enough, but . . . I would eventually get over the sadness of [criticism] and ask, ‘What can I change? What can I learn? How can I grow?’” Those questions helped her push herself to be better.

Stealing Mackenzie’s Heart later won an LDSPMA Spark Award. At first, Melody didn’t plan to attend the award ceremony. She reasoned that she couldn’t leave her nursing baby or afford the travel costs while her family was building an addition to their house.

But her mom stepped in and told her, “No, you’re going. This is important.” She organized a donation drive to raise money for a plane ticket and a new dress.

“It was the sweetest experience to feel so much love from so many people supporting me,” Melody recalls. “It was lovely to attend that dinner and award ceremony. I’m just so grateful I got to have that experience.”

Even after winning the award and receiving great reviews from readers, Melody still doubted her talents. “Maybe I’m not good enough to keep doing this,” she remembers thinking. 

Prayer and divine reassurance reminded her of why she had felt inspired to write in the first place. “It’s kind of like receiving a hug from Heavenly Father.” Sometimes she is amazed that God cares about her creative work, but she has repeatedly felt His assurance that He is shaping her through the process.

Balancing Creativity and Motherhood

When Melody first started writing, she loved escaping into fiction and spent hours on it every day. She told her husband, “This is important. I need to do this.” He supported her, but Melody later worried that writing could take up too much time. Then two more babies (“Daughters, finally!”) joined the family, making it even harder to find spare time. 

Being a mom was Melody’s whole world, but it wasn’t her entire identity. Even though she went to church, served others, and tried to do everything right, Melody realized she still needed a creative outlet to recharge and feel fulfilled.

Now she recognizes when she’s neglected her creativity for too long. Sometimes her dad watches the kids for a few hours so she can write.

“I just feel uplifted in a way. Like, okay, I can do this. I can handle my life again.”

You Should Try to Write a Hymn

That willingness to create when prompted eventually extended beyond books. Even before she considered herself a writer, music was part of her life. “Obviously, my name is Melody—how could I not love music?” she jokes. “Piano and singing are some of my favorite things. My parents instilled that in me from a very young age.”

One day, Melody received a clear spiritual prompting: You should try to write a hymn.

At first, she doubted the impression and wondered why she was being prompted when others seemed more talented and experienced.

But the prompting returned three times. Finally, Melody decided to try.

One Sunday evening, she prayed: “Heavenly Father, if You want me to do this, please help me.” She turned to Mosiah 4:9 and read: “Believe in God; believe that he is.” Inspired by that scripture, she decided to write about the Godhead and why she believed in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

Within about an hour and a half, she had composed a tune and written three verses. Over the following week, she added a verse about the prophet. She eventually submitted the hymn for consideration for the Church’s new hymnbook.

It didn’t matter whether her hymn was chosen for publication. What was important to Melody was learning she could follow a spiritual prompting, do something hard, and receive help beyond her own abilities.

Creating with God

As Melody learned how much creativity belonged in her life, she began to recognize that the desire she feels to create isn’t hers alone.

“It’s really been a big blessing in my life to try to pick up on these little nudges of inspiration and just go for it, and have it be something beautiful.”

Her latest nudge was to start a nonfiction book. At first, she didn’t feel qualified to share her wisdom. But after reading her journals, she realized her experiences might help others someday. Writing about real trauma is harder than making up stories, but she knows the heavier stories matter too.

Through all the highs and lows life has presented, Melody has learned to follow spiritual impressions without knowing exactly where they will lead. She emphasizes that creative work has value, no matter how big or small the audience.

“If you’re inspired to do something, do it. Just try.”

This article is based on a Called to Create podcast aired season 6, episode 5. To hear the full podcast, click here.

When Is Fair Use Fair?

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Writers love quotes, songs, and funny or inspirational images. What word-nerd doesn’t? We tape them on our mirrors, dashboards, and walls and post them to our websites. We like them to set the tone for our novels, start our nonfiction chapters off with inspiration and insight, and add authority to our own ideas. But many writers are never quite sure what’s safe to quote—how much, and in what contexts? Are there instances when you can safely borrow material that belongs to someone else without infringing on their copyright? And what happens if you do—accidentally, of course—infringe on someone’s copyright?

Well, it’s not pretty if you happen to use material from someone with deep pockets and powerful attorneys. Using quotes, songs, images, or others’ intellectual property cited, used, or paraphrased in your book (images may include cartoons, comics, photos, stock art, graphics, memes, charts/data, etc.)—without copyright-holder permission—can result in lawsuits that result in a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more, in some cases) and limit your brick-and-mortar store distribution opportunities.

While you should always seek official legal counsel (from an expert in intellectual property law) before you use quotes, scenes, songs, images, etc., in any of your for-profit/for-fundraising works, we can give you a simplified answer to the basic questions above and where you need to start looking to make sure you’re square with the law. There’s even a software out there to help you determine if your quoted material is likely to fall under fair use or not. If you’re still unsure about what you can fairly use after reading this article, the best practice is to follow the old adages, “better safe than sorry” and “when in doubt, go without,” as evidenced by the myriad court cases that have come about when folks thought  that they were doing it right. (Or you can call in a favor or write a check to that local lawyer and get the nitty-gritty answers to your questions.)

Public Domain

The doctrine of fair use addresses what can be copied: You can copy material to your heart’s content if it’s general public domain. This basically refers to material that is “outdated.” Any work published before 1927 is free game (as of 2023, when this was updated; each year after 2023 adds one year forward in time to the public domain cutoff, making more items published after 1927 accessible for use—depending on what year it is when you’re reading this), and any work after 1967 for which the copyright was not renewed is also free game. And some authors/artists have published works they want to share, which they have declared as public domain.

Outside of public domain, you can’t use others’ ideas as the crux of your own argument in nonfiction, but only as support, and it’s smart to avoid using more than a few lines (and, if you’re worried, get permission even then). In many cases, the copyright holder is happy to have their work shared more broadly and will grant permission with no strings attached. Just be aware that if you’re producing a for-profit work, you’re at risk of someone’s right to sue if you have no permission to use the quoted material/IP. Here is a handy reference defining public domain in its many arenas. And a critical resource for parsing out everything copyright related—for writers—is The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman, JD.

