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Anyone working on poetry?

Mectojic

Minstrel
I just wondered whether anyone in this forum, perhaps a lurker or otherwise, is not working on a fantasy novel, but a poem, or collection of poems, in fantasy style.

I would love to hear how you do it!
I hope I'm right in assuming Mythic Scribes does include poetry :) - and that people are around who are doing it.
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
I've written several poems, both fanfic and original, but I haven't really collected them. Most of them are on my deviantART profile, and one is also in my portfolio (in three parts, cuz it is long. XD).
 
I'm toying with the idea of including poetry in my story for the purposes of making lore a bit more interesting. Not something I'm devoting any time to currently though.
 
To be honest, although I've written many poems, I haven't written poems that would fall anywhere in the fantasy genre.

The idea of including poetry or songs in a fantasy novel is daunting for me, because I feel that they would need to be of very high caliber to warrant inclusion in a novel. They immediately draw attention to themselves within a novel. Also, as key displays of culture, they carry a heavy burden.

I suppose a simple children's song or a bawdy lyric for a tavern song would be less daunting and could be inserted casually–especially, if partially. (A line or two drifting down the road from a tavern, for instance.) I haven't made use of such, but I might someday.

As for fantasy-themed standalone poems...I've never felt the need or desire to write them, but I have read some that I quite enjoyed.
 

Pythagoras

Troubadour
I've actually toyed with the notion of writing my story in the form of a poem. I think it's a fantastic idea as far as exercising one's chops goes, and it's a rich tradition as old as storytelling itself, although I don't know that it would draw as many readers as a novel or story. But, being that this is a personal hobby for me, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I wouldn't hesitate to try either way.
 

Mectojic

Minstrel
It's brilliant. I mean, we all know the earliest fantasy of things like Homer were poems. It's a noble practice.

The thing I like most about it, apart from everything, is how concise one can make their ideas. It seems that if you're trying to create a message, or paint a picture, it can seem too stagnant and authorial when in narrative form. But a poem allows for reader interpretation, and ultimately paints a beautiful picture.

And I wasn't just talking about good ol' verse poetry. I also mean modernist stuff, like T.S Eliot. One need not continue to have an (almost) clichéd rhymy stanza structure.

I encourage it to all, except myself... despite my attempts, my poetry is not good enough. It's a noble art.
 

Gryphos

Auror
I write quite a bit of poetry. However, not much of it really relates to fantasy and most of it is just melodramatic rambling. I haven't tried putting any of it into my novels.
 

kennyc

Inkling
I've been writing poetry for a very long time and have published a few collections. I don't focus on any particular genre though, not even science fiction, though quite a few of my poems fall in the science or science fiction area. I suppose also quite a few in the speculative area in more general terms. My Joy of Science collection includes both science and science fiction poems.

Some of my recent prose poems have been in a sort of quasi-mythological area.

As far as the process....All my poems, as does all my writing start with a trigger of some sort, either a thought, images, title, first line, etc. I try to keep track of these in my journal and then I kinda let it sit and bubble in my subconscious -- let me muse do her thing -- and at some point it will spring back up and I'll draft it, put it away, revisit and edit later, lather and repeat until I determine that it is done and then put it in my 'completed stack/computer file.'

A few poems just sort of pop into my mind without warning, fully formed as it were needing very little in the way of editing. Those are the fun ones!
 

kennyc

Inkling
I've actually toyed with the notion of writing my story in the form of a poem. I think it's a fantastic idea as far as exercising one's chops goes, and it's a rich tradition as old as storytelling itself, although I don't know that it would draw as many readers as a novel or story. But, being that this is a personal hobby for me, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I wouldn't hesitate to try either way.

I've intentionally tried both rewriting a story as a poem or poems and vice versa turning a poem into a story. It's quite an interesting exercise. :) It can definitely give you insight into both forms.
 
I used to write angst filled poetry in high school. I don't as much anymore. I'm tryingto decide if I want to include poems and songs in my books. My fantasy role model-Tolkien- did. I'm just really bad at writing it.
 
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