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Colleen M. Chesebro
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Word Craft: Prose & Poetry: The Art of Crafting Syllabic Poetry Kindle Edition

by Colleen M. Chesebro (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
Are you ready to learn how to craft Japanese and American poetry? Consider this book the first step on your journey to learning the basics of how to craft syllabic poetry. Inside, you will discover many new forms, syllable combinations, and interpretations of the different Japanese and American forms and structures of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, renga/solo renga, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, the cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. So… what are you waiting for? Let’s craft syllabic poetry together!
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  1. Print length
    264 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    May 10, 2021
  5. File size
    3.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
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  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B094P1XSYG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Unicorn Cats Publishing Services
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 10, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.0 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the author

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Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro

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Colleen M. Chesebro grew up in a large city in the Midwest. Keen on making her own way in the world, she joined the United States Air Force after graduation to tour the world and find herself. To this day, that search continues.

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction.

In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on her blog on by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry.

Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan, surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
22 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this syllabic poetry book to be a detailed guide with excellent examples, making it a great tool for poets. They appreciate its instructional approach.

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7 customers mention "Syllabic poetry"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the detailed guide of syllabic poetry in the book, which provides excellent examples and is easy to read and understand.

"This is an excellent tutorial for anyone wanting to craft effective syllabic poetry...." Read more

"...There’s history, instructions on writing the poem, several examples, and then the information is recapped for each form...." Read more

"...outlines the rules and inspirations for each form, and provides plenty of examples to help you get the idea...." Read more

"...Clear definitions of the various syllabic Japanese and American poetry forms, along with excellent examples. Great resource1" Read more

3 customers mention "Teaching style"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's instructional approach.

"This is an excellent tutorial for anyone wanting to craft effective syllabic poetry...." Read more

"...Prose & Poetry, by Colleen Chesebro is an insightful and helpful instructional book for those who wish to learn more about writing syllabic poetry..." Read more

"The author covered all aspects of syllabic poetry in a teaching manner, beneficial to novice and dabbler in creative writing." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Chris
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent tutorial
    Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent tutorial for anyone wanting to craft effective syllabic poetry. It covers a range of different forms of American and Japanese syllabic poetry, some of which I never come across before. Each chapter starts with the history of the particular form, moving onto a clear explanation of the technical aspects and suggestions of where to find inspiration, then come some examples, a recap and further examples. I particularly enjoyed reading these, especially the ones by the poets I know. It was like unexpectedly bumping into a friend!

    Although still somewhat daunted by the more complex forms which come at the end of the book, I am definitely encouraged to experiment more with all the different forms. The author's final exhortation to the reader: 'Be bold. Be creative. Write some syllabic poetry!' With such encouragement, who can fail to try?
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  • D.L. Finn
    5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    In “Word Craft: Prose & Poetry” Ms. Chesebro has written a detailed guide of syllabic poetry. There’s history, instructions on writing the poem, several examples, and then the information is recapped for each form. Section one of the book offers Japanese Syllabic Poetry. Here are the chapters covered, Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Tanka Prose, and Renga. Then the second section is the American Syllabic Poetry. The types covered here are Crapsey Cinquain and all variations, Etheree, Nonnet, and Shadorma. Although I’ve spent years writing free verse poetry, I’ve come to love syllabic poems too, thanks to Ms. Chesebro. This is a fantastic guide to learn about syllabic poetry and how to write them. I will buy the paperback version for a quick reference to a style I want to try or simply refresh my memory on writing a certain type of poem. I highly recommend this guide for all poets who love this style or would like to learn about it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kaye Lynne Booth
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must for lovers of syllabic poetry
    Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Word Craft: Prose & Poetry, by Colleen Chesebro is an insightful and helpful instructional book for those who wish to learn more about writing syllabic poetry and prose. The first section covers Japanese syllabic poetry forms and American syllabic poetry forms are covered in section two. The author outlines the rules and inspirations for each form, and provides plenty of examples to help you get the idea.
    If you like syllabic poetry, either Japanese or American, and would like to try your hand at it, I highly recommend the instruction of Word Craft: Prose & Poetry, by Sally Cronin. This book introduced me to new forms, as well as delving deeper into forms I was familiar with.
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  • Heidi Thorne
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for poets
    Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I became familiar with and wrote some haiku way back in high school. When I wanted to try my hand at writing it again now, I found this book. Clear definitions of the various syllabic Japanese and American poetry forms, along with excellent examples. Great resource1
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  • Brenda Marie Fluharty
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for Poets
    Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Word Craft: Pose & Poetry: The art of Crafting Syllabic poetry is a tool every poet needs. This book is packed full and great Information on all types of syllabic poetry. It even give examples. I am a poet who writes free style most often. This book helped me take my writing to the next level.
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  • June Quintin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Tutorial
    Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2022
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    The author covered all aspects of syllabic poetry in a teaching manner, beneficial to novice and dabbler in creative writing.
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  • RuthJim
    5.0 out of 5 stars Haiku Guide
    Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This book is exactly what I needed. Definitions, examples, and history of Haiku and other syllabic poetry. Easy to read and understand.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Elizabeth Gauffreau
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended for the Poet in Everyone!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2021
    I have Colleen Chesebro’s weekly poetry challenge “Tanka Tuesday” to thank for inspiring me to try writing syllabic poetry for the first time. That initial inspiration resulted in a tanka, which was followed by another, then another, finally becoming my first poetry collection.