For-Profit Works

Back in the day, fair use allowed one author to use another author’s work in creating their own work if the total amount borrowed was within reason, even if the borrowing author’s book sold thousands of copies. Today, every fair-use violation is examined on a case-by-case basis determined by the rule of thumb that fair use not diminish the “potential market for or value of the copyrighted work ”  (U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107). According to the code, “There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission.” In sum, if you use someone else’s ideas in your book and then you make money on your book, the copyright holder might feel he/she were owed royalties/payments for the borrowed ideas—arguing that those ideas helped popularize your book in the first place. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

When Fair Use Is  Fair to Use

The above said, fair use is supposed to protect the advancement of the arts, sciences, scholarship, commentary and criticism, etc., so the principle generally allows quotation of excerpts in the following cases (when you are):

  • Writing news reports.
  • Doing a review or criticism.
  • Teaching (must be nonprofit, face-to-face).
  • Writing research (these must be “short passages”; refer to a journal’s style guide for specific guidelines).
  • Producing parody.

In general you will find that organizations and publishers have their own rules based on experience (including lawsuits), the advice of lawyers (who we hope keep up on policy changes), and codes of ethics. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) declares that copyright holders define what they consider fair use and that the responsibility for getting permissions lies with the user (APA style, 6th ed., section 8.04, p. 233; see also sections 1.10 & 6.10).

Obtaining Permissions

Authors should demonstrate a reasonable due diligence, or take steps to satisfy the legal requirements, in using copyrighted material.

The first step in obtaining permission is, of course, to determine who the copyright holder is. This is usually a publisher or producer. Next, contact the copyright holder. Publishers, authors/artists often have a form on their websites where you can request permission to quote something by typing exactly what you’re quoting and in what context. After that, you may need to negotiate payment with the copyright holder (sometimes permission is granted freely, sometimes at a cost—and sometimes copyright holders don’t reply for months). Finally, be sure to get your permission statement in writing; email counts.  If you never hear back after several varied attempts to contact someone, keep the quoting to a minimum and make sure you aren’t using the idea as the crux of your argument (or that you’re using their idea in a way that sounds like it’s your own idea). Also, you’re safest to avoid using the quote in a compendium. And most importantly, make sure to keep records of your attempts to gain permission. As a reminder, please know that that there is no completely safe number of words or images you can use in a for-profit work without permission. If you do not have permission, you are risking the possibility of a lawsuit if the copyright holder feels motivated to pursue one. Bear this in mind in your attempts to stay within fair use.

Cautions for Violations We See Frequently

There are some fair-use violations we see frequently in the book-publishing world. The most common violations with quoted material are authors not properly citing sources for quotes and paraphrased material—and not getting permission to do so even when cited. A second problem we see often is when authors use others’ ideas as the foundation of their argument or point rather than as additional support for their own ideas. Or the author’s point seems to be merely a rephrasing of another author’s work with no original angle or purpose. In addition to those main problems the following items require some caution as well:

Songs and images:  Use caution in quoting lines from songs and such. Publishing houses are super careful about using even one line. Self-publishers take on a significant risk in quoting lyrics without permission. Permission to use lyrics is often granted by the copyright holder—with the expectation of payment or a percentage of the royalties you make. Use of lyrics does not generally come cheap. If you’re looking for permission, check out these organizations that represent composers, writers, and publishers and advocate for performing artists: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

Images (cartoons, graphics, stock art, photos, comics, drawings, memes, etc.) are also often available when you’ve sought written permission or paid for usage rights. However, understand the limitations of your usage rights. The copyright holder may be fine if you use it on a blog, but not fine if you use it in a for-profit work (like a book, inside or on the cover). Or your rights may have limits—you can use the image at x price for up to so many copies sold, but then you’ll need to pay more for copies after that. Or there may be time limits or other boundaries on your usage. Make sure you are crystal clear on when, how, and for how long you may use the material, and get that permission in writing!

Quotes from LDS Authorities:  Since a portion of our authors publish in the local LDS market, a word to the wise for authors quoting LDS Church General Authorities, or any material found on LDS.org: The Church is extremely careful about accuracy in quoting and attribution (and, additionally, doesn’t want quotes from Church authorities to be mistaken as an endorsement of any particular book), and consequently there is no fair use as far as the Church is concerned; anything ever uttered by a General Authority and anything ever printed in a Church-owned publication (like the Ensign ) is owned by the Church, and you have to get permission from them to use it—even if it’s just a phrase or a sentence. The Church is most concerned with authors quoting current authorities, and possibly somewhat less vigilant about very short quotes from long-deceased authorities (keep them under 200 words); however, the Church still prefers authors get permission for any quotes. Lastly, when it comes to quoting scripture, the scriptures themselves now fall under a renewed copyright and are not public domain (unless you are quoting from a version published before 1923 or simply quoting the King James Bible); this copyright protects footnotes, the Bible Dictionary, headings, and maps (and any other modern additions to the standard works). Additionally, distributors that can help get your book into brick-and-mortar LDS stores generally will not accept titles that have not gone through Church approval (if you include quotes, images, songs, etc., from Church-owned materials).

If you want to use Church-owned material, you have to fill out forms and formally request permission; you can do this through the Intellectual Property Office. This includes listing every scripture/quote you’d like to use and their page number, in addition to turning in the manuscript/book for review of the context around your quote. Know that it can sometimes take up to 45 days to get a reply, though many authors have reported a faster response time; so plan as far out as possible in order to avoid delays in publication.

(As a final reminder, this fair-use discussion applies to for-profit works; if you are publishing a book and selling it, that’s a for-profit work.)

Do This Now

  • Run your proposed use of the copyrighted material through a fair-use evaluation tool, which can help you determine if you are abiding by fair use. As of this posting, it’s totally free (and extremely helpful). Please note, however, that this tool is used as an educational resource and not as a substitute for legal counsel.
  • To get a sample of a permission letter and to learn even more about fair use, check out this incredible resource from Jane Friedman.
  • Get a copy of The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman, JD.
  • Be sure to go through your upcoming work with a fine-tooth comb for any quoted material you intend to use; start working on getting permissions now  so that your work doesn’t get put on hold while waiting for permissions. If this seems like a tedious prospect in addition to everything else you’ve got to do, you can hire a personal assistant to do the grunt work!

Sometimes great wordsmiths say something in a way no one else can. It’s nice to be able to use their insight, but make sure it stays their  insight. Enjoy your quotes, but choose wisely as to what you share in your for-profit works.

Resources:

This article was written by Michele Preisendorf with Angela Eschler and was republished with permission from Eschler Editing.

