What I Learned by… Writing Poetry

What lots of people don’t realize is that poetry isn’t as simple as rhymes and meters. Real, good poetry demonstrates an absolute command of language and words, knowing how to use the sounds of the words themselves to communicate what you are saying, as well as the rhythm and syllables. It’s hard to write a truly good poem, even a haiku. I’ve been going through another phase of poetry lately–reading it, writing it, and even submitting it to several publications. In this process, I can’t help looking at the similarities and differences it has with writing novels, and looking for ways it might possibly affect my prose writing style.

There were several things that I found worth noting down.

I’ve read prose that was far too poetic before. Once I tried to read a short story that was written by an English professor, of all people, and I gagged a few lines into it because of how metered it felt and how the words flowed exactly like poetry. There’s a big difference between prose and poetry and between what makes either any good! But sometimes changing the form you’re writing in can really help your novel.

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