Prose Writing and Poetic Sensitivity...

[KTC]

I don't know how to begin this discussion, so I will just throw it out there. How important is your poetic sensitivity to your novel writing? Do you think it's an important element? Do you think it only comes into play with such things as literary fiction, or do you think it would benefit all genres? When writing novels, do you try to work the poetry of words into your writing? Or is it something that either comes naturally or doesn't come at all? What are your thoughts on poetic sensitivity and its relation to novel writing?

Discuss...

[maestrowork]

I don't think it's limited to literary fiction, but I do think it depends on the story/voice/style/genre. Basically, it comes down to the right words for the right story. Certainly, it's an artistic choice. No one says you can't have lyrical/poetic writing for a story about New York gangs. Much of it, I think, has to do with "voice." Who is your narrator, what story is he telling, and who are his audience? To me, poetic language doesn't work if the voice is wrong, if there is a disconnect between characters and readers.

[Madison]

In my creative writing class, I fought against writing poetry. A waste, I thought! Let's get to fiction! But I've come to change my mind: I think poetry is actually an important base for prose, especially form poetry in which it is necessary to limit words to the few most meaningful. So to learn brevity, form poetry is intrinsic.
And poetic words? I think poetic descriptions can and should pop up in most every novel. Who wants to hear that the house was plain brown or her hair was plain gold or the sunset was plain pink? Poetic descriptions create lively pictures, vivid ones that make scenes come alive. Poetic prose is beautiful - and often very sellable :)

[KTC]

In my creative writing class, I fought against writing poetry. A waste, I thought! Let's get to fiction! But I've come to change my mind: I think poetry is actually an important base for prose, especially form poetry in which it is necessary to limit words to the few most meaningful. So to learn brevity, form poetry is intrinsic.
And poetic words? I think poetic descriptions can and should pop up in most every novel. Who wants to hear that the house was plain brown or her hair was plain gold or the sunset was plain pink? Poetic descriptions create lively pictures, vivid ones that make scenes come alive. Poetic prose is beautiful - and often very sellable :)

Both of you make some great points. Madison, I'm glad you changed your mind about poetry. For me, every single time I sit down to write fiction...I open a new Word screen and write a poem or two first. I feel it helps to drop me down into my fictional writing. I don't always save the word file...because the end result I am looking for is not a poem, but a more calisthenic mindset for my fiction writing...

[KTC]

I don't think it's limited to literary fiction, but I do think it depends on the story/voice/style/genre. Basically, it comes down to the right words for the right story. Certainly, it's an artistic choice. No one says you can't have lyrical/poetic writing for a story about New York gangs. Much of it, I think, has to do with "voice." Who is your narrator, what story is he telling, and who are his audience? To me, poetic language doesn't work if the voice is wrong, if there is a disconnect between characters and readers.

And yes...voice does have a lot to do with it, I suppose. It has to be right to work...like everything else in writing.

[otterman]

The right words in the right order. This is paramount to me. My WIP is a fantasy and I find my editing is always focused on the (poetic) flow of my writing. I've found that the chapters I like best (when I revisit them long after they were originally written) are those that I would characterize as being the most poetic.

[Danger Jane]

I always keep poetic flow in mind when I write. It is a major part of my voice, and no matter what style I'm writing in, or what form or media, it's always in the back of my head. (I tend to disregard it for essays :tongue who CARES when you know the teacher won't notice that your one sentence doesn't flow right).

[Teige Benson]

I have a healthy respect for people who can write poetic prose. It's amazing to read.

However, I am one of those people who would butcher it to death if I tried to write that way. I am sensitive to the flow of my sentences, etc. But poetic in my words or stringing of words...forget it.

[III]

If my own opinion of my own work can be trusted, poetic imagery and flowing prose are directly indicative of how much I've lost my self-awareness in a scene. I read back through my work and find passages that read as stiffly as a newspaper report and I recall how forced those passages were. But then I'll find passages that literally make me weep, because I completely lost myself in the writing and something more beautiful than my ideas got captured in the amber.

For me, it reinforces the idea of the importance of practice. As with guitar - I used to have to play for hours to reach a "zenlike state" where I could create art, but now I can pick up a guitar and play improvised solos straight from the heart. With writing, I really need to be isolated and focused and work to lose myself in the writing. I know it will take much more practice before the art comes unabated.

ETA: Great topic, KTC.

[RG570]

I have the urge to every so often but I end up cutting it. It's just been hammered into me what is expected of commercial fiction and I can't bring myself to send out self-indulgent prose.

[KTC]

poetic imagery and flowing prose are directly indicative of how much I've lost my self-awareness in a scene. I read back through my work and find passages that read as stiffly as a newspaper report and I recall how forced those passages were. But then I'll find passages that literally make me weep, because I completely lost myself in the writing and something more beautiful than my ideas got captured in the amber.

I think you hit the nail on the head, III. It feels like that for me too...when I completely lose myself the flow takes care of itself...becomes more poetic. Nice call!

[nevada]

I don't think poetic prose needs to be self indulgent and i do think it has a place in commercial fiction. Remember, poetry isn't just Shakespeare and William Blake. It's Carlos Williams Carlos, it's Leonard Cohen, it's Alan Ginsberg. None of them self-indulgent, pretty words.

"With Annie gone, whose eyes to compare to the sun?
Not that I did, but I would now that she is gone."

Leonard Cohen. That one always stuck in my head. only poem i can quote. Not pretty, not "poetic" but poetry none the less. In two lines, so much is implied. Surely that is applicable to commercial fiction as well.

Edited to add, KTC has the correct version. lol my memory sucks big time, looks like. :)

[KTC]

With Annie gone,
whose eyes to compare
with the morning sun?

Not that I did compare,
But I do compare
Now that she's gone.


Yes...I agree, it is just a clear statement spoken as if comparisons are not his bent...but this once, yes...with loss he will do it. A wonderful poem...simple words. I felt that it was laid within the book it was in as a juxtaposition to its neighbours. Cohen's a poetic genius and knows when to tone down the music.

[maestrowork]

I think you hit the nail on the head, III. It feels like that for me too...when I completely lose myself the flow takes care of itself...becomes more poetic. Nice call!

Yup... that's why I can't really just force myself to sit down and write 1000 words when I feel like I'm creatively empty. What comes out is usually dry and report-like: "he did this, and then he did that." It's worse to have to go back and "fix" them later because the flow has already been broken. When I completely lose myself and let the flow take care of itself, I feel free and loose and my readers feel that, too.

[Danger Jane]

Yup... that's why I can't really just force myself to sit down and write 1000 words when I feel like I'm creatively empty. What comes out is usually dry and report-like: "he did this, and then he did that." It's worse to have to go back and "fix" them later because the flow has already been broken. When I completely lose myself and let the flow take care of itself, I feel free and loose and my readers feel that, too.

It's the same for me. BIC is like....extremely important, but it just does not work when I can't feel it. That's when I end up with three or four pages of crap prose that I can't do anything with, and I just end up rewriting it a day or two later when I feel just a little more into it. Not like I'd "wait out" a weeks-long writer's block, but I can tell when I'm about to spew crap and when I'm just stalling.