Headshot of Michele Preisendorf

Michele Preisendorf

Senior Editor, Eschler Editing

Michele earned her BA in English from Brigham Young University in 2002 and has worked as a freelance editor for several publishers over the last twenty years, helping hundreds of authors polish their prose and get their messages published. She’s been with Eschler Editing since its inception and has worked as an editorial-production manager and instructor for those wishing to improve their editorial skills. One of the things she loves most about her work is perfecting prose in a way that readers are able to focus on the message and not even realize they’re reading!

    When Your Brain Needs a Vacation

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    Vacations are lovely things—and we all want one. Even if you don’t think you do, you do. But even on a holiday excursion, it can be hard to get our brains to unplug. I just spent a week in Hawaii, and while many wonderful things happened, there were also some stressful and frustrating moments. I felt like my brain could use a break from my vacation!

    Sometimes we just need a mini-vacation for our minds—no airfare or luggage required. As someone who struggles with OCD, anxiety, and depression, I’ve learned a few tricks to help me decompress. Here are five ways to give your brain a reset:

    Take a Break from Screens

    We all have small screens in our pockets or purses at almost any given moment. Many of us work in front of screens—I’m staring at three as I write this. Airports and restaurants have them everywhere. Even cars have screens nowadays. We’re surrounded by them. These devices can help with virtually everything, but they can also be detrimental to our health. Studies have shown that excessive screen use can interfere with both brain function and sleep. 

    It can be helpful to take breaks from all those screens. What does this look like? Maybe it means ignoring social media for a day … or a week. Perhaps it’s leaving your phone in the other room while you work or spending a day outside. Maybe it means taking your family for an evening bike ride instead of sitting together while everyone looks at individual gadgets and the TV plays in the background. Find a way to unplug.

    Take a Reading Day

    When I was in college, right before finals week, we scheduled “reading days”—time set aside to study and prep for exams. I always wished those days were actual reading days, so I sometimes took a day to read a book purely for pleasure. It may sound lazy, but taking a break from rigorous study can be good for your mental health. One of the best ways to recharge your brain is to get lost in a good book. I’d recommend choosing a physical copy or putting your phone in airplane mode while reading or listening on your device to avoid distractions.

    Reading lets you experience the world through other points of view and empathize with people you may never meet. And, you know, sometimes it allows you to fly with dragons or speak to penguins. Reading is magical. 

    I’ve found taking an occasional reading day can be super beneficial for my work. I return to my desk more invigorated, with new ideas swimming through my brain. So visit a bookstore or your local library, choose a book that draws you in, and spend the day reading. 

    Try a New Art Medium

    I’ve written about this before, but one way to break out of a creative rut and reset your mind is to experiment with different art mediums. There are tons of super cute crafting kits for beginners. You could make a favorite character from yarn or clay, or try a paint-by-numbers project. Choose something low-key and stress-free.

    You can even put on some music or an audiobook for a soothing soundscape while you work.

    Meditate

    I’ll be honest: I have yet to master the Jedi way of sitting down and communing with the Force. I took a meditation class in college and spent half the class napping and the other half dreaming up stories. Meditation is supposed to slow your mind so you can more fully connect with the world around you, but my thoughts rush too fast. For many people who struggle with mental health issues, this restlessness is common. One approach doesn’t work for everyone. 

    I’ve found two types of meditation that work for me. The first is imagery meditation. If you’re a writer or an artist, you probably already do something similar. Begin by picturing a scene, perhaps on a beach where the waves crash and recede along the shore. Now imagine a boat approaching the shore. Who’s on the boat? Maybe it’s a friendly fisherman who wants to chat about your life. Maybe he takes you on a boat ride. Imagine the ocean lapping against the hull of the boat, the sun sparkling against the waves, and dolphins leaping out of the water. Just sit with the image for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths and letting the story play out. This is imagery meditation. It’s the only “traditional” type of meditation I can do.

    I also do yoga. Yoga focuses on breath and movement. Because you’re moving your body, it is easier to stay in the moment. There are tons of beginner yoga videos online that will recharge your brain and benefit your body.

    Visit a Favorite Nature Spot

    If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you may have heard the saying “go outside and touch grass.” This advice has merit. Sometimes we need to reconnect with reality. I highly recommend finding a local nature spot. Perhaps it’s a nearby park. Maybe your neighborhood has a walking trail, or there’s a lake near your home. Maybe you’re one of those lucky souls who lives close to the ocean. Find a place where you can just breathe and “nature bathe.”

    My husband and I often take walks around a local duck pond. It may not be the quietest spot, but seeing geese and ducks glide across the surface calms my soul. Find a place where you can “touch grass,” reconnect with the natural world, and give your brain a break from the artificial glow that constantly surrounds you.

    We only have one brain. It’s up to us to keep it functioning effectively. As creators, everything we do requires brainpower; we need to care for our most essential creative tool. Sometimes our brains just need a little vacation to give them a reset. If life’s been stressing you out, try using one of these methods to give your brain a break! 

    A headshot of KaTrina Jackson.

    KaTrina Jackson

    Author, Editor

    KaTrina Jackson loves penguins, chocolate, and piano music, and spends much of each day trying to fit those loves in around her jobs as a freelance editor and a project manager for Eschler Editing. She graduated with a degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. She’s a member of three different writing groups, attends and teaches at multiple writing conferences, has volunteered with LDSPMA since 2021, and recently published her first novel. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she can be found practicing yoga, teaching piano lessons, or watching Disney movies while working on a cross-stitch project. She and her husband live in Olathe, Kansas.

      3 Ways to Research the Genre You’re Writing

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      If you are a writer, chances are you hope to get some readers—and a lot of them. Of course, gaining a reader following involves many steps, but one of the very first comes down to knowing who your readers will be—even before you’ve started writing.

      Successful writers know their readers. They are familiar with their readers’ particular desires regarding plotline, character development, tropes, etc. And successful writers write books that fulfill their readers’ wants while also adding unique and thrilling angles.

      But, you might ask, why write the same as what has already been written? Why not break the rules of the genre or create my own?

      It all comes down to reader expectation. If a reader is expecting one thing and receives another, you can bet that they won’t be pleased when they close the book. Let’s say I pick up a book that claims to be a cozy romance, but the love interest leaves in the end. A tragedy is not what I was expecting, and my (negative) review of the book would reflect that.

      Furthermore, if readers don’t know what to expect in the first place, they likely won’t even open the book. Most readers know what genres they like and will be looking for books that fall into those genres. If there’s not a clear genre represented, very few will pick the book up. This is why New Adult Fiction is struggling to gain hold—merely because readers (and writers) haven’t yet nailed down what it entails.