    Chesebro’s poetry craft book works in a similar fashion. Word Craft first acknowledges and encourages the creative potential in each of us, which I would consider the book’s main premise. We all have the inspiration for poetry inside us; we just need to help that inspiration find its most appropriate form of expression.

    Given this premise, it makes sense to begin with syllabic poetry--and so be able to choose a structured form well-suited to what we want to express. For example, have we been struck by the way the winter sky looks when a cold front is approaching? Haiku can capture and hold this observation. Are we bemused by a particular human foible? This observation would be better suited to senryu. And so on, through a wide range of nonrhyming syllabic forms.

    The book is well-structured and organized. Each section defines a form of Japanese syllabic poetry and its American counterpart(s), including a brief history of how they evolved. (Credible sources have been consulted and cited for this information.) Next is an explanation of how to write the form, including general subject matter, syllable count, and number of lines. Finally, there are numerous examples of each form written by a range of poets, including Chesebro.

    What I most appreciated about Word Craft is that it shines light on syllabic poetry from a number of different angles--any one of which could serve as the reader’s inspiration for a new poem!
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Selma in Japan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely resource that enhances creativity and just might surprise you.
    Reviewed in Japan on October 21, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    "When we create poetry, we become better writers," writes Colleen Chesebro in her book, Word Craft: Prose & Poetry, The Art of Crafting Syllabic Poetry. Being a writer myself, there's nothing more I want than to become better. But I have a tendency to overwrite. And so this year, I decided to explore the notion of brevity; to say more with less, tighter. Lucky for me I happened upon this amazing poet's community that congregated at Ms.Chesebro’s weekly poetry cove: “Tanka Tuesday,” and started slowly to see how Syllabic poetry could indeed add so much to my desire to improve my craft. And now, thanks to this new mindset, I feel my verbs and grammar have seen a boost in the brevity of words. 

    I first "heard" someone praise this book in a comment and readily bought the digital book in March and having browsed through the book, I decided to enter my first ever NaPoWriMo in April. Yes, my people, it was this book that gave me the incentive to even consider doing something like that! An accidental poet and I'll have you know that I was the proudest I've ever been. And we're talking poetry! 

    Long story short, in September I purchased the paperback copy of the same book so that now, as the proud owner of the physical words of Ms. Chesebro, I feel her generous encouragement every time I touch the book.

    The book begins with an introduction to how Colleen’s journey began – her poetry community, and goes on to discuss definitions of meter, syllable, and stresses, and the hard work required to find your creative soul. She suggests ways to encourage creativity, talks about figurative language and gives tips for finding inspiration too. Author Colleen Chesebro's generous heart and kind soul shine in the book. This is a fabulous book, one that Author Colleen Chesebro should be very proud of. I know I'm proud to see her book on my shelf and consult it every time I need to count syllables. 

    In my dreams -- it must be because I really thought I already reviewed this book-- I already told you about this book. (either that or my review wasn't approved by the big guys). I highly recommend this book as a perfect resource for writing with brevity: A sure winner. 5-stars. Satisfied customer, Selma Martin.
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  • marjorie mallon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Poetry Resource
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is a comprehensive guide covering both American and Japanese poetry including Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Renga, Crapsey Cinquain Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, and variations, as well as examples of all the forms and recaps to refresh the memory too.

    It is written in such a way that it is easy to understand and get the most from.

    The Art of Crafting Syllabic Poetry begins with an introduction to how Colleen’s journey began – her poetry community, and goes on to discuss definitions of “meter, syllable, and stresses,” and the hard work required to find your creative soul. She suggests ways to encourage creativity, and talks about figurative language too.

    It is clear that author Colleen Chesebro has put her heart and soul into this guide and loves helping others to be the best poets they can be. She runs a wonderful community of poets with weekly prompts, (which again must be an incredible amount of work,) and is now expanding her repertoire to include online submissions to her poetry venture with poet JulesPaige. Colleen is also a co-editor of “Word Weaving, a Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse,” at wordweavingpoetryjournal.com more about that below in her Bio.

    What an incredible amount of work, dedication and research has gone into this book and into everything that Colleen Chesebro does.

    It is a wonderful resource for both new students of poetry to learn and to refer to whilst writing poetry and for old hands, (such as me,) to jog our memories and to avoid making careless mistakes about the forms!

    There is a bibliography at the end with the names/links/detail of all the poets who have contributed to the anthology. I’m delighted that my #Garland #Cinquain poem is included amongst this section along with so many awesome contributions from poetry community members.

    My recommendation: This is a fabulous book, and one that Colleen Chesebro should be very proud of.

    5 stars. I bought a paperback to use as a resource.
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  • Adele Park
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must have reference book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Whether you already write poetry or, like me, want to learn how to create poems, then this book, Word Craft Prose and Poetry by Colleen M Chesebro is the only book you need.
    The chapters are introduced with the history of the poetic form which is fascinating and useful. The author takes care to gently introduce you into the world of the form and then gives coherent examples and easily followed instructions.
    I adore this workbook and will enjoy trying out all the poetry forms contained inside. 5 stars for Colleen M Chesebro as she works tirelessly to bring poetry into the mainstream showing that, if you wish, you too can write beautiful forms of poetry with words that will lift the spirit or give understanding. Truly a magical book.
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