Indie Feature & Chapter Thoughts

I for one absolutely love indie authors, maybe part of that is because I am one myself. I came across "Travelling Light" by Vickie Johnstone yesterday while browsing a free promo on Amazon. "Travelling Light" sure does deserve it's top spot today with some great poems from her works over the years. 

I'm inspired by Vickie's style because it's quite similar to my own with it's free verse tendencies, that fall into their own patterns. 

Favorite poem? "Dreamers" because of all the mystical references and vivid imagery. It's no secret I really love unicorns and mythical birds. 

So, part of Vicki's author's bio on Amazon mentions that she had another book divided into chapters. Chapter themes are something that I find is a struggle in publishing. As a writer, I simply write, and I write, and I write some more. Then the hard part is the editing. But there's an easily ignored step right in the middle. Like any great music album or stage play, the scenes must be put in order. The tracklist must be made because while each piece might hold a story, the work as a collection must also tell a story. 

In my first book, I purposefully left the middle chapter perfectly empty. That title page with nothing after it became a poem in itself. I've seen great chapters such as Rupi Kuar's "Milk And Honey" chapters, which are all steps in a relationship. Another example is chapter 43 of one of my favorite novels "The Daughter of Smoke & Bone" by Laini Taylor. It's titled "Snap" and reads ""Such a little thing, and brittle, and the sound it made: a sharp, clean snap" " That is the entire chapter. So simple. So meaningful. 

For the day, think of some of your favorite chapters and check out a new book! 

Do YOU have a theme for your challanges yet?