12 Simple Types of Poetry That Will Make You A Better Writer Even if You Hate Poetry
Word rhythm and how even the simplest poetry can make you a better writer.
Last week, I wrote about a New York Literary agent who rejects books based on the first 5 pages. He says 5 pages is all it takes to recognize bad writing. It wasn’t just his thoughts on bad writing that fascinated me, but also the thoughts on good writing.
For example — he says people who write poetry often make the best writers.
It’s not so much the poetry. It’s the way writing poetry makes us think.
Or more — that it’s hard to be a lazy writer when you’re writing poetry.
Most of us are lazy writers…
We get an idea and then vomit out a bunch of words and call it a first draft. Which is fine. That’s what a first draft should be. A brain dump.
Basically, we need to put everything on the page so we can work with it. Because you can’t “build” an essay with stuff that’s not even on the page.
I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so later I can build castles. — Shannon…