      Thus, fulfilling reader expectations is a large part of creating a successful story.

      To pull the appropriate readers in, you must know the main qualities of your book’s genre and employ similar structural elements and techniques. So, how do you find out what your reader expectations are? Here are three steps to research your planned genre.

      1. Read at least five books in your genre—or, better yet, your subgenre.

      Once you have your great idea for a story, it’s time to start reading. Research what genre your idea falls under and then check out as many books in that genre as you can. The more specific you can nail down your genre, the better. For example, instead of just reading five books in science fiction, find five books in your subgenre of science fiction, whether that be time travel, alien invasion, space opera, or any of the other many subgenres.

      If I were to write a post-apocalyptic dystopia, one subgenre out of the long list of sci-fi subgenres, I would read books like these:

      • The Giver by Lois Lowry
      • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
      • Atom Bomb Baby by Brandon Gillespie
      • Divergent by Veronica Roth
      • 1984 by George Orwell

      As you compare the five books you’ve chosen, write down common traits you notice between all of them, such as the tropes that appear over and over (e.g., a hero with a sidekick or love at first sight), the pacing of the plot (e.g., how long it takes to build up the story or get through the climax), or the resolution at the end (e.g., happy ending or cliffhanger).

      You can also learn from the differences between the books you read. How did each book make itself unique? Did those unique aspects still stick to genre expectations? If they didn’t, was there a purpose or message behind any step out of expectations?

      The more books you can read in your subgenre, the better, but five should give a starting scope for your genre.

      2. Read the three most recent bestsellers in your book’s genre.

      Now that you’ve read five general books in your genre, you have a good idea of plot and character expectations. Next, focus on reading the most recent bestsellers of that genre. Find the top three and sit down to take notes.

      To continue studying post-apocalyptic dystopia, I might choose the current bestsellers on Amazon:

      • Sponsored Apocalypse by Blaise Corvin
      • First Necromancer by Coldfang89
      • Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan

      Just like you did in the first exercise, note what similarities these three books have as well as what differences. Do you see anything noticeable between the new releases compared to the books that you read before?

      Reading three recent bestsellers will give you the most insight into what readers want right now. Trends change quickly, and what may have been popular for a genre ten years ago could be out of style today. Pay attention to the tropes used, characters depicted, and storyline developments. 

      Consider the vampire character over the past fifteen years. After Twilight came out, vampires became huge in romance (not thrillers). Eventually, though, the vampire craze started to fizzle out, and a new shift in how vampires are portrayed is putting them back in genres other than romance.

      Changes in the market can happen fast, and making sure your book keeps up with the current bookscape will make it much more likely for a publisher or buyer to pick it up. Even better, you may be able to predict what readers will want in the next few years. For example, AI has been an interesting subject in many sci-fi books, but now that it’s in the real world, it will likely start showing up in all sorts of genres outside of science fiction.

      3. Read a classic and compare it with a new release.

      Finally, as a last exercise, you can choose two books to compare: one from the classics of your genre—a book that has withstood the test of time and is considered worthy of literary critique—and a new release of your choosing (preferably one with high ratings). 

      Of my chosen genre, here are two that I might compare:

      • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
      • The Extinction Trials by A.G. Riddle

      It’s highly likely that you will notice significant differences in the writing style of the two books, which can give you an idea of how to incorporate both a timeless feel to your story as well as a new and trendy tone. Mark down the aspects of the classic story that you think still stand as strong, worthy elements of your genre, and then list ways the newest book either adds to those elements or involves new writing tools.

      After such a thorough study of your readers’ expectations, you can now write or revise your book, knowing that you are fully prepared with the knowledge of your genre. Pulling common themes from all of the books you have read and incorporating those themes into your story will ensure that your readers stay satisfied as they read your unique and inspiring tale. After such a thorough study of your readers’ expectations, you can now write or revise your book, knowing that you are fully prepared with the knowledge of your genre. Pulling common themes from all of the books you have read and incorporating those themes into your story will ensure that your readers stay satisfied as they read your unique and inspiring tale.

      We would like to thank Christina Crosland and our friends at Ever Editing for allowing us to share this article with you. To read the other great articles they’ve written, click here.

      A headshot of Christina Crosland.

      Christina Crosland

      Editor

      Christina’s editing experience started as an academic writing tutor over ten years ago. Since then, she’s helped both nonfiction and fiction writers with developmental edits, line edits, copyedits, proofreads, typesetting, and cover design. She’s been published in international magazines and has edited for a world-wide organization. She has a BA in humanities with an emphasis in foreign literature and a minor in editing. She loves being right-brained, homeschooling her daughters, and cuddling with her cats.

        Look Rejection in the Eye and Keep on Going

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        Magleby’s chocolate cake. Starbucks Italian cream sodas. Sailor Moon. What do these three things have in common? They are my rejection letter comforts.

        Let’s face it. No one wants to see the words This just isn’t a good fit for me when they open that email from the agent who has had their query for the last twenty-three days (or twenty-three minutes, as was the case in my fastest rejection). But even your favorite authors have had to deal with rejection. So how do you survive when all you really want to do is climb into bed and never write another word again? Here are some tips to surviving rejection and living to write another day.

        1. Reward yourself!

        The mere fact that you’re putting yourself out there and sharing your story with the world is a big deal. You should be proud. A rejection means that you took a shot. You actually wrote that query, found that agent, and pressed send. You’re no longer just another soul who wrote a few words and called it a book. You are submitting. You are a writer. So when John Luc doesn’t think your story is right for him, smile and know that you are one step closer to finding who it is right for. And then go get that scoop of your favorite Baskin-Robbins flavor. You deserve it—because tomorrow you have another query to send.

        2. Remember that not everyone loved Twilight.

        It seems like every writing conference I go to I talk to someone who hates Twilight. Personally, I remember calling seven or eight people the minute I first finished reading it and telling them they had to read that book. This poor book has been raked over the coals, yet it has one of the biggest fan bases ever. The moral of the story? You are never going to please everyone. You don’t want an agent that is only so-so about your book. You want one that loves it like you do. Rejection is just a way to help you find your dream agent.

