Anyone working on poetry?

[Deleted member 4007]

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]

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).

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I like to include songs, which are basically poems. Here's one I wrote for the diversity challenge that is ~50% lyrics.

 

[Miskatonic]

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.

 

[FifthView]

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]

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.

 

[Deleted member 4007]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[thedarknessrising]

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.