Writing Poetry To Improve Your Prose

In yesterday's poetry workshop that I instruct, Margaret said that one of the benefits of writing poetry was how it influenced her prose (Margaret is a short story writer and novelist).

How true.

Listening to, reading and writing poetry taps into a different subset of the creative brain. Poets, for example, often play with rhythm and alliteration, juicy words and sound echoes. When you play with poetry, building little glimpses of life in the word sandbox, you will find that some of the creative elements translate well into your prose, turning boring material into stories that pop.

Are you struggling with making your prose more interesting? Take a few minutes from your day and compose a purple prose poem and then have a look at your work in progress.