Rough-Cut Pages and Pencil-Sketch Illustrations

    Here's the book I most recently bought. Kenny & the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi. It's the first I've gotten in a long time (it was $8 at the Scholastic book fair). This is a children's book about a rabbit who lives on a farm and likes reading better than farm work. That's as much as I know so far.

   I was attracted to this book by it's beautiful cover first. Really, books should all be hardcover. And they should all have pencil-sketch illustrations and off-white, rough-cut pages with nice, ink-ish-looking text. Tale of Despereaux (although it's soft cover) has this same kind of style, and it's my dream binding for my Wynna story.
   So. I better get to writing. I have to finish my short story before I can work on Wynna, because my critique date is April 30th, and I still have character-sketching and world-building to do, maps to draw, and dozens of pages left to write!

Progress: ~6 pages

Sestina: Re-Post

Because I've been getting a slew of invisible spam comments from a "reader" in Poland that all say, "I love your writing! Click on this link, hehehehe..." I'm reposting "Sestina."

   Here's the "formula" for the end-word pattern of a sestina.

1            6            3            5            4            2

2            1            6            3            5            4

3            5            4            2            1            6

4            2            1            6            3            5

5            4            2            1            6            3

6            3            5            4            2            1

  My eyes almost rolled out of my head when I first saw that! A note of background: the sestina originated when court-poets or somebody like that wanted to do something extraordinarily tricky, or something like that.
   But it's really not as complicated as it looks once you get used to the pattern. At first I didn't see the point of making poetry so complicated, but I've read some brilliant sestinas (here's one by Miller Williams: The Shrinking Lonesome Sestina).
   I don't know if I will ever master it, but at least now I can say I've written one. Click here to read my sestina, "February."

Disclaimer: my reference to high school love is a generalization. I know of cases where high school love turned out successful and long-lasting.

Setting: On Board the HMV Lark

Hope the weather is turning nicer for you wherever you are...

   If there's one thing I've learned from all the exercises up to this point, it's that every description, every line of dialogue, and every event has to propel the story or build character. Well, I learned it in my head, but in practice, I still need to work on that.
   Here's what I wrote for this week. Read. Enjoy. Critique. If you want to try this exercise yourself, see the end of this post!
   

1

It was the first warm evening of March. The HMV Lark was anchored on Lake Dacen, and a breeze flickered across the landscape. It disturbed the water striders, riffled cloaks, and lifted the corner of the limp green, yellow, and black flag. Strong odors of live forest and hewn deck mingled with herb sachets, cured leather, cheese, and something burnt. The castle-side bank was close, and although the water was cold a decent swimmer could have reached it in minutes. On the far side a dark row of trees encircled the lake like a curtain. The dignitaries on board the Lark laughed and chattered. Like sunflowers toward the sun, their gazes followed the king who strolled from bow to stern with his head high and his hands behind his back. Every few strides he stopped and spoke. Then he moved on. Circles of guests broke and reformed, and individuals moved between groups in an untimed dance whose secret steps some knew better than others. The long-fingered statesman from Boronovia was one of them, and he flicked between his fellow guests and spent the most time in the king's radiance. Only one eye kept watch on the shrouded shores. When a cloud hid the moon, the lights on the ship blotted out the dark.