Let’s get one thing straight: I’m a prose writer.
I like love sentences. I’m all about story, narrative arc, character development, emotional truth.
But the poets. Oh, the poets! They do astounding things with words and images. And I’m pretty convinced that the poets write better sentences. Something about the compression of language, the playfulness of their genre adds up to lovelier prose when they tackle it. Take Dana Salvador. Take Cari Luna. Yeah, they started as poets. And their prose rocks.
Since I have a personal policy about envy, I decided to spend the summer exploring poetry. I created a syllabus, and while I haven’t made it through the entire syllabus, I have learned some things:
- I like assignments. I’m an industrious student and will do what I’m told with the expectation that I will learn from the assignment.
- Sometimes I resist assignments, and it’s a good thing to sit with resistance. It can mean that I am not willing to do what is difficult or it can mean I have a better idea. The former requires a little self-care (my poetry subject is about being childless. Writing about it is sometimes hard for me, but I’m compelled to the subject.), the latter requires exuberant rebellion.
- Willingness to suck can lead to surprisingly good results.
- Balancing reading about writing poetry with writing poetry is working for me. I have learned a lot and been able to apply what I’m learning immediately.
- I like practice better than theory.
- Playfulness matters.
I’ll continue to play with poetry, keeping an emphasis on play. Exploration is about living in a state of what if? There’s no place I’d rather be.
This post is part of the Exploration Party – a celebration of our inner explorers, led by Tara Swiger of Explore You. You can find other tales of adventure from artists, crafters, writers and biz smarties – and share your own story – right here.
I LOVE that you created a syllabus for your own exploration! I think that’s what I need for poetry (otherwise it’s kinda…hard to crack?)
Thanks for partying with me!
Tara, this was one of the most fun posts I’ve written in a long time! Poetry is hard to crack! Having assignments has really helped me to keep at it.
I love the idea of writing a course for yourself. For those of us that teach anyway, it is a way to see how much meat there is and whether it is enough to share and how it changes from the moment you start through your working the assignments.
You are really smart and I’m learning a lot from you.
I’m really impressed that you created a syllabus for yourself to learn poetry. What a wonderful idea. And, I love how you love sentences!
Yesterday I went to a writing group where there was a critique of someone’s poetry. I felt so out of the loop trying to remember the difference between feet and meter. Poetry feels like it’s written in a totally different language than prose!
This is so fun! I love learning. I never considered actually creating a full-on syllabus, but I do give myself new topics to research and learn about regularly. 🙂 Love that you said “Willingness to suck can lead to surprisingly good results.” So true. Thanks for sharing!
xx Kate
A syllabus is such a wonderful idea. One I would not have thought about, not being a teacher. Love your thought, “playfulness matters.” Very important indeed!