Tag Archives: get started

In the selection of quickstart ideas on this site, number five suggests writing a prose poem.  This is a great form for those of you who have written stories and who want to try poetry, or those of you who’ve written poetry and who want to try something new.  I wanted to use today’s post to explain prose poetry a little more…

Simply put, a prose poem is a poem that doesn’t have line breaks. It reads like prose on the page, but like poetry in the language used – think about rhythm, sound, internal rhyme, and imagery, just like you would if you were writing a poem.

1. There are no rules of form or rhyme.
2. Think about an image that makes you want to write.  Why does it?
3. Keep in mind, you’re writing the poem in sentences and fragments of sentences but you don’t have to think about punctuation.
4. As you write, use language that is poetic – can you find internal rhymes or rhythms to make the words sing? 

When you’ve finished the prose poem read it outloud to yourself.  Have you brought an image and an emotional truth together?  Do you need to do this, do you think?  Does the prose poem work for some reason that is hard to explain but you just know it does?  If so, then you’ve done it, you’ve written a prose poem.

If I’ve got ten minutes, I chose a word from the dictionary and use it as a title for a prose poem.  I try to let the words flow freely, I try not to get in the way of what I’m writing.  I use the word and see if it brings an image to mind that I can capture on the page.  Ten minutes isn’t enough to write a finished or polished piece, but it gives me a little writing time in an otherwise busy day.

Today, I’m packing to head on a four month trip.  I look forward to writing lots, to taking some photos that’ll inspire you to write and to meeting readers and writers on the road.  First stop, Toronto.  Maybe I’ll have time to write a rough prose poem on the plane… now there’s an idea…