Customer Reviews

What Can I Say?: How to Write Verse for All Occasions

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I struggle with what to say on greeting cards. I always seem to say the same thing over and over. I was looking for a book that could help me...THIS IS NOT THE BOOK! It is filled with corny poems and strange saying that I would be embarassed to put on a card. I have had this book for 4 months now and have not used a single suggestion from it to-date.

In thinking of what to write for this review, I come only to positive conclusions. This book is, in essence, a how-to book. It is a smooth and easy-to-read manual to guide its readers towards their own feelings and how they might go about writing those feelings down in a smart, heartfelt and interesting way for their friends and family. It is NOT, however, a book for the lazy to pilfer words, phrases and full poems for their own personal use. I suggest a re-reading of the copyright laws before anyone begins to complain about their inabilty to lift direct quotes from a book and claim them as their own.

The primary purpose of this book is to teach, because whether we have penned our own books, are young and budding writers, or the dunce who simply cannot rhyme a poem to save her life, we are all plagued by those pesky, silly and (we often think) unnecessary greeting cards: painfully cute images on the outside, painfully blank pages on the inside. Some would even call greeting cards the bane of their existence.

I often find my greeting cards come out sounding short, forced and unoriginal. Here in her book "What Can I Say", Sadie Harris has given us insight into her own creative though process in an effort to improve the everyday writing of the not-so-whimsically-gifted. As a young woman with the hope of becoming a successful writer herself (and be not mistaken, Ms. Harris is most certainly a successful and incredibly talented writer) I have always found that to become better myself, I must study and appreciate the work of those who have skillfully managed to do what I have not. To learn from others and put their techniques into practice FOR YOURSELF and in your own words is what the craft is all about. We must remember that this does not fall away simply because the words are being put into a blank card and not a best-selling novel.

Now, this book claims to offer us "Greetings and Verse for Every Ocassion" and you, as a possible buyer might be wondering just how well it delivers on that promise. In my opinion, "What Can I Say?" does a stellar job by not only showing its readers specific examples of poetry and prose for many, many occassions, but by also inclduing tidbits of background and information on these particular events, by explaining how one might go about writing an Easter greeting of their own, and lastly by giving its readers little-known secrets about how to make a good piece into a great one (ex. changing your word order or youe ending to add a new meaning to your message). Though it would be impossible to contain every single occassion in one book, Ms Harris touches on the most well-known and highy celebrated events (Christmas and Birthdays, etc.) but also weaves in some days you may never have thought to send a greeting card for (Retirement, etc.) By using this book with suggestions for these occassions, you can gain the skill to pen a successful greeting card for anything, be it your daughter's Bat Mitzvah (included in the book) or Uncle Larry's up-and-coming bypass operation (sadly, not included).

To end I reiterate that this book is unique, inspiring and a wonderful catalyst to use as a springboard towards cultivating your own creativity. Pick up a copy today if you, like the rest of us, have trouble writing a meaningful four-line note to Aunt Sally as a thank-you for that awful "modern art" she sent you for your 30th birthday. If you really read this book and heed its advice, you will no longer find yourself asking the question, "What Can I Say?"