The Novel In Verse: Would You?

Until today, I'd never read a novel in verse -- at least not a kid's novel in verse. Yeah, I read Paradise Lost in college, and The Odyssey in high school. That counts, right? And even though I earned my M.A. in poetry writing, it never occurred to me to try to write fiction in verse.

But I started reading Inside Out and Back Again this morning, a middle grade verse novel by Thanhha Lai that's a finalist for this year's National Book Award. And as my blogging buddies know, Lai's subject fits perfectly into my research for novel number two (draft tbc during November Nano). Because Inside Out and Back Again is the story of a Vietnamese girl who immigrates to Alabama after the war.

So, the first question we might ask is, why write any novel in verse? A reviewer for School Library Journal rightly points out that a novel dealing with the immigrant experience might be uniquely suited for verse--because the narrator is somewhat estranged from both her native language and the new one she's supposed to be learning. The effect is "simultaneously intimate and isolating." I like that idea.

But I'm a snob.

I suppose my hesitation about novels in verse is because, well, I'm kind of a snob? I don't believe "verse" is just lines of narrative broken up into short lengths, like you might crack spaghetti to fit it into a smaller pot.

Name Your Research

Broadcasting "Number 10" in the field.

How much research are you doing for your current WIP? What form does it take? A quick Wikipedia search, or are you painstakingly requesting books through inter-library loan? What's the relationship between research and inspiration? Or does your "research" mostly come from your own brain?

I love internet research because it gets so random. I'll Google "Vietnamese folk tales" and end up on a site where a vet is talking about how he saw his Marine commander get jumped and mauled by a tiger (true story!). Or I'll stumble across something really haunting, like this video describing the "Wandering Soul" psychological warfare Americans used in Vietnam (also called "Number 10) -- ghostly howls and dialogue from beyond the grave