Calling All Poets! Teach Fiction Writers a Thing or Two

Image courtesy of Morguefile free photos

If you’ve followed this blog a while, you know I have great love and respect for poetry. To improve my fiction, I remind myself to tap into poetic description, and I encourage other prose writers to do the same.

In case you aren’t aware of it, April is National Poetry Month, and I’d like to honor all you poets out there.

Poets who write for their eyes only, to release their emotions and comfort themselves.

Poets who write to soothe or inspire readers like me.

Poets who address difficult subjects in a lovely way.

Poets who condense the world into a digestible, single-sitting format.

Poets who create verses and stanzas more memorable than prose.

Poets who write greeting cards.

Poets who write song lyrics.

Did I forget anyone?

If you are a poet, thank you.

If you are a classroom teacher, librarian, or bookstore owner, you can request (free) this year’s beautifully designed poster from the Academy of American Poets.

Let’s remind people we know–even those who claim to hate poetry–how it enriches our lives. Find your favorite poem and share it this month with someone you care about.

As a poet, what would you like to share with a prose writer? As a prose writer, what would you like to know about writing or appreciating poetry?

 

 

30 Effective Twitter Hashtags for YA Authors

Image courtesy of Morguefile free photos

It’s hard to remember to use the most productive hashtags when I tweet about my books. I’ve found a few sources that list hashtags for authors in general but none specifically for those of teen or young adult novels. So I created my own list based on experience in tweeting about teen fiction over the past twelve months.

Most of these hashtags have gained attention for me and perhaps will work for you. Some are just now catching on. Genre hashtags cross over from adult to teen/YA in most cases, so I included a few. Capitalization is irrelevant.

#YA (ob-vi-ous-ly!)

#YAlit

#YAfiction

#YAloving

#YAbooknerd (or #booknerd)

#IReadYA

#teenlit

#teenfiction

#teenlife

#ChristianTeen (or other religion + teen)

#booksforgirls (or #booksforboys)

#CleanTeenRead

#adventure

#dystopian

#mystery

#scifi

#teenromance

#boyfriend

#bullying

#dating

#eatingdisorder

#firstlove

#friendship

#teensuicide

#socialissues

#parents (or #family or #stepfamily)

#schoolproblems

#highschool

#dance (or the other arts)

#sports (or a specific sport)

Those are my current favorites! What are your go-to hashtags when tweeting about your own writing?