The concept of fictional verse is nothing new. I actually learned about it for the first time in the early 2010s with the book What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones. The way the story could be told in such few words captivated me. I didn’t know then, but this writing style would become a driving force in my writing career. Now, you may be asking what is verse writing? If you are, then this post is for you!
What is Verse Writing?
Verse writing is a type of free verse poetry. In this case, it is a fictional story written in a free verse poetry format.
What are the Elements of Novels-in-Verse?
When you first open a book written in verse you’ll notice the poetry format. The rest, exactly like a novel not written in verse. You have your storyline, characters, rising action, climax, any and all things in a typical book.
Examples of Book Written in Verse
I’m always on the lookout for more books written in verse, but here are a few that I’ve come across over the years.
What My Mother Doesn’t Know and other books by Sonya Sones
Glimpse by Carolyn Lynch Williams
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Anything Ellen Hopkins
Speaking the Truth of Family by Jennifer Leigh
Why I Enjoy Writing Verse
It wasn’t until I tried my hand at poetry for Camp NaNoWriMo a few years ago that I discovered my love for the writing style. Suddenly a story came to me and yearned to be told in verse. I tested it out. Drafted. Wrote. Drafted some more. The more I wrote, the more in love with the style I became.
Everything within a verse novel is intentional. Your words pack so much but you use so few. It’s a balance of storytelling and progressing the story fast enough to be impactful. I have felt a renewed love for writing ever since I started working on my novels-in-verse.
Another of my favorite parts is the freedom of design. No other book allows you to create a page with text shaped as a teardrop to deepen that a character is crying.
Writing in verse has changed how I write as an author. I feel more intentional with my writing. I wish that I knew more authors that write in-verse because it is hard to find. Though the ones that I have read are absolutely amazing.
Now you know more about Novels-in-Verse. I hope you find this post insightful especially as you navigate your writing journey. It’s definitely a practiced art just as all writing is.
Until next time, keep writing!
Do you know any indie published novels-in-verse? What is your favorite part about verse writing? Let’s chat in the comments below!
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Why Only Write One Genre of Book?
Building a Realistic Character
While I knew the poet X had been written in verse; I still haven’t tried to read anything of the like yet. Poetry isn’t really my thing, so idk how the reading experience would be 😅 or what to expect, really.. but it sure pique my curiosity!
I’ve found that verse writing although it’s technically poetry doesn’t feel like poetry when you’re reading it. I hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you pick up a verse book one day! 😊