Can writing poetry help your prose? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T00:56:58Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/can-writing-poetry-help-your?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A229808&feed=yes&xn_auth=noFascinating responses continu…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-16:537324:Comment:2300152010-03-16T16:08:03.244ZJulie Lomoehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/julielomoe
Fascinating responses continue to trickle in. I agree with those who say each form of writing feeds the other.<br />
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Some poets in Albany NY put on an annual WordFest. I just signed up for myself and my husband. Each poet or reader gets a 15- minute segment, and it runs from Friday night, April 16, 7pm until 7am the next morning. I'm signed up for 10:30pm. Having a time slot that long at a well-attended and festive event is a great motivator for writing more poetry! If anyone's intrested, I can send…
Fascinating responses continue to trickle in. I agree with those who say each form of writing feeds the other.<br />
<br />
Some poets in Albany NY put on an annual WordFest. I just signed up for myself and my husband. Each poet or reader gets a 15- minute segment, and it runs from Friday night, April 16, 7pm until 7am the next morning. I'm signed up for 10:30pm. Having a time slot that long at a well-attended and festive event is a great motivator for writing more poetry! If anyone's intrested, I can send you the link. Anyone in any genre can sign up.<br />
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PS - I'm just about to hit 50,000 visits on my blog, and I'm giving away one of my books to whoever leaves a comment first after I hit 50K. If you go over there in the next couple of hours, you might just luck out!<br />
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<a href="http://julielomoe.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso</a> Mystery fiction (namely Rober…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-14:537324:Comment:2299112010-03-14T18:55:05.786ZGerald Sohttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/gerald986
Mystery fiction (namely Robert B. Parker's Spenser) cemented my interest in poetry. I've written poetry and fiction as well as nonfiction articles since 2003, and for me, each feeds the others. I find each requires a different mindset, and shifting from one to another keeps me from getting stuck in ruts where I do no writing at all. I prefer writing anything to not writing.<br />
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Since 2008, I've co-edited <i>The Lineup</i>, an annual anthology of crime poetry. You can learn more about it…
Mystery fiction (namely Robert B. Parker's Spenser) cemented my interest in poetry. I've written poetry and fiction as well as nonfiction articles since 2003, and for me, each feeds the others. I find each requires a different mindset, and shifting from one to another keeps me from getting stuck in ruts where I do no writing at all. I prefer writing anything to not writing.<br />
<br />
Since 2008, I've co-edited <i>The Lineup</i>, an annual anthology of crime poetry. You can learn more about it <a href="http://poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Our next submission period is May 1 - July 31, 2010. Hardy was a fantastic poet. D…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-14:537324:Comment:2299082010-03-14T17:15:14.455Zdoug andersonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/douganderson
Hardy was a fantastic poet. Didn't hurt his prose to be one.
Hardy was a fantastic poet. Didn't hurt his prose to be one. I actually do think that the…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-14:537324:Comment:2299072010-03-14T16:24:12.776ZJon Loomishttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
I actually do think that the quality of the prose can make a difference out there, and that to the extent that I write decent prose (arguable, I know) it's helped to make up for some of my deficiencies as a crime novelist. When I get the plot thing down, watch out!
I actually do think that the quality of the prose can make a difference out there, and that to the extent that I write decent prose (arguable, I know) it's helped to make up for some of my deficiencies as a crime novelist. When I get the plot thing down, watch out! I've published two full lengt…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-14:537324:Comment:2299022010-03-14T16:04:49.741Zdoug andersonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/douganderson
I've published two full length books and two chapbooks. Poetry helps all writing. It teaches compression and discipline, acuteness of observation, emotional nuance, music in language, you name it. Sartre thought everybody should start with poetry. I still write and publish poetry and I believe it has helped me with all the above as I apply it to crime fiction.