        3. No doesn’t equal bad.

        If you are going to survive the submission process, you need to change your mind-set. I have a dear friend who taught me this. When she first started a home business, she decided that instead of looking for the yes, she was going to look for the no. She was going to keep on contacting potential customers until she got twenty who said no. That wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be. She kept on getting yes after yes after yes. Let Murphy’s Law work for you: If you’re looking for a yes, you’re bound to get a no. But if you are looking for a no, well…

        4. You’re not alone.

        Kathryn Stockett was rejected 60 times before The Help finally found a home. Stockett isn’t alone. Consider Shannon Hale. J. K. Rowling. Stephen King. Some of the best-loved authors in the world got their fair amount of rejections before their novels found a place onto bookstore shelves and into the hearts of millions of readers. Well, they’re not alone, and neither are you. Agents don’t hate you if they reject you. Sure, you may get the occasional letter reminding you that only people who can actually write get published. When that happens, refer to point 1—and while you’re drowning your sorrows in chocolate, remind yourself that even Rudyard Kipling was told that he didn’t know how to use the English language. Then wash the sticky off your hands (or lick it off if you’re really depressed) and get back to submitting. You are not alone!

        5. Read your book.

        There is a reason you are putting yourself through this waiting game. You wrote a book—one that you love enough to share with the rest of the world. If you ever get to the point where you are ready to hang up your hat, go back and read a favorite scene. Remind yourself why you love this character or hate that villain. Find that one line that makes you laugh every time you think about it. Read that one part that you need almost an entire box of Kleenex just to get through. If you feel like it’s just not worth it, read your book, and then submit it for your characters. They are worth submitting for.

        6. Overcome resistance.

        Resistance is a major negative force that can hold you back from from fulfilling your dreams. Watch this inspiring video on how author Steven Pressfield overcame resistance, self-sabotage, and self-doubt (and how that’s more important than talent!).

        Do This Now

        1. Submit. There is no need to worry about surviving rejection if you don’t take that first big step.
        2. Don’t sit by the mailbox playing the waiting game. Write. Read. Find someone else to whom you can submit.
        3. Get a three-ring binder and keep a copy of each rejection letter. Someday, when you’re famous, you’ll have some great stories to tell. While you’re at it, put a file in front of the binder to keep track of everyone you submit to and how long it took each one to respond.
        4. Lastly, you can stave off some of that rejection by learning what agents and editors are salivating for. Get some hints here.

        This article was written by Sabine Berlin and was republished with permission from Eschler Editing.

        A headshot of Sabine Berlin.

        Sabine Berlin

        Editor

        Sabine Berlin is a senior editor at Eschler Editing, where she has worked for over twelve years to help writers bring their stories to life. She is the co-publisher of Mad Cat, the young adult imprint of Roan and Weatherford Publishing. Sabine has also successfully self-published (Oh My Oppa!) and traditionally published (And the Sky Full of Stars). 

          Author Voice: Why AI Can’t Replace It

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          Let’s talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and writing. It seems like every other day, there’s a new tool that promises to make writing faster, easier, and maybe even . . . automatic? It’s easy to see how many writers are pulled toward AI. Some people may even ask writers: Why spend days or months putting blood, sweat, and tears into something that AI can do in seconds?

          Here’s the thing: No matter how impressive AI gets, it will never compare to the unique voice, experience, and, well, humanity that each writer brings to their work.

          It’s true that AI can assist writers in getting through tricky passages and overcoming writer’s block. In later tips in this series about AI, we will discuss the benefits of using AI in your writing in greater detail. But in this article, we’ll focus on what AI can’t replace—your voice!

          Voice vs. Style

          Writing voice and style are two concepts that are often confused or conflated. There is a difference between the concepts, so let’s break them down:

          Voice: The writer’s innate opinions, attitudes, and experiences.

          Style: The writer’s word choices, sentence structures, and mechanical—or grammatical—patterns.

          Tiffany Yates Martin, an established editor with over twenty years of professional experience, has a beautiful description of voice on her website Fox Print Editorial:

          “Author voice, though, comes from the truest, most authentic heart of you. Your voice began to be formed even before you were born, and it has been shaped increment by increment by every single circumstance and element of your life since: where you were raised, by whom, how, in what circumstances; your socioeconomic level, your education, your frames of reference and your experiences; your personality, sensibilities, values, and passions.

          “It can be affected by age and perspective, state of mind and mood. It encompasses your vocabulary, your phrasing and rhythm, your diction and word choice, your verbal tics and habits. It’s reflected in the speed at which you communicate, the way in which you find and express your thoughts, whether you are direct or circuitous, literal or figurative, humorous or serious, and every permutation of all the above.”

          (Yates Martin, Tiffany. “What Is Author Voice and How Do You Find Yours,” Fox Print Editorial, October 8, 2024, https://foxprinteditorial.com/2023/08/10/what-is-author-voice-and-how-do-you-find-yours.)

          Yates’s beautiful description of voice shows just how personal and unique it is. Voice reflects the soul of a writer—their innate perspective and personality—while style is the way ideas are expressed on the page with words.

          Some writers have a writing style that is elaborate and embellished—meaning they love crafting long sentences full of imagery and metaphor. Other writers write short, punchy sentences. Some writers enjoy breaking conventional grammar rules, such as sentence fragments, run-on sentences, or omitting punctuation, and others write in sarcastic or mocking styles.

          A writer’s style may adapt to suit different genres, tones, or audiences, but their voice remains a consistent reflection of their unique personality and perspective. And while AI can mimic certain writing styles by replicating patterns and techniques, it lacks its own innate personality, or voice.

          Voice Is Personal

          The stories you tell—whether they are fictional or not—are uniquely your own. No AI, no matter how advanced, can replicate the intricacies of your lived experience. Your life, your choices, and your perspective are shaped by countless factors: your upbringing, culture, relationships, failures, and triumphs. These experiences color the way you see the world and inform the stories you tell.

          AI may be able to mimic style and structure, but it can’t capture the one thing that makes each writer unique—their individual way of writing stories and depicting complex human feelings. AI, by nature, uses algorithms to predict what should come next based on existing data, so its output often reads as generic.

          Because voice is so uniquely human, we are good at picking up its subtle nuances in the things we read without realizing it. Consider the uncanny valley phenomenon, which is when a “computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it.” (“Uncanny Valley,” Oxford English Dictionary, accessed December 2024, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/uncanny-valley_n?tab=meaning_and_use.)

          For example,  observe AI-generated photos of people that look extremely realistic—until you look closer and see hands with unnatural fingers or mouths with too many teeth. Similarly to this phenomenon, AI tools like ChatGPT can produce material mimicking different writing styles, but they can’t perfectly embody any author’s voice—or cultivate their own.

