Poetry for Prose Writers
Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.
A grab bag of thoughts on poetry for National Poetry Month.
Several years ago, while plodding through a revision of my novel (revisions require the writer’s equivalent of heavy-duty hiking boots), I got bored by my writing. It was too literal, too realistic, too earnest, and too flat.
Most writers are all too familiar with this feeling after a red-eyed reading of a draft. I needed a way to literally jar my narrative sensibility. I needed Thelonious Monk, Jackson Pollock, Merce Cunningham, Sonic Youth, something.
Around this time, I read a quote by Emily Dickinson that remains among my favorite writing advice:
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
I started reading poetry avidly and discovered that by focusing on the exquisite “slant” poetry offers, the “truth” I was trying to capture became more piquant, surprising, nuanced, playful, and meaningful to me.
So, in honor of National Poetry Month, here are my 10 reasons prose writers should read — and hopefully write — poetry.
Mood: Many poems are almost incantations or prayers in the way they use techniques such as repetition and alliteration to establish an atmosphere. Of the fiction writers who best use such…
