Someone had to start the discussion in this new community, so I figured I’d give it a shot!
I discovered that I have a knack for script writing, so I usually stick to prose and focus on driving the action through my characters’ dialogue. I need to work more on describing scenes in a way that isn’t rooted in stage directions.
I can appreciate good poetry, but am generally not a fan of “free verse”. I prefer the challenge of writing something with a meter, or has a rhyme scheme. Re-writing song lyrics is a fun way to play with that, but maybe I listened to too much Weird Al growing up.
So, if you had to pick a side… poetry or prose?
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I read 4:48 psychosis as a teenager and I think it fucked up the way I write forever 🤣 it’s a play but it’s written in a dreamy sort of poetic format. Whenever I write anything, Sarah Kane’s ghost possesses me to leave gaps all over the page. I should probably try to unlearn it, but then again I’m the only one who reads what I write.
So I think I write in prose but it rarely has any narrative or argument. It’d more descriptive. But I haven’t much talent for rhyming or for following meters. Someone else here said that for them prose is work. I think I’m the opposite. I’d have to think very hard to create poetry.
I’m more of a free verse poet. Occasionally I delve into making haikus but I’m not very good at it.
Prose! I’m a novelist and short story author. I don’t consider myself a poet, but I did get a piece accepted in last year’s HWA Poetry Showcase, so that was unexpected but cool
I wouldn’t mind trying to get into writing poetry, but the few times I’ve looked into it, various communities seemed very gatekeepy so I haven’t really pressed too hard for it. In my fiction writing, I’m beyond horrible at description, and I think learning to use the more colorful language you find in poetry would be a big help to me.
I’ve always preferred free verse poetry. My prose is clunky and doesn’t have a very natural flow to it. My poetry doesn’t either, but I utilise that intentionally to write very viscerally to give the sensation of magical realism, after a fashion.
Prose, absolutely. I can appreciate flowerful verse and such, but that does not fit my style of story telling.
For me, poetry has the greater allure;
My prose is unsure and immature—
I’ve spent more time designing rhymes;
It used to be a hobby of mine!
Poetry is always what’s spoken to me, free verse in particular. Mostly what gets me going is symbolism and imagery, and using words in uncharacteristic, surprising ways.
I have a deep love of prose as a genre and what can be done with it, but when I write poetry just comes out of me and prose is work.
I prefer prose personally, but I’ll occasionally slip in some fancy stuff for a bit of razzle dazzle.
