Prose - do we need it?

[cidermaid]

There has been quite a few references over the time I have been with this forum, from both newbie’s and existing hogs, who either started off writing prose and then wandered into poetry, or others who actively choose to write both. (I fall into the first category).
My experience has been that when I write prose I can fully explore an idea and fill in as many details as I like, and I suppose I view it more like a form of padded out free verse. (Which in “poetic” form I normally struggle with). I find that if I stay too long in poetry mode, my writing, in my desire to concentrate and distil my thoughts down to the finest point of effectiveness, can either become one dimensional and wooden or it goes to the other extreme and becomes overly obtuse (and thus un-accessible to many).
I’m just wandering if anyone else has thoughts on the need and interplay between the two creative processes. Is prose needful as a skill, to be honed and used in the quest to enhance the effectiveness of our poetry…and visa versa concerning prose. Or, is this just something that will remain peculiar to individual writers and the ability to write prose has no definable relevance one way or the other?
…and whilst we are on the subject (I know it was discussed at length not that long ago on these boards) I loved TOMH submission arbil gave appreciation for beautiful poetry…I thought it was beautiful prose…sometimes it is very difficult to say where one stops and the other starts. (Should we have a board specifically for pieces of prose?...at the moment we are free to post this type of work in the misc board)

[billy]

i think any kind of writing helps the poet and the non poetical writer. prose can teach grammar, narrative, 1st person, 2nd and third person. i think the line between both sketchy at best. i started writing a book and stopped for a while at chapter 14. no matter how i try, i can't back into it. i find it easier to get back into poetry. most of my free time is taken up with the forum so i don't actually get chance to write any prose or much poetry any more. but for those who can write prose it has to be a help more than a hindrance.

on the board subject. there are many genre we could have boards for but already the list is long, it's why we have miscellaneous. one of the reasons is the feedback. from experience feedback on prose is ultra minimal and prose doesn't receive the attention it would on a writers forum that deals mainly with prose. we have the same problem with rhyme and free verse. while we could have two boards it would just add to the boards we already have.

[serge gurkski]

thought about that a lot. My stance on it: prose is centered on a narrative (a plot) and (style-wise) is finest (and hardest) when as simple as possible for the writer and for the reader, but poetry is distilling (shortcutting) an emotion about a situation that in turn could be translated into prose. My goals are different ones but I find this a very important question.
cheers serge

[rowens]

I want to focus more on prose now, and get away from poetry (that may come as a relief for some).

I think everything is mere poetry, not real or good poetry. There's chaos, and there's natural order, and there's social order; then there's good poetry, made by poets. Though good poets can be sinister.

You can do many things with prose, as you can with writing poems. It's just language. And different people experience language in various ways. The same with forms; and poems, and prose. The same with nature, chaos, and society.

But I have my needs. So I do it the way I need. That's what you can do. And you stand or fall, it works or it doesn't. Needs stand and fall too; and things change. You might get better.

I think a lot of problems people have these days is with being too intelligent on certain levels. They know too much about what not to do, and the things that you are to do make you feel like you're making mere copies of things. Sometimes you just need to be naughty. And write what you need to write.

[cidermaid]

on the board subject. there are many genre we could have boards for but already the list is long, it's why we have miscellaneous. one of the reasons is the feedback. from experience feedback on prose is ultra minimal and prose doesn't receive the attention it would on a writers forum that deals mainly with prose. we have the same problem with rhyme and free verse. while we could have two boards it would just add to the boards we already have.

Apologies if it sounded like a crit of the site...was not meant to be a direct question or opinion about the site as such...but i can see that it reads that way. I agree with what you have said about the forum as a whole and that it would be cluttered if we had much more going on.

[Keith]

I get very confused by what is and what is not Prose, to me its just a style of writting that alows me to be more descriptive, If I have a topic that has me hooked, I will always try to write a poem first, if I'm struggling with it I switch to Prose, I have a few prose and most are poorly constructed, over wordy and I let poetry creep in, just cant help it. I need prose to get the good ideas down on paper when the poets words fail me. I enjoy the fact that this site has Misc so I can drop off the odd prose once in a while without fear of heavy feedback, but workshopped poems are my true colours, the PP seems to be moving very fast these days, and that is great, so many poems, so little time. This is good question and my simple answer would be, yes

I'm not sure Ive answered anything here, poorly constructed and over wordy I think I've found my epitaph TOMH

[Leanne]

As TOMH suggests, sometimes prose is the best vessel for what you have to say -- whether it's narrative, reflective, essay style, whatever. Just as with poetry, there is an art to writing good prose. It need not exclude poetry. The best prose always includes poetic elements of some kind, whether sonic devices (alliteration, assonance etc) or figurative (metaphor, simile etc). Many people who've started in prose and then switch to poetry begin with the idea that poetry is just abbreviated prose, but experience soon tells us that though there are common elements, they are quite different beasts.

As for prose on these boards, it's always welcome but I think it's fair to say that a good, thorough critique takes a lot of time even on a short poem, so the extra time to critically read prose might not always be available. That's why I prefer it in miscellaneous rather than a critique forum -- that way, if you've got time to do a close reading and in-depth comment, you can but there's no pressure.

[billy]

Apologies if it sounded like a crit of the site...was not meant to be a direct question or opinion about the site as such...but i can see that it reads that way. I agree with what you have said about the forum as a whole and that it would be cluttered if we had much more going on.

I took it as a genuine question and not a crit of the site AJ

and it's okay to crit the site as well. in fact we encourage it, always, always ask questions or put ideas forward.