          Below are three comparable passages from stories that each carry themes of nostalgia, permanent loss, and a painful sense of longing:

          1. “Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge. It was a hot day. A kingfisher flew up the stream. It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory. As the shadow of the kingfisher moved up the stream, a big trout shot upstream in a long angle, only his shadow marking the angle, then lost his shadow as he came through the surface of the water, caught the sun, and then, as he went back into the stream under the surface, his shadow seemed to float down the stream with the current, unresisting, to his post under the bridge where he tightened facing up into the current.

          “Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.” 

          (Hemingway, Ernest. Big Two-Hearted River. Scribner, 1925.)

          2. “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.” 

          (Cormac McCarthy, The Road. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.)

          3. “The trout dart through the clear, cold stream, their silver bodies flickering like fleeting memories beneath the surface. Time here seems to slow, as though the current itself carries echoes of a forgotten summer. Now, the current feels quieter, the air heavier with the weight of things that are no longer. Each ripple in the water seems to stir an old ache, a quiet sorrow that lingers in the spaces between the rocks, where the trout swim without ever looking back. The stream, once so full of life and laughter, now whispers only of what’s been lost.”

          (ChatGPT. Prompt: “Write a paragraph about trout in a stream with these feelings: nostalgia, loss, and longing.”)

          The differences between these three passages highlight the profound gap between human writing and AI-generated text, particularly when it comes to voice, authenticity, and emotional resonance.

          Ernest Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River is marked by his distinctive, restrained style and voice that speaks volumes in what it leaves unsaid. The description of the trout’s shadow—rising, catching the sun, and then floating back into the current—reflects not just the fish’s physical movement but also Nick’s transient grasp of peace and the inescapable pull of memory. When Nick’s heart tightens, the reader feels the weight of his unspoken longing.

          In contrast, Cormac McCarthy’s voice in The Road is lush and poetic, and he evokes awe and reverence for the natural world. His description of the trout doesn’t just show us fish in a stream—it turns them into symbols of something much bigger, something lost that can never be recovered. With lines like “vermiculate patterns . . . maps of the world in its becoming,” McCarthy transforms the details of the trout into a meditation on time and the fragility of existence—a product of a philosophical mind engaging with the world.

          The AI-generated passage, while technically fine and polished, lacks the depth and authenticity of the human-authored examples. Descriptions like “their silver bodies flickering like fleeting memories” and “the air heavier with the weight of things that are no longer” attempt to evoke emotion but instead come across as formulaic and generic as if the AI is trying to fit some template of sentimentality. The passage feels like a compilation of poetic tropes, strung together without the lived experience or unique worldview that imbues an author’s voice with sincerity. As a result, the passage reads as imitative and hollow.

          Voice Is Experiential

          Writers draw from their personal histories—moments of joy, loss, struggle, and triumph—which shape how they perceive the world and how they choose to express it. Each character, scene, and narrative choice is made up of trinkets of the writer’s own life journey.

          AI, while impressive in its ability to mimic writing styles, lacks this experiential foundation. It can replicate the mechanics of storytelling, but it cannot draw from a lived history. AI doesn’t know what it feels like to experience love or loss, to face the challenge of a difficult decision, or to observe the world with the nuance of human perception. As a result, AI-generated novels often lack the depth and emotional resonance that comes from the lived experiences of a human writer. It may produce coherent narratives, but without the personal imprint of a real life, the voice it generates remains hollow and detached.

          Compare the following excerpts:

          1. “Soldiers carry the weight of their weapons, tools of survival and destruction, each one a constant reminder of their purpose and the danger that lurks. Their packs are heavy with rations, medical supplies, and gear—necessary burdens that ground them in the brutal present, yet leave little room for escape. Tucked deep within, they carry the ghosts of past battles, the memories of comrades lost, and the quiet longing for home, all bound in the recesses of their minds. The weight of duty is palpable in every step, as they march forward, burdened by both the physical and emotional tolls of war.”

          (ChatGPT. Prompt: “Write a paragraph about what soldiers carry in war.”)

          “They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections. They carried chess sets, basketballs, Vietnamese-English dictionaries, insignia of rank, Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts, plastic cards imprinted with the Code of Conduct. They carried diseases, among them malaria and dysentery. They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds. They carried the land itself—Vietnam, the place, the soil—a powdery orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatigues and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.”

          (O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Broadway, 1998.)

          Severe trauma and war are examples of things that AI has never experienced and will never experience. For all of ChatGPT’s flowery language, its paragraph above rings incredibly hollow when compared to O’Brien’s excerpt, which draws from his lived experience of serving in the Vietnam war. O’Brien is not using generalizations to speak for every soldier who fought in Vietnam, and he is not even trying to recount every factual detail of his experience. Instead, he speaks about his personal perceptions and feelings developed through his experiences.

          There are a huge number of life experiences—emotions felt, moments lived, and connections formed—that are uniquely human. Drawing from these experiences when writing connects writers with readers, even if they haven’t been through the same things, because they reflect the emotions and connections we all share. This connection is something AI may attempt but will likely never replicate.

          Voice Is Cultural

          Writers also draw from cultural and social dynamics—the gestures, tone, slang, vernacular, and unsaid meanings that make up human interaction. These nuances, shaped by culture, society, and history, enrich a writer’s voice, allowing it to capture the complexities of emotion and experience in ways that resonate with readers.

          AI, though skilled at mimicking writing styles, lacks the ability to truly understand or engage with the social intricacies that define human communication. While it can replicate language patterns or historical references, it cannot grasp the deeper layers of meaning embedded in these elements.

          In our interconnected and plugged-in modern culture, communication is becoming increasingly fluid. Slang, internet culture, and memes are playful, ever-evolving forms of communication that reflect shared humor, generational trends, and cultural moments. These quirks of language serve as social identity markers—the traits, symbols, and language that help people express who they are and where they come from.

          Writers understand how these identity markers operate within communities and use them in novels to create authentic dialogue, relatable characters, and vivid settings. Identity markers in writing can be incredibly subtle. A character’s hesitation before choosing a word might reveal their insecurity or the unspoken weight of their relationship with the person they’re speaking to. The use of the word “demure” might suggest not just modesty but “mindfulness,” “very respectful,” and “not doing too much” to Gen Z readers. A passing mention of the smell of rented bowling shoes could evoke an entire childhood for a reader without being explicitly tied to any narrative arc. These subtleties—rooted in how humans assign meaning to the smallest interactions and details—give writing a depth and resonance that AI may struggle to replicate.