I've published two full length books and two chapbooks. Poetry helps all writing. It teaches compression and discipline, acuteness of observation, emotional nuance, music in language, you name it. Sartre thought everybody should start with poetry. I still write and publish poetry and I believe it has helped me with all the above as I apply it to crime fiction. My attempts at poetry were so…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-14:537324:Comment:2298922010-03-14T03:26:23.551ZD.R. MacMasterhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DuncanRMacMaster
My attempts at poetry were so bad, it made me decide that prose was the way for me. It also gave me a test, if a piece of my fiction starts to read like some of my poetry, REWRITE!<br />
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Though I must admit that I am a whiz with the occasional dirty limerick. ;)
My attempts at poetry were so bad, it made me decide that prose was the way for me. It also gave me a test, if a piece of my fiction starts to read like some of my poetry, REWRITE!<br />
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Though I must admit that I am a whiz with the occasional dirty limerick. ;) Yes the free jazz reference b…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-13:537324:Comment:2298462010-03-13T13:55:27.995ZJulie Lomoehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/julielomoe
Yes the free jazz reference brought Miles to mind. Also Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and many others. Have to brag - I met Miles several times and he was actually nice to me. This was when I was a teenager visiting jazz clubs with my mother in the late 1950's. Miles actually once asked when I would get my braces off - I was hoping this meant he lusted after me, but he was interested in the technical aspects because his father was a dentist. I wrote a poem about this!…
Yes the free jazz reference brought Miles to mind. Also Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and many others. Have to brag - I met Miles several times and he was actually nice to me. This was when I was a teenager visiting jazz clubs with my mother in the late 1950's. Miles actually once asked when I would get my braces off - I was hoping this meant he lusted after me, but he was interested in the technical aspects because his father was a dentist. I wrote a poem about this!<br />
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<a href="http://julielomoe.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso</a> I wrote copious amounts of po…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-12:537324:Comment:2298102010-03-12T22:53:28.574ZminervaKhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/minervakoenig
I wrote copious amounts of poetry in my teens and twenties, and now I can't stand the stuff, my own or anyone else's. I'm not sure why -- I think that I may have turned into a story addict. I know that some poems have story lines, but not in the same way that novels do (novels I like, anyway). As to whether or not my poetry-writing years helped my prose writing, I think they did, but I can't prove it.<br />
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MK<br />
<a href="http://www.minervakoenig.com" target="_blank">www.minervakoenig.com</a>
I wrote copious amounts of poetry in my teens and twenties, and now I can't stand the stuff, my own or anyone else's. I'm not sure why -- I think that I may have turned into a story addict. I know that some poems have story lines, but not in the same way that novels do (novels I like, anyway). As to whether or not my poetry-writing years helped my prose writing, I think they did, but I can't prove it.<br />
<br />
MK<br />
<a href="http://www.minervakoenig.com" target="_blank">www.minervakoenig.com</a> Julie actually I completely b…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-12:537324:Comment:2298082010-03-12T22:52:21.076ZLee Lamothehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LeeLamothe
Julie actually I completely booted the subject in my answer. I thought -- late night wine vapors -- it was asked if anyone <i>read</i> poetry for inspiration, not wrote it. In the event, yes there are musical references and influence in my writing. Butterfield and Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen in the night, old Sixties-to-Eighties in the daytime. Regarding Free Form Jazz: finished, sold, and will be released in July by Dundurn. Free Form Jazz has little to do with music -- I was referring to an…
Julie actually I completely booted the subject in my answer. I thought -- late night wine vapors -- it was asked if anyone <i>read</i> poetry for inspiration, not wrote it. In the event, yes there are musical references and influence in my writing. Butterfield and Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen in the night, old Sixties-to-Eighties in the daytime. Regarding Free Form Jazz: finished, sold, and will be released in July by Dundurn. Free Form Jazz has little to do with music -- I was referring to an unplanned, unrehearsed interview style used by cops Ray Tate and Djuna Brown, the protagonists in the series. Ray Tate refers to Djuna Brown's loose technique as akin to Miles Davis on the Bitch's Brew album -- you fly off out there and somehow bring it all back home. Back to the point -- or my confused interpretation of it: someone once told me she write her stories -- long short stories in her case -- by making each sentence a separate line. She read them to herself as though they were lines of poetry. This helped her find weaknesses in her writing and detect false notes. I tried it and it didn't work for me, but ... Great responses, everyone. Lo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-12:537324:Comment:2298012010-03-12T21:13:00.132ZJulie Lomoehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/julielomoe
Great responses, everyone. Lots to think about here. Abraham Lincoln's example is an excellent one - I hadn't known he wrote poetry, but his speeches are certainly poetic.<br />
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<a href="http://j" target="_blank">Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso</a>
Great responses, everyone. Lots to think about here. Abraham Lincoln's example is an excellent one - I hadn't known he wrote poetry, but his speeches are certainly poetic.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://j" target="_blank">Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso</a>