Do you like to write short stories? Do you like me find it
more satisfying to tell your tale without the restraints and rules of poetry? If so, do you sometimes feel that your work is has landed on a tiny uninhabited island
lost in an ocean of poems? I do.
I get my inspiration from several different prompt sites,
and usually when I look through the posts linked to those sites I find that my
work is the only piece of prose, or at best one of just two or three.
And it gets worse because whilst a poem, no matter how good
or bad, always attracts a far larger readership if the numbers of comments
are anything to go by. As for me, I usually comment on every contribution even
I if haven’t a clue what the writer is going on about. (Go on, admit it - you do
it too!)
I often wonder why that should be. Whilst history has
provided us with many fine poets, they are vastly outnumbered by writers of stories
written in prose form. Look in your average high street book shop and compare
the different amounts of shelf space given to the two genres. Look over the shoulder
of somebody reading a book on the train or in the park. A book of poems or a
novel? And I often wonder what the vast army of poetry bloggers actually go to
sleep at night having read; a couple of sonnets or a chapter or two from a
gripping novel?
I’m not one for rules, particularly when I need express myself.
I don’t like having formulas or patterns to write to. No, I like to create
atmosphere by surprising the reader with sudden staccato bursts mixed with
gliding phrases all in one piece.
If you occasionally drop into my blog you will know that I
too sometimes put a poem together. In fact I have a poetry site which I call ‘No
Rhyme or Reason, the ramblings of a reluctant poet’. And whenever I post a poem
to a site instead of story, even if it’s dull as ditch water, it gets the
comments rolling in in far greater numbers than a short story would that I've
slaved over for hours.
Now, I know only too well that if I'd written this rant in verse it would have gained more attention, but that would only be hypocritical! After all, I’m flying the flag for prose! Join me in my crusade! Display
our little badge with pride! CAMP it up!
I have to say that I agree with you. Although I do love poetry, especially when a poem says exactly what I feel about something in words I could not find myself, I do love a good bit of prose which can be every bit as beautiful as a poem. When I write a blog post I try hard to give it meaning, sometimes more successfully than others. But I know when I have got it right because I get a little thrill when I hit publish and know it will be well received.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Elaine
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