          Voice is Irreplaceable

          AI can copy certain styles, but it can’t capture you. Your unique way of putting things and the little surprises that come with it? That’s your voice, and that’s something only a real, live person can bring.

          So, if you ever feel discouraged by the speed or apparent efficiency of AI, remember this: Your voice matters more than anything a machine could ever produce. Your stories, your emotions, your creativity—they are irreplaceable. Lean into your humanity, trust your unique perspective, and remember that the world is waiting for what only you can write. In the end, no machine can tell your story like you can.

          This article was written by Amy Guan and was republished with permission from Ever Editing.

          A headshot of Amy Guan

          Amy Guan

          Co-Owner and Managing Partner, Ever Editing

          I edit because I love it. I love plotting outlines, treading through unfamiliar topics, and discovering misplaced modifiers. Editing is an adventure, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I love playing video games (open world only), eating whatever my husband grabs from the clearance section at Asian Mart, and being taken on walks by my two big dogs. I have a BA in English and a minor in editing.

            Getting Unstuck from a Creative Rut

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            Do you ever feel like your wheels are spinning, but you’re not moving forward?

            As a missionary in Flagstaff, AZ, my companion and I literally got our truck stuck in a rut on a very narrow dirt road. I remember the panicked feeling of being trapped and not knowing how we would get home. It took some time, a dozen or so prayers, and a lot of trial and error. Finally, using some very handy sticks for traction and a lot of oomph, we managed to get our truck unstuck.

            This experience has never left me, and I think of it often when I’m mentally stuck in a rut, spinning my wheels with no progress, despite pressing the gas again and again. Personally, I don’t believe in writer’s block. I’m always able to put words on a page, even if they aren’t very good words. But, having struggled with motivation for certain projects, I do believe in creative ruts. Over the years, I’ve acquired a few useful tools that help me get unstuck. Here are five tips to help you get out of your own artistic ruts.

            Co-Create with Body Doubling

            I have a confession to make: I hate revisions. People who know me might raise their eyebrows. “But aren’t you an editor?” Well, yes. But I don’t hate revising other people’s stories—I hate revising my own. Without fail, I hit a wall. All the self-doubt I kept at bay while drafting comes sneaking in, mocking me and making me question all my writing choices. So to avoid that, I simply don’t start the revisions.

            This avoidance, however, has proven to be a major problem because it prevents me from making progress on any of my stories.

            I came up with an idea to help me with this particular rut. I invited several of my writing friends to hop on a Zoom call with me and just write for an hour. To my relief (and my story’s benefit), I discovered that having someone present while I wrote helped me overcome my motivation slump and actually start revising. I made my way through the murky fog of revision and emerged on the other side better for it.

            I still meet with writer friends every week for scheduled writing time, which has had a huge impact on my writing and revising. If you haven’t tried this, I highly recommend it. Having someone on a Zoom call with you makes it a lot harder to get sucked into distractions because you have a witness to your efforts and an accountability partner to return and report your progress to.

            Create in a Different Location

            Another tool that can help you get out of your creative rut is to change your location. On my bad mental health days, I’ve found that simply getting out of my usual space helps me get out of my head. I’ll go to the library or a local park and just enjoy the world around me. Notebooks and sketchbooks are handy tools for alternate locations. Being somewhere new can spark ideas you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. If you’ve been tapping the same artistic vein nonstop for weeks, months, or even years in the same location, try changing it up. You might find some new ideas to help you work through whatever is keeping you in that rut.

            Explore a Different Medium

            I don’t consider myself an artist, at least not in the traditional sense. I have some talent in painting, but my people always look like stick figures. However, when my creativity is running low and I’m struggling to make sense of my story, switching things up by painting or sketching can be therapeutic. It allows me to experiment without the pressure of forcing myself to write. Painting especially helps me want to write more.

            Try this out for yourself: if you’re a painter, maybe try writing a poem. (See this article about poetry.) If you’re a writer, try painting or knitting. If you’re a musician, try cooking or cross-stitching. Put yourself in a different medium to get the creative juices flowing. You never know when the perfect idea will strike—it might be while you’re learning to make the perfect crème brûlée.

            Change Up the Format

            Another tool that’s helped me break out of my rut is changing up the format. Most of my writing is done on my desktop computer. However, there are days when I sit at my keyboard and can’t bring myself to write. I’ll check my email for the thousandth time or watch yet another short on YouTube, but completely neglect the project I want to be working on.

            This is where changing up the format comes into play. When I was a kid, I did most of my writing by hand—I have dozens of notebooks and journals to prove it. I still handwrite in my journal, but I rarely do so for stories anymore. Recently, my work-in-progress was being difficult, and my motivation was extremely lacking. On a whim, I put pen to paper in a blank notebook. To my surprise, I wrote seven-and-a-half pages in one session. I’d gotten myself out of the rut simply by changing how I wrote.

            Try experimenting with different formats. If you’re a composer who uses MuseScore, try composing by hand. If you’re a painter who mostly uses oil, try watercolors. If you’re a digital artist, sketch something on paper. Writers, try writing by hand or typewriter. The novel format will help you find new pathways forward.

            Follow Prompts

            What if you’ve tried it all and you are still struggling to get unstuck? Not to worry, my friends, I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve. Despite trying some of the tools mentioned above, I may still find myself completely and utterly unmotivated, uninspired, and unexcited about working on any of my projects.

            This is where prompts come in handy. Sometimes the scariest thing about starting a new project is just knowing where to start. Having constraints, such as “paint a picture with only primary colors,” “write a short story featuring a hamster, a poncho, and a hammer,” or “write a poem using only words that start with the letter ‘A’” can prime the pump. Constraints actually allow for more creativity because they force your brain to work within a set of defined parameters, and they give you a firm launch point.

            There are countless free prompts available online for all sorts of art. These can include prompts to write short stories with a specific setting, character, or genre; create a song in a certain key, time signature, or rhythm; paint something that starts with the letter “R” or only with black and yellow pigments; and plenty more. Let your muse take over and turn that blank page into an answer to the prompt.

            Creating is hard and can take a lot of energy. You’re bound to find yourself in a rut now and then when you work the same way over and over again. My hope is that these five tools will help you find the traction you need to get unstuck and get back to doing what you do best—inspiring others through your art.

            A headshot of KaTrina Jackson.

