Poetry aiding prose

I am not a poet by any stretch, but I do find my writing poetry helps with my prose. Some even describe my writing as lyrical/poetic. Go figure.

Poetry

I think reading the great poets is one of the smartest things any fiction writer can do. Trying to write it doesn't hurt, either.

You may want to nip over into the poetry section just to see what those guys have to say, but for what it's worth...
I have always had trouble being 'wordy,' even at uni I was always getting into trouble because I would be given a 2000 word assignment and completed it in 1000. My tutors would complain, I would point out that I had answered the question - but academia likes 'wordy'

With poetry, I can say what I want to say, actually get more into it and see a completed work - and it is better than my prose stories.

But I certainly don't know the in's and out's of poetry but like I said, the guys over on that forum will certainly give you some input.

I think reading and writing poetry definitely influences your prose. Whether it improves it is up to you. Some writers (and I admit I've been guilty of this) take their prose too far to the poetic side and forget about those pesky things like plots, beginnings, middles, and endings.

I love lyrical prose, though, and at one point in my education thought I'd be a poet rather than a fiction writer, so I'm in favor of cross-pollination.

Dollywagon said:

academia likes 'wordy'

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Oh so true. Wordiness serves them. The more impenetrable the prose, the more important and intelligent they can tell themselves they are. The very fact that their discourse is soooo far above the masses is proof positive of their superiority. Besides, "speaking the language" keeps out the riff-raff. A secret handshake would be too obvious.

I'm in awe of skilled and talented poets. The economy of language is a thing of beauty. Unable to duplicate such a feat, academics write volumes on a single Tennyson stanza, explaining it to the likes of you...you!....you philistine who dared answer your assignment in half the allotted words.

The mentality has overtaken corporate culture too. Developing metrics to quantify the interface and synthesis of internal communications deliverables designed to leverage synergies in a matrix-driven environment so as to maximize the utilization of core competencies is oh so much more clubby and self-important than simply figuring out why no one's submitting anything to their newsletter.

And don't get me started on the lawyers and government bureaucrats. Most would self-combust if forced to take a poetry class.

Tkibler said:

I wonder if this is no accident, that even if I never become a good poet, that the practicing of poetry helps in the writing of the more proesy stuff.

Just wondering...

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Sure, I definitely say writing poetry helps prose. It stimulates you to think in a more 'colorful' way, so when you kick out the meter (and possibly rhyme) and write in prose again, it's not boring at all, which is a very common danger when writing in prose, as you know. It's definitely not a coincidence that your practice of poetry is helping your prose.

Ah, yes, KCH. I remember it so well:
"It's not long enough"
"What points haven't I covered?"
"Well, er, none"
"So what's your problem"
"Well ... well ... academia likes wordy"

The dissertation was positively painful for me. I've even read through it recently and my only thought was "I could have done it in 6k and it would have been really good." Waffly drivel.

I was just thinking about what Eliflauta said. I wonder if I went back to writing prose it may be better than before?
With poetry, I have to search for words. Not only to get my point across but also to meet the rhyme and meter. I think this tends to give me a wider viewpoint in the context of the 'story.' It stimulates the characters and scenarios. On the whole, the end result is simply more interesting.

I now have to ask myself just how much that learning experience would benefit my quality of writing.
Guess I'll have to try writing something to find out