Why
and How I Write Verse Novels by Sally Murphy
I fell in
love with verse novels when I discovered those written by Margaret Wild (Jinxed
and One Night). I decided then that I wanted to write in the form one
day, and my love of verse novels continued to grow when I discovered works by
Steven Herrick, Catherine Bateson, Lorraine Marwood and more. It took a while
to find the right story for a verse novel, but when a girl called Pearl started
telling me her tale, I wrote my first verse novel, Pearl Verses the World.
Later, I met (in my imagination) a boy named John who similarly wanted his tale
told that way, in Toppling.
When I
write a verse novel, I start with a character and a situation. In this novel, I
had a little girl, Amber, in the horrible situation of confronting just how
different her mother is - from other mothers, and from the mum she used to
be.
I write
the story from beginning to end, trying not to revise or edit until I have a
first draft complete. Because I'm writing in poetry, I do consider things like
line length and poetic technique, but try not to overthink these at the draft
stage. I want to get the story down. So I wrote Amber’s story, of struggling
with the changes in her life, and of wondering how her friends will react to
Mum when she comes to school for a Mother’s Day function.
Once the
draft is complete the hard work begins. Just as with a prose story I need to
look at the story arc, the plot and any subplots, character development,
setting and so on, but I also need to consider whether it works as poetry. Are
there layers of meaning? Have I used line length to the best possible
advantage? And what about poetic devices such as rhythm, repetition,
alliteration, assonance, imagery, even rhyme? I consider how these can be used
to enhance the story.
With Roses
are Blue, I found the poetry part flowed quite naturally, but the
plot needed quite a bit of work, as I searched for more hope for Amber
and for the reader. The character of Leroy became quite important too. Although
he was present in early drafts his role grew in subsequent drafts.
Of
course, I also have to convince my publisher that the verse novel works. Walker
Books had published my first two verse novels, and I was lucky enough to have
their support in getting Roses are Blue to publication standard. This meant that once I thought the book was
as good as I could get it, I had lots of editorial input from Sue and Jess at
Walker until it was ready to be illustrated (by brilliant illustrator Gabriel
Evans) and then, eventually, published.
Then, of
course, there’s the fun part: holding my book baby in my hands, and getting to
share it with the rest of the world.
Sally Murphy is a children’s author,
poet and reviewer, who lives in Western Australia. When she’s not writing verse
novels, poems, picture books and more, she’s busy with her family – she has six
gorgeous children, an adorable grandson and a loveable husband, as well as two
dogs. Sally loves to share her poetry with the world through school visits,
festival bookings, author talks and the like.
Roses are Blue (illustrated by
Gabriel Evans is published by Walker Books Australia (ISBN 9781922244376)
and is available from good bookstores,
and from online stores including Booktopia, for a RRP of $16.95
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