            KaTrina Jackson

            Author, Editor

            KaTrina Jackson loves penguins, chocolate, and piano music, and spends much of each day trying to fit those loves in around her jobs as a freelance editor and a project manager for Eschler Editing. She graduated with a degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. She’s a member of three different writing groups, attends and teaches at multiple writing conferences, has volunteered with LDSPMA since 2021, and recently published her first novel. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she can be found practicing yoga, teaching piano lessons, or watching Disney movies while working on a cross-stitch project. She and her husband live in Olathe, Kansas.

              Releasing Your Inner Poet: Five Steps to Writing A Poem

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              Poetry is a beautiful form of expression that captures a range of human experiences. People might think poetry is a dying art. But believe it or not, you hear poetry every day. Catchy Disney songs? Poetry. The newest Taylor Swift hit? Poetry. K-Pop Demon Hunters power ballads? Poetry. Even the country music you despise? You guessed it. Poetry.

              Poetry doesn’t need to be set to music, though. Sometimes the words themselves are pure magic. If you’re a writer of any genre—fantasy, memoir, self-help, sci-fi, literary fiction—poetic elements can help sharpen details and hone imagery.

              But how do you do this? Do you just write, “Roses are red, violets are blue, poetry is awful, skip to my Lou?”

              I mean, you could. That is technically a poem.

              But if you want to practice writing meaningful poetry to improve your craft, I, as a published poet and professional poetry editor, recommend the following five steps.

              1. Observe the world around you.

              There are ideas everywhere; you just have to look for them. Most of my poems are inspired by things I’ve noticed or experienced throughout the day. The key is to set aside distractions and pay attention to your surroundings.

              To start, consider your location. As I write this, I’m sitting in my office, surrounded by knick-knacks, pictures, and mementos that inspire and comfort me. These include a mini anvil, a resin penguin princess (complete with a tiara), a lighthouse music box, dolphin figurines, uplifting quotes, and commissioned art.

              Through my window, a big tree is waving its green leaves in the wind. Snippets of sky peek between the roof of our apartment building and the great leafy tree. I spy the top of a building across the street. The sun’s rays warm my skin as my fingers dance across the keys. I hear the calming strains of jazzy piano from my favorite instrumental playlist and the whir of a ceiling fan. And I feel the gentle breeze from that same fan.

              Now you try. Pause where you are and observe the world around you. Write down what you see, what you hear, and what you feel. Don’t judge, just let the world be whatever it is and be present in the moment.

              2. Find one specific image or sense.

              Make a list of your observations. You could write a poem about everything, but it’s much easier (and creates stronger poetry) if you focus on one specific image.

              Here are a few examples from the exercise above:

              • The sun on my skin.
              • The gently waving tree leaves.
              • The icy sparkles of the penguin princess’s crown.
              • The gentle cadence of the fan in harmony with the jazzy piano.

              All these examples evoke a specific image, sound, or feeling. Your inspiration doesn’t have to be fancy. Just pick one thing from your list.

              3. Practice different forms.

              I’ve talked to many writers who’ve said, “I’m not a poet! I don’t know how to rhyme!”

              Poems don’t have to rhyme. Yes, rhyming is a feature of many poems (and some poets excel at it, like Dr. Seuss), but you don’t have to. I’ve published poems that rhyme and poems that don’t. Just find the form that fits the subject matter.

              Some poetic forms are quite complicated, like Shakespearean sonnets in iambic pentameter. Some are much simpler, such as the rhyming quatrain of an ABCB stanza (Emily Dickinson’s preferred form). Free verse, a common form of modern poetry, doesn’t conform to a particular format. However, to strengthen your descriptive muscles, I recommend following the advice of my poetry professor, who encouraged us to use a structured form. The constraints force your brain to think more creatively than just throwing any random words down.

              One of my favorite poetry forms is haiku, the Japanese poem written in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. I love haiku because it’s simple and great for practice. It’s also versatile. I’ve written longer poems in renga (sequential haikus) format because the theme didn’t fit into just one verse.

              Traditionally, a haiku is about nature, but you can use the 5-7-5 syllable structure to talk about anything. Here are two examples from the above list…

              • The feel of the sun on my skin:

              Sunshine sparkles bright—

              rays warm my world-weary hands,

              filling me with peace.

              • The icy sparkles of the penguin princess’s crown:

              A royal penguin;

              her crown of ice gleams like gems,

              a mark of her rank.

              Your turn! Pick one of your images/senses and try writing a haiku. It’s okay if it takes some time to find the right number of syllables. No one masters poetry instantly. Relax and play around. You might be surprised by what ends up fitting the syllable structure.

              4. Read your poems aloud!

              Many beginning poets miss this step. As a poetry editor, I read the poems multiple times before I make a single edit, looking primarily at meter and rhyme. Sometimes poets think a word fits the meter when it doesn’t. If the line reads off, it’s likely because one of the words has too many syllables or the final word doesn’t fit the rhyme scheme (if there is one).

              For example, in the penguin princess haiku above, I originally wrote “her crown of ice sparkles like gems,” which is 8 syllables instead of 7.

              5. Revise as many times as necessary.

              Once you’ve read your poem aloud a few times, you can tweak it as needed. Be sure to examine every word and syllable on the page. You might find a word that fits the 5-7-5 structure better, as I found “gleam” to fit better than “sparkles.” Or, you might find a more perfect rhyme versus an imperfect rhyme (when/again instead of rain/again—English is weird like that).

              The lovely thing about poetry is that it’s easy to cross words out and give it another go, especially with something as short as a haiku. Don’t be afraid to try again. Poems are little snapshots of memory. Like a photograph, they don’t have to be perfect—they just need to capture the essence of what you felt in that moment.

              If you’re a budding writer—or an experienced one—looking for ways to deepen imagery or strengthen your character’s emotions and senses, try practicing these steps and creating your own poetry. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover, like so many before you, you’ve been a poet all along and just didn’t know it… until now.

              May the powers of poetry be with you. Go forth and create!

              A headshot of KaTrina Jackson.

              KaTrina Jackson

              Author, Editor

              KaTrina Jackson loves penguins, chocolate, and piano music, and spends much of each day trying to fit those loves in around her jobs as a freelance editor and a project manager for Eschler Editing. She graduated with a degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. She’s a member of three different writing groups, attends and teaches at multiple writing conferences, has volunteered with LDSPMA since 2021, and recently published her first novel. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she can be found practicing yoga, teaching piano lessons, or watching Disney movies while working on a cross-stitch project. She and her husband live in Olathe, Kansas.