Of Poetry and Prose
1) The wind blew through the valley, causing the flowers to sway and then come to a halt. Grass rose for a second before bending back down.
The sentences above are to the point.
The sentences below are the same thing, but in a better-for-my-personal-philosophy style. The simple action of a breeze in a valley comes to life in the prose.
2) An army of flowers marched in the breeze, not breaking rank as the wind commanded them in her silence, easing into a salute as she passed through the valley once again.
The grass, long bowing in unwavering respect before her arrival, rose to behold her in her enveloping presence before lowering its deferent gaze.
The plants of the valley again smelled the sweet fragrance of a sylphic presence in the distance, longing to chase her as she breathed her life into those who grew beneath her.
Both of these examples show two different philosophies on writing a story.
I lean toward the lyrical side of prose composition. I just don’t want to be a pulpy author when writing stories. That’s not to say pulp is negative. My personal philosophy betrays that simple and window-pane quality.
Pulp writing is like Indiana Jones movies. They’re fun, but they’re not trying to answer existential questions about humanity or the metaphysical layers of reality.
Lyrical prose writing is like a Shakespearean sonnet, with metered intention sometimes, but enveloping the reader in the emotion presented to truly bear the weight of each consecutive line.
I’m not saying that all lines will be like this. “Daisy crossed the room.” That works fine.
A lyrical style might contrast her movement with something in the room, or with the muted whispers of the rest of the guests.
There is no wrong answer here.
Wanting to write quality works that make someone think and also sound beautiful is why I take forever to write my stories. This leads to some delays, which is why, mostly, I’ve taken a non-solid release date approach to my work.
My next two novels have dates because they will be ready in such an amount of time and I don’t think I’ll need to delay them anymore. Otherwise, I’m a fan of the shadow drop.
Authors like Sarra Cannon have also taken this approach.
I could just release a book to hit a date and rush things, but then why sacrifice the quality and metaphysical underpinnings of reality for, “Jack looked the other way.”
Maybe Jack did look the other way. But what if he looked that way because an ethereal set of hands from realities beyond comprehension were entering his hotel room?
Again, I don’t think this approach or that approach is superior. My point is that my personal style fits the latter example much more than the former.
Happy writing!
